We at Baptist 21 love the Bible, and we especially love when Scripture is set to music. That’s why we’re excited about Robbie Seay Band’s new project, Psalms. They have recently released the second installment of this three-volume project in which the lyrics of each song are directly from the Psalms.
As they say from their site: “The Old Testament theologian Gordon Wenham said ‘Singing or praying the Psalms is a performative act. Saying them to God alters one’s relationship in a way that merely listening does not.’ Our hope is that you enjoy these new songs, store these Psalms within you and that together we sing and pray these Psalms in response to a loving and holy God.”
In the first volume they sing through five Psalms: 96, 62, 91, 42, and 62. They’ve made it available for free download online here.
The second was released on May, 6. It covers another 5 Psalms and is available for a free listen here. The tracks and a brief description by Robbie Seay are provided below:
1. PSALM 134 (BLESS THE LORD)
“I’m thrilled to begin this EP with 134. It is the final Psalm in the Psalms of Ascent (120-134). These are songs that were part of the journey to Jerusalem for Passover. These songs were sung and chanted by thousands as they marched into the Holy City. I love the imagery of blessing the Lord and lifting up our hands together towards Him rather than how I spend so much time asking the Lord to bless me. We love sining this at the beginning of the service for our home church.”
2. PSALM 140 (CRY FOR MERCY) “This is a very simple prayer – Have mercy on me, O Lord. It’s been a powerful thing to sing the line ‘I say to the Lord, You are my God.’ Sometimes I need to return to the basic truth that He is God and I need his mercy each day.”
3. PSALM 139 (YOU HAVE SEARCHED AND KNOWN ME)
“This, of course, is one of the most familiar Psalms – most often for the verses later in the Psalm that refer to God’s forming of each of us in our mother’s womb. 139 begins with a prayer of gratitude that God has seached us out, knows us and is acquainted with all we do and say. And even in that, his love for us is constant. I love declaring this with a new melody and this has become a favorite of ours to sing with our home church.”
4. PSALM 118 (YOUR STEADFAST LOVE)
“The history of 118 is so powerful – it was the final Psalm that Jesus and his disciples would have sung at the Last Supper. Jesus himself singing this prayer of thankfulness for the steadfast love of God, on the very night of his betrayal and arrest, is a strong foundation for us to sing this together today.”
5. PSALM 3 (A SHIELD ABOUT ME) “This is probably my favorite track on the album. It starts with a 2 minute instrumental piece arranged by Matthew Kidd and seems to be the most intimate of the Psalms on Vol. 2. David was fleeing his son Absolom and the army in pursuit to kill him. We get to peer inside a moment of turmoil in David’s life and sing his response to God. ‘For You, O Lord, are a shield about me. You are my glory and You lift my head’ is stirring constantly within me after singing Psalm. Praying I have the same resolve and trust in God in moments of chaos in my own life.”
It’s a fact of life, everyone loves free stuff. That’s why we are excited to offer many opportunities for freebies at the upcoming B21 panel at the SBC 2014. Free books from our sponsors, Amazon gift cards, an iPad mini, and more will all be at our panel this year; make sure you are too! Register here.
Unable to make it to Baltimore? No worries! We’re also giving away $100 to Amazon just for tweeting about it. No gimmicks! Just free stuff. Info here.