Apocryphal Psalms
I found myself whistling the tune "Melita" this morning and hearing the words, "Advancing still from strength to strength, they go where other pilgrims trod, till each to Zion comes at length and stands before the face of God." This is verse 7 (stanza 4) from Psalm 84B in the RPCNA's "The Book of Psalms for Singing" (and now 84B in the RPCI's new "The Psalms for Singing - A 21st Century Edition").I love the tune, and I love the words and the ideas behind them, but a main theme in the verse is apocryphal! Verse 7 very literally says, "They go from strength to strength appearing before God in Zion." There is no idea of following in the footsteps of other believers.
Those of us who are Reformed and therefore hold to the Regulative Principle of Worship often quote the following verse: "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it." (Deut. 12:32) What about adding to Scripture itself?
To be fair, it's difficult to know what the authors could have done, but surely adding a completely new idea wasn't necessary. Any suggestions to replace this clause?
(P.S. Don't worry, not all posts will be negative!)
posted by Timothy Davis | 8:54 am
2 Comments:
so thats another to add to the list as well as the annihilationism in ps 73 v 27.
perhaps this revision was too hasty notwithstanding it was over a decade in preparation.
In trying to preserve "well-loved" versions of the SMV in the B & C versions, they also ended up preserving a well-loved RPCNA version as well! This was not the product of translation, but of compromise to satisfy those who couldn't give up all the old versions.
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