The Psalms of David in Metre

by Anonymous, Church of Scotland

Annotated with:
History of Psalter
Notes on metres
Historical context
Subject indexes

The First Scottish Psalter was published in 1564. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland authorised publication of a new Psalter the following century.

The Second Scottish Psalter was founded on many versions of metrical psalms. Publication took place in 1650 after an extensive process of revision, involving the whole Church. The work was entitled The Psalms of David in Metre, Newly translated, and diligently compared with the original Text, and former Translations: More plain, smooth and agreeable to the Text, than any heretofore. The Church of Scotland appointed this version to be sung in congregations and in families.

Genres: Poetry

312 pages, Hardcover

First published August 9, 2015

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Ben Fairchild · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wonderful little psalter was given to me by the Dean of Grafton; he caught me deliberating on whether or not to steal it from where it lay languishing at the back of the cathedral (I was actually going to swap it for a spanking edition of the BCP with included hymnal) but I thought better of it and he caught me walking away in confusion and him asking what the matter was I told him and he gave me the psalter. It is written in Scottish sounding verse with in that wonderful bright, hard puritanical style. I really appreciate the mood of Scottish and Presbyterian worship; ‘tis like a cold bright sunny winter’s day!

[David Gaddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So amazing… this psalter does such a great job of rendering the psalms in rhyme and metre without losing the content at all. So great! Almost all of them are in a traditional 8,6,8,6 metre, meaning you can sing them to several hymn tunes you might be familiar with… even to the tune of Amazing Grace.

For example. The ever popular Psalm 23 reads (in part):

The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green: he leadeth me
the quiet waters by.

Sing that with the tune of Amazing Grace. Cool huh? You can get this psalter for little to nothing. So go enjoy some psalms!

[John Majerle · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion this is the best translation of the Psalms in English. The poetic style is right out of 1650, with beautiful and clever rhymes especially designed to be read aloud.

I first fell in love with this translation several years ago online but was disappointed when I could not find it in print. With this new pocket edition I can now read it whenever the mood strikes me.

[Daniel Poe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This magnificent Psalter is the work of the Westminster Assembly and the Church of Scotland, meticulously compared to the original Hebrew text to ensure accuracy and fidelity of translation.

It has numerous recommendations by noteworthy Puritans such as John Owen, Thomas Watson, Thomas Manton (a clerk of the Westminster Assembly), Matthew Poole and Thomas Vincent, where it is stated in their preface to an 1673 edition of the Scottish Psalter:

'The translation which is now put into thy hands cometh nearest to the original of any that we have seen, and runneth with such a fluent sweetness, that we thought fit to recommend it to thy Christian acceptance; some of us having used it already, with great comfort and satisfaction.'

It is undoubtedly the standard metrical Psalter loved and sung by Christians for almost four centuries in the English-speaking Church and is still sung by faithful Christians and Reformed churches in different parts of the world.

I cannot recommend this enough. Christians ought to be Psalm-singers and by having this excellent Psalter, the English-speaking Christian may sing God's inspired book of praises to the glory of his name.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.” (Colossians‬ ‭3:16‬; James‬ ‭5:13‬)

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

My family just finished singing through this psalter sequentially over the course of the last year or so. Its common meter tunes are accessible and suited for someone like me who can’t read music. Singing psalms has allowed me to hide so much more of God’s Word in my heart than I ever did before. I see no reason not to be singing from this psalter for the rest of my life!

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great paraphrase of the Psalms. Some refer to them as Rouse’s Psalms after the gent who prepared the translation, and Rouse got it pretty close in many of the Psalms. Worth your time.

[Christopher Keller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Westminster Standards is indeed the crux of Protestant Orthodoxy; it's produced songbook reflects that truth only more so.

[Brance Gillihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful rendition of the Psalms. Faithful to the original language, poetic, singable, and a balm to the soul.