Four Reasons to Preach the Psalms as a Book

“Since the 1980s, scholarship has devoted serious attention to the shape of the Psalter. While viewing the Psalms as a book has not filtered into popular consciousness yet, pastors and preachers may have discovered this argument in recent commentaries, such as James M. Hamilton’s excellent volumes.

Preaching the Psalter as a book might at first seem like a difficult task, but it’s well worth it. Here are four reasons why. …”

– At 9Marks, Davy Ellison in Northen Ireland points to a helpful way of reading (and preaching) the Psalms.

Saving ‘The Quiet Time’

Joshua Bovis at St. John’s Tamworth shares this message he wrote for his parish newsletter. We hope you will find it an encouragement to read and pray:

Saving ‘The Quiet Time’

I was introduced to the practice known as ‘The Quiet Time’ not long after I became a Christian. As someone whom has not been given the gift of silence by our Heavenly Father, (still working at it), quiet times were not often practiced. Turns out ‘The Quiet Time’ refers to the practice of spending time alone with God in prayer and in His Word. Yet over time, I had noticed that although the term ‘quiet time’ does not appear in the Holy Scriptures, these two seemingly benign words on their own often engender enormous guilt in the Christian’s life.

Of course, we all know (and should know) that time with God in prayer and His Word is vital, and we are all cognisant of the blessings and benefits that will entail.

Yet I have met so many of God’s people when I ask them how they are going when it comes to prayer and the Word, a common response is one of discouragement and guilt, with the added embellishments such as:

“I don’t know what to read”; “I cannot seem to get into the rhythm”; “I run out of things to pray for”; and there is the big one,

“I don’t have the time!”

Being an Anglican vicar, the context of which I asked this question is an Anglican one. Yet what I find interesting and rather sad is that so many Christians (who attend Anglican churches) are unaware of a practice that I have found to be so helpful in my own life, and that is the practice known as The Daily Office.

So what is the Daily Office? 

The Daily Office or Divine Office, to put it simply, is a time during the day where Christians pray and read the Bible.

It is based on the ancient practice of prescribed daily times of prayer. The name comes from the Latin officium divinum meaning “divine office” or “divine duty.” Although it seems that liturgy is not in vogue or used by many parishes, the Prayer Book has a daily service in the morning and evening for this very purpose, (in fact did you know that the Book of Common Prayer prescribes this practice for clergy?) These services are accompanied by daily Scripture readings which include a reading from the Psalms, Old Testament, the New Testament, and a Gospel reading. The Daily Office includes prayers for morning and evening. 

The late J.I Packer stated:

“None of us will ever find a better pattern for private prayer and Bible-reading anywhere than that offered by the Prayer Book’s own daily offices.”

God’s people who struggle with their ‘quiet times’ need to struggle no longer, there is a great resource available to be used, if only they were made aware of it.

I was first introduced to the Daily Office when I was an ordination candidate in the Newcastle Diocese. Although I was an Anglican Christian, I had not even heard of this practice let alone engaged it in. So at first I found it to be foreign, dull, repetitive and pedestrian. But after doing it every morning and every evening with my supervising Rector, I realised that my prayer life and Bible reading was changing.  My relationship with my Heavenly Father was deepening. No longer was I dependent on how I felt on any given day when it came to pray. Time was no longer an issue as it was a scheduled non-negotiable part of my day.

Many years ago at a Clergy Conference in another diocese I heard it said that human beings are repetitive. Think about the hand you use when you talk on your mobile phone. Have you ever tried using your other hand? Or your other ear? It feels wrong doesn’t it? It is the same when you brush your teeth with your other hand. It feels wrong. With exceptions of course, generally there is no biological reason why we cannot use the phone in the alternate hand/ear. It is because we are creatures of habit. We all have rituals, and routines, and a place where we put things (as the saying goes, “a place for everything and everything in its place).

This is why I find the Daily Office such a helpful thing. It gives me the rhythm and routine that I am made for and at the same time makes prayer and the word part of that rhythm and routine.

The  Daily Office is also helpful in that sooner or later when the day will come when you will not be able to pray in your own strength. On that day the liturgy will pray for you.  There have been times and are times when I simply did not and do not have the words to pray.

What do you need?

• A set time – this way, the Daily Office will become part of your routine, your life rhythm, and before you know it will become a time that you look forward to.

• A place – your study,  the chapel in your church, or somewhere nice and quiet, indoors or outdoors.

• A Bible – For me I use the ESV. It has been my norm for ages.

• A Prayer Book – for me it is mainly the BCP 2019 , though for years I used the original and  best (BCP 1662).

• A Smartphone or iPad – this may seem like a weird thing to recommend but along with the BCP 2019, ACNA (The Anglican Church in North America) has produced an excellent App called The Daily Office. I find this app to be brilliant. It contains the Morning and Evening Prayer Services with the Collects (special prayer for the week) for every day of the year. It even has what is known as Compline (which is a service one uses before lights out for the night It even has a Midday Prayer (which I love to do each day). The Bible Translation is from the ESV (which is what we use here at St John’s) and the Psalter are the Miles Coverdale Version, which utilises English beautifully.

Anything else?

No. That is it. Just go for it. Take your time, enjoy God enjoy his Word, and abide with Christ. You may be sceptical, you be tempted to think what I think about the sport section in the Sydney Morning Herald, “Oh how dull”, but if you are struggling with your quiet times, it is certainly worth giving the Daily Office a go. Up until recently Anglican Christians have been doing it for a very long time. And before you know it, the next time your Vicar or anyone else asks you, “How is your quiet time going”?, you can smile and give an answer that is encouraging (and will give cause to give thanks and praise to God!)

Take Jesus at His Word

“What does it mean to be a Christian disciple? Putting it as simply as possible, being a disciple means following Jesus Christ. Christian disciples want to follow their Lord in everything, to be shaped by his teaching and his example in the way they think, feel, and behave. We want him at the center of our perspective on the world, his mission as the priority of our life, his glory our chief concern in every endeavor. That is as true for the Christian theologian as for any other disciple.

Christian theology can helpfully start at any number of places. Its fundamental ground lies in the triune God himself. Theology has long been defined as ‘words about God and all things in relation to God.’ Yet because what we know about God is made known by God — spoken through the prophets and apostles, and given to us in the more permanent form of Scripture — all true theology arises from and is tested by the Bible. So, we could start the discussion of any theological topic with a reflection upon the person of the triune God or upon what the Bible tells us about that specific topic.

But what makes theology specifically Christian theology is the critical place accorded to Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God and Saviour of the world. …”

– Published earlier this year, this encouraging article was written by Moore College Principal Dr Mark Thompson. At Desiring God.

Update on the Wahroonga Preaching Conference

From The Expository Preaching Trust:

“The Preaching Conference at Wahroonga has been rescheduled for Monday – Tuesday, 9-10 September. The Conference is to be Co Chaired by Chris Edwards, the Bishop of North Sydney and David Cook of the Expository Preaching Trust.

Simon Manchester is the main speaker and there will be sermons by Mike Leite, Jim Mobbs and David Cook, all on the book of Acts.

The conference begins at 9:30 am on Monday the 9th at the Wahroonga Presbyterian Church, it will be held at the Anglican and Presbyterian churches in Wahroonga.

Cost is $50, fully catered and we are limited to 30 participants.

Preaching groups will be led by Simon Manchester, David Cook, Mike Leite, Jim Mobbs and Janet Riley.”

– See their website for details.

Bishop Mari Emmanuel forgives his attacker and endorses freedom of speech and religion

Screenshot

For ANZAC Day, Bishop Mari Emmanuel of Christ the Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley has spoken out in forgiveness and in support of freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

Remembering the Sacrifice: ANZAC Day 2024

“Grant Dibden, Anglican Bishop to the Australian Defence Force, shares the story of sacrifice about Corporal Reginald Samuel Thorn from Broken Hill, NSW.

A recently discovered letter from Corporal Thorn was sent one day prior to his sacrifice at Pozières, France.

At deaths door, Reginald Thorn’s letter shares the hope of a better place beyond the grave made available through the greatest sacrifice made by Jesus.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13.”

– At Defence Anglicans.

Pray for Peaceful Proclamation

“On Monday 15th April, a teenager stabbed two Eastern Orthodox priests during a church service in western Sydney, in what seems to be a religiously-motivated attack. The chief target, Bishop Emmanuel, has become simultaneously popular and controversial by being outspokenly conservative in all manner of social issues, from sex to Islam to pandemic lockdowns. This, and the angry response of the crowd that gathered after the attack, have made the NSW Police and Government understandably concerned about the possibilities of an escalating spiral of retaliatory violence.

In this environment, we have an opportunity to pray for and work towards communal, inter-religious peace. Not just for the common good – for love of neighbour, but because that kind of secular peace is good for gospel proclamation. …”

– Kamal Weerakoon has this Bible-based encouragement for you at The Gospel Coalition Australia.

What about all those other Secret or Lost Gospels?

“The Bible has four Gospels included as part of the Canon or official collection of scripture. Those are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four canonical accounts record the good news—that’s what “gospel” means—about Jesus from eyewitness testimonies. Their aim is clear: they’re written so we can hear about Jesus, trust in him, and continue to do so (John 20:31).

I recently read Bart D. Ehrman’s collection of over a dozen of the earliest non-canonical gospels, including several from the Nag Hammadi discovery in Egypt. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Africa edition, Ryan Van Der Avoort provides some simple tools for thinking about these other “Gospels”.

Image: A 3rd Century fragment from Egypt, of Revelation chapter 1, in the Chester Beatty collection, Dublin. Photo with thanks to Kevin Murray.

The Gateway Drug to Post-Christian Paganism

“I recently revisited a book that I had not read for many years: Robert P. Ericksen’s Theologians Under Hitler.

It is a study of how three intellectuals, Gerhard Kittel, Paul Althaus, and Emanuel Hirsch—scholars of the Old Testament, Luther, and Kierkegaard, respectively—came to support Hitler in 1933 and ultimately be identified with an evil ideology that cost millions of lives, both in the death camps and in the war that German expansionism precipitated. …”

– At First Things, Carl Trueman has a warning for Christians – whatever their political leaning.

Link via Tim Challies.

Hope Beyond Cure

“Friends in Christ, cancer – if all types are grouped together – is the leading cause of death in Australia. (If you take them separately, such as lung, breast, prostate, pancreatic, etc., then heart disease tops them on their own.)

But everyone knows someone who is impacted by cancer. And – to state the obvious – not everyone gets better from a cancer diagnosis.

In that space, Dave McDonald’s book Hope Beyond Cure has become the Christian book I give away more than any other, even ten years after publication. At just 90 pages, his book is clear and gripping. …”

– In the latest Cathedral newsletter, Dean of Sydney Sandy Grant explains why he gives away copies of this book (and he shares where you can get your copy).

“Brace Yourselves!“: The Reduction of Public Bible Reading

“It’s quite possible, as a missionary who has just returned from his first term in another country, that the old bugbear of ‘reverse culture shock’ has made me just a little bit tetchy.

On the other hand, as I’ve travelled to our twelve or so supporting churches (of various denominations) who support us in our work, I may have seen something of what many of us are prioritising as we meet week by week.

Usually I’m the guest preacher, and Revelation 7 (with John’s vision of a ‘great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language’) has been my text. And so, as Bible readings before the sermon, I’ve asked for Revelation 7 along with a few short paragraphs from the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah. Now, these are not long passages. And they are certainly not boring! Yet, without blushing, one service leader politely asked me if the short Old Testament readings could be done away with, and Revelation 7 itself – not a long chapter! – be chopped in half. …”

– At The Gospel Coalition Australia, Mike Fischer notices that something important is missing from some churches.

Preaching in tragic times — what will you say on Sunday?

“It is hard to describe the sense of loss pervading London in 1997 following the death of Princess Diana, however, I had been invited to preach at a London church the following Sunday and it was clear that in the midst of such loss and confusion, people were looking for a clear word from God.

It was the same for every preacher, following the Strathfield massacre in 1991 or the September 11 World Trade Centre tragedy in 2001 or the Lindt coffee massacre in Sydney in 2014.

And now the Bondi Junction stabbings. Perhaps it was too late to change the text to be preached the Sunday immediately following those Saturday afternoon murders, but next Sunday people will be coming to church and expecting a clear word from God. …”

– At The Expository Preaching Trust, David Cook has some very helpful words for preachers in these days.

Image: David Cook at St. Helen’s Bishopsgate in 2022.

We cannot help but speak — ACR Easter 2024

If you haven’t yet seen the latest issue of The Australian Church Record (Easter 2024), do yourself a favour and download your copy. (PDF file.)

The overall theme is “We cannot help but speak”, and Mike Leite’s Editorial has just been published on the website as a standalone post – but do download the entire issue for your encouragement.

We have a problem with Truth

From The Pastor’s Heart:

“We are moving into a post – post-modern world  But what does that look like and mean for truth – and us as pastors – as we attempt to communicate with our churches?

Our church members have unconsciously adopted some of the presuppositions of our society in the way we process texts and information.

We are living in a fake news world on social media with a parallel loss of confidence in institutions and authorities. …”

– Dominic Steele speaks with Moore College Lecturer (and ACL Council member) Lionel Windsor.

Lionel has recently published Truth be Told to help us ‘in the task of sharing the truth of the gospel with confidence and conviction’.

Religious Freedom and the NSW Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024

Associate Professor Neil Foster writes at Law and Religion Australia:

“I have prepared a paper exploring the operation of the NSW Conversion Practices Ban Act 2024 in relation to the freedom of churches and other religious groups to continue to provide teaching and guidance based on the tenets of their faith. The Act has received assent but will not commence operation until 3 April 2025.

Overall, the Act contains much better protections for religious freedom and the welfare of vulnerable children and young people than similar legislation elsewhere. But there are some areas where it is not clear, and it will require careful consideration by religious groups, as well those interested in so-called ‘gender transition’ issues even from a non-religious background.”

– Download his paper here.

← Previous Page — Next Page →