Blood, water, and the psalter

I encourage any of you reading this to go to www.bloodwatermission.com to see our new website, filled with much more information and details about our work. The 1000 Wells Project is coming soon (February 16th), beginning a specific opportunity of intentional sacrifice and other-centeredness, and the website includes details on how anyone can be involved. Though the campaign will be ongoing beyond our initial phase, our goal is to create a major push via media outlets (radio, magazines, online sites) for the season of Lent leading up to Easter. Please let others know about this opportunity, whether at work, school, or special events.

I was in the studio with Mitch Dane on Monday to work on a record for Zane Williams. Andy Hubbard played drums, and we finished 4 songs. Someone will be coming in on Thursday to play upright bass on the rest of the songs, many of which are in a style of the “back porch bluegrass band.” I look forward to hearing the finished project.

Today I begin 3 days of working on a record my friend Matt Stanfield is producing. I haven’t heard any of the music, but look forward to a chance to play with another solid drummer in town, Ben Phillips. Ben has lived near Chattanooga over the past couple of years, taking a brief hiatus from music, but has returned to Nashville to play again. He’s also an engineer, and will probably begin working on his own projects in a studio at his house. It’s good to have him back in town!

We had our second prayer meeting with City Church last night, focusing on the words of Psalm 103. We sang “Bless His Holy Name” (Bless the Lord, O My soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy Name), and I put words from the Scottish Psalter to music to provide verses for the song. There have been many psalters written over the past 4-5 centuries, which are composed of psalms and keep the intention of the text while putting the words in rhyming meter. The meter was often applied to popular drinking songs and gathering songs, so that the congregation could focus on the words and not learning new music all the time. Following are the verses we sang last night.

1 O thou my soul, bless God the Lord;
and all that in me is
Be stirred up his holy name
to magnify and bless.

2 Bless, O my soul, the Lord thy God,
and not forgetful be
Of all his gracious benefits
he hath bestowed on thee.

8 The Lord our God is merciful,
and he is gracious,
Long-suffering, and slow to wrath,
in mercy plenteous.

12 As far as east is distant from
the west, so far hath he
From us removed, in his love,
all our iniquity.

21 O bless and magnify the Lord,
ye glorious hosts of his;
Ye ministers, that do fulfil
whate'er his pleasure is.

22 O bless the Lord, all ye his works,
wherewith the world is stored
In his dominions ev'ry where.
My soul, bless thou the Lord.