First, I purchased a copy of Herbert Lindemann, ed., The Daily Office: Matins and Vespers, Based on Traditional Liturgical Patterns, with Scripture Readings, Hymns, Canticles, Litanies, Collects, and the Psalter, Designed for Private Devotion or Group Worship (St. Louis: Concordia, 1965). What impressed me about this volume was that it provided for praying through the psalms on a regular basis in the course of twice-daily prayer. This is a pattern originating in ancient Jewish worship and carried into Christianity by especially the monasteries. In Roman Catholic usage this is called the Liturgy of the Hours. Reading and praying through this collection made me aware of how little the churches in which I had worshipped had made use of the Psalms.

Second, during a trip to Prague, in what was then called Czechoslovakia, I found in an antiquarian bookshop a protestant hymnal published in 1900 which was used by the Unitas Fratrum, the church tracing its origins back to the 15th-century pre-reformer Jan Hus. It was not for nearly another decade that I discovered that this volume contains all 150 psalms in the Czech language and set to the melodies of the 1562 Genevan Psalter, which had been developed under John Calvin’s guidance for liturgical use in the churches of Geneva. Around the same time I became aware of the Genevan Psalms from another source: a vinyl LP disc of Hungary’s Debrecen College Cantus singing the Genevan Psalms in Hungarian, including beautiful arrangements by famed composer Zoltán Kodály.

Hooked!
I was hooked. What had initially been a subject of curiosity became a near obsession as I sought to know as much as I could learn about the tradition of metrical psalmody as it developed in the centuries following the Reformation.

One of the first things I learned is that there is a pronounced difference between metrical psalms as sung in the English-speaking world and those in the European continent. The Scottish Psalter of 1650 is typical of the former in rendering its poetic versifications in a very few metres repeated throughout the collection. For example Psalm 1 is in common meter (8.6.8.6) and opens as follows:

That man hath perfect blessedness,
who walketh not astray
In counsel of ungodly men,
nor stands in sinners’ way,
Nor sitteth in the scorner’s chair:
But placeth his delight
Upon God’s law, and meditates
on his law day and night.

By contrast, the Genevan Psalter consists of a wide variety of meters only a few of which are repeated elsewhere. So highly rhythmic are they that Queen Elizabeth I is reputed to have called them “Genevan jigs.” For example, here is my own versification of Psalm 98 set to its proper Genevan tune:

Sing to the LORD, O sing a new song
for all the marvels he has done;
he with his arm so strong and holy
salvation's victory has won.
The LORD reveals to all the peoples
his saving power and righteousness;
to all the chosen house of Israel
he shows his love and faithfulness.

Why sing the psalms?
Why should we be singing the psalms in the course of worship? There are four principal reasons. First, they reflect the full range of human experience and emotions (e.g., Psalms 47, 88). Second, they allow us to recite the grand Biblical redemptive narrative through the songs of God’s ancient people (e.g., Psalms 78, 105, 106). Third, they communicate to us God’s word, permitting us to sing to him in his own words. Fourth and finally, they speak of Jesus Christ (e.g., Psalms 22, 72).

For the past quarter century I have undertaken what has become a labor of love in writing my own metrical versifications of the psalms and composing arrangements of the melodies. This I have done with the hope that God will use them to encourage Christians around the world to return to the singing of psalms in their liturgies. Although I am not even halfway through completing this project, what I have done thus far is posted at this website: The Genevan Psalter, which includes an introductory essay, a bibliography, an annotated discography, links to other sites, videos, a sample liturgy and, of course, the texts themselves. Updates to the site and other matters of interest are posted on a blog.

This unfinished project is dedicated to the glory of God and to the service of his people. “Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6)

David T. Koyzis teaches political science at Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario, Canada, and is the author of Political Visions and Illusions (InterVarsity Press). He blogs at First Things: Evangel and at Notes from a Byzantine-Rite Calvinist. His Genevan Psalter website is located at: http://genevanpsalter.redeemer.ca/.