Communion Seasons and Tokens in Early American Presbyterianism

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

What has been like a revelation to me in my research was, finding out the extensive use of Tokens in the United States. All the early Presbyterian churches appear to have used them. — Robert Shiells, The Story of the Token as Belonging to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper (1891), p. 150

Colonial American Presbyterianism, utilizing the Westminster Directory of Presbyterian Worship until 1788, relied much on Scottish Presbyterian traditions which included both communion seasons and tokens. These important features of simple Presbyterian worship were also associated with notable revivals, including both the Great Awakening and the Second Great Awakening. “The communion seasons in Virginia, as wherever the Presbyterian Church was planted, were seasons of revival.” (Mary McWhorter Tenney, Communion Tokens: Their Origin, History, and Use (1936), p. 87). Leigh Eric Schmidt writes:

With the transplantation of Presbyterianism to the American colonies came Old World ways of organizing worship and devotion. The sacramental occasion, as one of the most prominent features of the evangelical Presbyterian tradition, was soon re-created in America. In New England, for example, enclaves of Presbyterian immigrants almost immediately staged sacramental occasions fully reminiscent of Scotland and Ulster….

In the middle colonies, where Presbyterian immigration was much heavier than in New England, sacramental occasions were proportionally larger and more pronounced. The communion seasons — prevalent, powerful, and well attended — figured prominently in the religious life of the Presbyterian immigrants throughout the region [Schmidt, Holy Fairs: Scottish Communions and American Revivals in the Early Modern Period (1989), pp. 53-54].

Julius Melton also notes this important feature of early American Presbyterian worship as well as its transatlantic nature:

One especially prominent aspect of the Presbyterian’s worship experience in the colonies was the “sacramental season.” This was the practice, inherited from Scotland, of placing the infrequent celebrations of the Lord’s Supper within a series of services — days of fasting, sermons, examination of communicants and singing for which crowds would gather from an entire region. After dwelling at length on their sins and Christ’s work of salvation, Presbyterian drew near to receive the sacrament with great awe [Melton, Presbyterian Worship in America: Changing Patterns Since 1787 (1967, 2001), p. 16].

The Great Awakening was at least in part built on the foundation of sacramental seasons of revival. This was true for the Tennents (William, Sr., William Jr., Gilbert, and John included), some of whom contributed to a famous collection of Sermons on Sacramental Occasions by Divers Ministers (1739).

Gilbert Tennent was born into a family of Scots living in Ulster, in the northeast of Ireland. By the close of the seventeenth century, Ulster had become an enclave of dissenting Presbyterians, rebels against both the English crown and the Anglican Church, who were forced by the government to settle there. These dissenters kept alive the Scottish Presbyterian tradition of field communion, or sacramental occasions, a distinctive practice that helped to maintain ties to their heritage [Kimberly Bracken Long, The Eucharistic Theology of the American Holy Fairs (2011), pp. 83-84].

Gilbert Tennent wrote in 1744 of revival that took place in his congregation at New Brunswick, New Jersey:

I may further observe, that frequently at Sacramental Seasons in New-Brunswick, there have been signal Displays of the divine Power and Presence: divers have been convinced of Sin by the Sermons then preached, some converted, and many much affected with the Love of God in JESUS CHRIST. O the sweet Meltings that I have often seen on such Occasions among many! New-Brunswick did then look like a Field the Lord had blessed: It was like a little Jerusalem, to which the scattered Tribes with eager haste repaired at Sacramental Solemnities; and there they fed on the Fatness of God’s House, and drunk of the River of his Pleasures [Thomas Prince, ed., The Christian History (1745), p. 294].

Neshaminy, Pennsylvania was the site of a sacramental occasion in June 1745 where David Brainerd assisted Charles Beatty administer the bread and the wine to “three or four thousand” in attendance which Brainerd described as a “sweet melting season.” Brainerd went on during the following year to build on this experience, along with counsel from those who commissioned his missionary labors — the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge — to host his own sacramental seasons among the Native Americans to whom he ministered.

Brainerd followed the Scottish pattern basically to the letter: Friday was “set apart for solemn Fasting and Prayer”; Saturday was given over to further preparations and exhortations; Sunday brought the Lord’s Supper and more sermons; Monday concluded “the Sacramental Solemnity” with praise, thanksgiving, and calls for sustained moral discipline….This sacramental season proved to be among the most satisfying events in Brainerd’s life; indeed, the “sweet Union, Harmony and endearing Love” he experienced there was “the most lively Emblem of the heavenly World, I had ever seen” [Schmidt, Holy Fairs, p. 55].

Brainerd spoke similarly of a sacramental occasion that he participated in at Freehold, New Jersey just a couple of months later (June 1746) which was hosted by William Tennent, Jr., describing it as “a season of comfort to the godly, and of awakening to some souls” (ibid., p. 56). These sacramental seasons are a running theme throughout his ministry, especially to the Native Americans. Yet, as Schmidt notes, “No one, as far as I know, has ever taken stock of Brainerd’s sacramental revivals and seen just how thoroughly Presbyterian in this matter he had become” (ibid., p. 235).

The first Covenanter communion in America took place at the “Junkin Tent” in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, on August 23, 1752, and was administered by John Cuthbertson. This was also the first instance of the use of communion tokens in America. It bore the simple abbreviation “L.S.” for “Lord’s Supper” on one side only. These tokens were used to signify admittance to the Lord’s Table.

Commemorative 1752 communion token (photo by R. Andrew Myers).

In colonial Virginia, even before the arrival of Samuel Davies, a sacramental occasion was held by William Tennent, Jr. and Samuel Blair, where it was reported that “The Assembly was large, and the Novelty of the Mode of Administration did peculiarly engage their Attention….It appeared as one of the Days of Heaven to some of us; and we could hardly help wishing we could with Joshua have delayed the Revolutions of the Heavens to prolong it” [Samuel Davies, The State of Religion Among the Protestant Dissenters in Virginia (1751), p. 17]. A few years later, a paper communion token was used by Samuel Davies in Hanover County, Virginia. Note the sacramental poem written by Davies himself.

Samuel Davies’ communion token held at the William Smith Morton Library, Union Theological Seminary, Richmond Virginia (photo by R. Andrew Myers).

John Todd, John Wright, Robert Henry, John Brown and John Craig were among other Virginia Presbyterian evangelists who observed sacramental occasions and found them to be “special outpourings of the spirit” (John Wright, January 20, 1757 Letter found in John Gillies, Historical Collections (1845 ed.), p. 520). David Rice, who grew up under the ministry of Samuel Davies and John Todd, also helped to bring the practice of sacramental seasons to Kentucky.

The importance of communion gatherings in Davies's practice and Rice's conversion reveals that both men stood in the long tradition of Presbyterian sacramental seasons dating back to seventeenth-century Scotland. From the beginning, these "holy fairs" were protracted religious celebrations, sometimes attracting thousands of participants, which included not only the celebration of the sacrament but also fervent preaching. Such seasons were centers of religious renewal and revival, and the practice was continued by many Presbyterians in North America. In particular, this tradition can be traced through the family history of the Tennents, the Log College and its offshoots, the work of Samuel Davies, and Rice himself, who conducted similar communion seasons throughout his ministry. These gatherings would continue to be central to religious life on the frontier, though they would also become centers of controversy as the frontier context and new religious trends took the communion seasons in new directions [Andrew M. McGinnis, “Between Enthusiasm and Stoicism: David Rice and Moderate Revivalism in Virginia and Kentucky,” The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society, Vol. 106, No. 2 (Spring 2008), pp. 172-173].

Robert B. Davidson notes that communion seasons and tokens were part of the Kentucky Revival:

The sacramental meetings, or sacraments, as they were called, were held at long intervals, when several ministers attended and took part; tokens were distributed; a long Action Sermon preached; the tables duly fenced; a succession of tables served; a fresh minister assigned to each table, and a fresh exhortation to each company; and when the communicants were numerous, (many coming from a distance,) the services were protracted till sunset, and became extremely tedious and fatiguing [Davidson, History of the Presbyterian Church in the State of Kentucky (1847), pp. 103-104].

James McGready was a pioneer Kentucky evangelist who seemed to be most in heaven while on earth at the communion table. Hear how he speaks in “The Believer Embracing Christ”:

The believer sometimes meets with Christ and embraces him in the arms of faith when he is seated at a communion table, then by faith, he sees a mangled, bleeding, dying, rising, triumphant Jesus, heading his own table, and feasting his blood-bought children with the bread of life and the milk and honey of Canaan [McGready, The Posthumous Works of the Reverend and Pious James M’Gready (1831), pp. 134-135].

As colonial Presbyterianism became less oriented towards traditional Scottish worship and more distinctly American, communion seasons and communion tokens began to fade away from the 19th century mainline American Presbyterian experience, and even, more slowly so, from the experience of Reformed (Covenanter) and Associate Reformed Presbyterians. John M. Mason was among those who argued for more frequent communion, and in this he was followed by James W. Alexander (see The Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper [1840]), and others, until the communion season was no longer found to be the norm in the American Presbyterian experience.

THE LORD’S SUPPER. This sacrament, although celebrated infrequently, was still probably the high point in the worship experience of an Old School Presbyterian, as diaries and autobiographies of the period indicate. The high value placed upon the Communion is seen also in the effort that was made to bring about more frequency in its celebration and to separate it from the cumbersome appendages of the sacramental season. This idea had been advanced by the revisers of the Directory [of Public Worship] in 1787, but was overruled by the 1788 synod. A harbinger of change was the decision by a New York congregation of the Associate Reformed Presbytery to “discontinue the custom of observing a fast day before, and thanksgiving day after, the administration of the Lord’s Supper.” This change, which prompted much discussion in that Presbyterian denomination, had been promoted by the New York pastor John Mitchell Mason, author in 1798 of the book Letters on Frequent Communion [Melton, Presbyterian Worship in America: Changing Patterns Since 1787, pp. 39-40].

Nevertheless, to hold a communion token in one’s hands is to hearken back to that bygone era when sacramental seasons marked perhaps the pinnacle of an Old School American Presbyterian’s spiritual pilgrimage on earth. If one listens closely, one might almost hear the faint sounds of a psalm sung, “Perhaps Dundee’s wild-warbling measures rise, / Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name; / Or noble Elgin beets the heavenward flame” (Robert Burns, A Cotters’ Saturday Night).

Planted on the hillside here the ‘Banner of Blue,’
And worshipped God in simple form as Presbyterians do.
Upon this very ground was heard the voice of prayer,
And ancient Psalm to solemn tune they sang. —
’Do good in thy good pleasure, Lord, unto our Zion here;
The walls of our Jerusalem establish Thou and rear.’
Thus prayer and praise were made to God,
Nor dread of any foe
Dismayed our fathers in their work
So many years ago.
— Paraphrase of William McCombs, Two Hundred Years Ago (1842) in Mary McWhorter Tenney, Communion Tokens: Their Origin, History, and Use (1936), p. 59

Samuel Miller and the Waldensians

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

Samuel Miller, professor of Church History and Ecclesiastical Polity at Princeton Theological Seminary, had a particular interest in the body of evangelical Christians known as Waldensians or Vaudois who inhabited the historic Valleys of the Alps in the Piedmont or Savoy region that includes portions of France, Italy and Switzerland. That interest manifests itself in the fact that across a wide variety of literary productions, Miller highlighted the significance of Waldensian history, theology and polity in so many of his works.

Some of his writings are directly and specifically about the Waldensians, such as Doctrine and Order of the Waldenses (1820-1821); an Appendix to James Wharey, Sketches of Church History, Concerning the History and Doctrine of the Waldensians (1838, 1840); and a Recommendatory Letter to Jean Paul Perrin’s History of the Ancient Christians Inhabiting the Valleys of the Alps (1845, 1847). The first of these — a series of letters published in The Virginia Evangelical and Literary Magazine — deals with the theology and ecclesiology of the Waldensians. The second is an appendix is a response to a Baptist writer, William Jones, who made the argument that the Waldensians were not paedobaptists, but credobaptists. The third commends to the reader an English translation of a classic history of the Waldensians by a 17th century Waldensian pastor.

As we will see from other writings, Miller often hearkens back to the history, beliefs and practices of the Waldensians to buttress his arguments on a variety of topics.

In A Sermon, Delivered Before the New-York Missionary Society, at their Annual Meeting, April 6th, 1802 (1802), p. 25, Miller highlights the Waldensians, along with other groups who continued to shine the light of the true gospel in the dark ages:

Faithful witnesses of God, and zealous reformers of his Church, appeared, in different parts of the world, for a long time before the period eminently distinguished as the aera of the Reformation. The Waldenses, in Italy and Spain; the Albigenses, in France; the followers of Huss and Jerome, in Germany, and of Wickliff, in England, all bore an honourable testimony against the corruption of their day, and contended, with a noble firmness, for the faith once delivered to the saints.

In The Divine Appointment, the Duties, and the Qualifications of Ruling Elders; A Sermon (1811), p, 17, Miller cites Perrin’s History to show that the Waldensians included the office of ruling elder in their polity.

John Paul Perrin, the celebrated historian of the Waldenses, and who was himself one of the Ministers of that people, in a number of places, recognizes the office of Ruling Elder as retained in their churches. He expressly and repeatedly asserts, that the Synods of the Waldenses, long before the time of Luther, were composed of Ministers and Elders.

In Holding Fast the Faithful Word [a sermon on Titus 1:9] (1829), pp. 33-34, Miller held up the Waldensians as an example of a bright spot in a dark time.

I am constrained to believe that, even in defending the most precious truth, it is the pious Waldenses in the dark ages, solemnly recorded, at different periods, that testimony to the truth and order of the Gospel, which rendered them "lights in the world" while they flourished; and have served to illuminate and encourage the steps of millions in succeeding times.

In The Warrant, Nature, and Duties of the Office of the Ruling Elder (1831) [and The Warrant, Nature, and Duties of the Office of the Ruling Elder: A Sermon (1844)], Miller returns to the subject of ruling elders and argues (at some length in the former work) that the polity of the Waldensians included the office of ruling elder on an equal basis with that of minister of the gospel. In the quote below (pp. 109-110) he also identifies the Waldensians as being very similar to the Albigenses (which is a point of contention among some).

Accordingly, the Rev. Dr. Ranken, in his laboriously learned History of France, gives the following account of the Waldenses and Albigenses, whom he very properly represents as the same people. ‘Their government and discipline were extremely simple. The youth intended for the ministry among them, were placed under the inspection of some of the elder barbes, or pastors, who trained them chiefly to the knowledge of the Scriptures; and when satisfied of their proficiency, they received them as preachers, with imposition of hands. Their pastors were maintained by the voluntary offerings of the people. The whole Church assembled once a year, to treat of their general affairs. Contributions were then obtained; and the common fund was divided, for the year, among not only the fixed pastors, but such as were itinerant, and had no particular district or charge. If any of them had fallen into scandal or sin, they were prohibited from preaching, and thrown out of the society. The pastors were assisted in their inspection of the people's morals, by Elders whom probably both pastors and people elected, and set apart for that purpose.’

In The Importance of Gospel Truth (1832), Miller makes the point that sound theology has a practical bearing on the piety of people:

In the days of Godeschakus; of Claudius of Turin; of the Waldenses; of Wickliffe; and of Huss and Jerome, it was manifest that practical piety rose or sunk, just as sound or erroneous doctrines bore sway.

In Presbyterianism the Truly Primitive and Apostolical Constitution of the Church of Christ (1835, 1836), pp. 19-20, Miller shows the Waldensians to be essentially Presbyterian in their polity and worship:

But the undoubted fact, which places this whole subject beyond all question, is, that after the commencement of the Reformation in Geneva, the Waldenses not only held communion with that Church, which we all know was strictly Presbyterian, but also received ministers from her, and of course recognised the validity of her ordinations in the strongest practical manner. This they could never have done, had they been in the habit of regarding the subject in the same light with modern prelatists.

But the Waldenses were not merely Presbyterian as to the point of ministerial parity. According to their own most authentic writers, as well as the acknowledgment of their bitterest enemies — they resembled our beloved Church in almost every thing. They rejected all human inventions in the worship of God, — such as the sign of the cross in baptism; fast and festival days; the confirmation of children and youth; the consecration of edifices for public worship, &c. We are also told that all their churches were bound together by Synods, which assembled once a year; that these Synods were composed of Ministers and Ruling Elders, as in the Presbyterian Church; that their business was to examine and ordain candidates for the ministry, and authoritatively to order every thing respecting their whole body. We may say, then, with strict regard to historical verity, that, in the darkest and most corrupt periods of the Church, Presbyterianism was kept alive in the purest, and indeed, in the only pure churches now known to have then existed.

In Infant Baptism Scriptural and Reasonable: and Baptism by Sprinkling or Affusion, the Most Suitable or Edifying Mode (1837), p. 28, he argues thus:

It is here also worthy of particular notice, that those pious and far famed witnesses for the truth, commonly known by the name of the Waldenscs, did undoubtedly hold the doctrine of infant baptism, and practise accordingly. In their Confessions of Faith and other writings, drawn up be-tween the twelfth and sixteenth centuries, and in which they represent their creeds and usages as handed down, from father to son, for several hundred years before the Reformation, they speak on the subject before us so frequently and explicitly, as to preclude all doubt in regard to the fact alleged. The following specimen of their language will satisfy every reasonable inquirer.

"Baptism," say they, “is administered in a full congregation of the faithful, to the end that he that is received into the church may be reputed and held of all as a Christian brother, and that all the congregation may pray for him that he may be a Christian in heart, as he is outwardly esteemed to be a Christian. And for this cause it is that we present our children in baptism, which ought to be done by those to whom the children are most nearly related, such as their parents, or those to whom God has given this charity."

From this brief survey, we can see that the Waldensians had significance to Miller whether he was addressing matters of polity, worship, and practical piety. He drew from histories of the Waldensians (one from his personal library, by William Sime, may be read on Google Books, for example), their confessional documents, and sometimes from what their own critics had to say of them. He considered them to be among the “faithful witnesses” who maintained the truth in the Dark Ages before the Reformation, despite the fiercest persecution, and whose beliefs and practices were in harmony with those of the Reformers of the 16th and 17th centuries. Miller wished that a copy of Perrin’s History of the Waldensians could be found in every Christian family library in the United States and encouraged its study to all who were interested “to inquire what the Church of God has been in its best days since the Apostolic age.” As both a student and a teacher of ecclesiastical history, whose legacy many recognize and honor today, the prominence that Miller assigned to the value of their testimony may gain our attention and consideration as we too look back through the annals of church history on their faithful example, and remember the Waldensians.

What's New at Log College Press? - January 10, 2023

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

With the arrival of a New Year, we at Log College Press are continuing to expand the number of resources available to our readers. Last month, in December 2022, we added 524 new works to the site. We have close to 18,000 free works available at LCP.

This week we are highlighting some of the new free PDFs available as found on our Recent Additions and Early Access pages, two features provided to members of the Dead Presbyterians Society.

Some highlights at the Early Access page:

  • James Benjamin Green, A Harmony of the Westminster Presbyterian Standards (1951); and The Distinctive Teachings of Presbyterianism (1936, 1959);

  • John Murray (1742-1793), Jerubbaal, or Tyranny's Grove Destroyed, and the Altar of Liberty Finished: A Discourse on America's Duty and Danger, Delivered at the Presbyterian Church in Newbury-Port, December 11, 1783. On Occasion of the Public Thanksgiving for Peace (1784); and Grace and Glory: or, Heaven Given Only to Saints: a Sermon Preached at the Presbyterian Church in Newbury-Port, Jan 26, 1788, Occasioned by the Death of Mr. Ralph Cross on the 4th of that Month, Aetat 82 (1788);

  • Jonathan Parsons, Wisdom Justified of her Children: A Sermon Preached at the Publick Lecture in Boston, on Thursday, September 16, 1742 (1742); and Account of the Revival of Religion in the West Parish of Lyme in Connecticut (1744);

  • articles from The Presbyterian Standard concerning the debate between psalmody and hymnody by John Thomas Chalmers [Why the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Adheres to the Exclusive Use of the Inspired Psalter in the Worship of God (1900)]; and Alexander Jeffrey McKelway [Dr. Chalmers’ Failure (1900)];

  • and more by Francis James Grimké, some of which were contributed by a helpful reader: Colored Men as Professors in Colored Institutions (1885); Mr. Moody and the Color Question in the South (1886); The Defects of Our Ministry, and the Remedy (1886); The Secret of Power in the Pulpit (1887); The Pulpit in Relation to Race Elevation (1887); The Negro Will Never Acquiesce as Long as He Lives (1898); The Roosevelt-Washington Episode; or, Race Prejudice (1901); and The Second Marriage of Frederick Douglass (1934).

Some highlights at the Recent Addtiions page:

Also, be sure also to check out the quotes we have been adding at our blog for DPS members: Though Dead They Still Speak, including William M. Blackburn on a Sixth Point of Calvinism; A.A. Hodge on the Change of the Sabbath Day; John B. Adger on the Limits of Church Authority; Philip Lindsley on the Key to Improvement of Time; J.R. Miller on Consecration of Will; Thomas De Witt Talmage on the Christian Way of Measuring Life; Francis J. Grimké on How to Approach the New Year; William H. McGuffey, who argues that the Christian Religion is America's Religion; and T.V. Moore on The Oldest Seminary is the Family Fireside.

We appreciate hearing from our readers if they find matters needing correction, or if they have questions about authors or works on the site, or if they have suggestions for additions to the site. Your feedback helps the experience of other readers as well.

Meanwhile, please feel free to browse the many resources available to our readers in print and in digital format. The New Year is a great time to explore the many Presbyterian voices from the past. Thank you, as always, for your interest and support, dear friends, and we wish you all the very best in 2023!

What's New at Log College Press? - December 20, 2022

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

At the close of 2022, Log College Press is staying very active as we continue to expand the site and make accessible even more literature from early American Presbyterians.

Last month, in November 2022, we added 582 new works to the site. There are currently over 17,000 free works available at LCP. Today we are highlighting some of the new free PDFs available as found on our Recent Additions and Early Access pages, two features provided to members of the Dead Presbyterians Society.

Some highlights at the Early Access page:

  • Two works by Thomas Cleland, A Familiar Dialogue Between Calvinus and Arminius (1805, 1830); and The Socini-Arian Detected: A Series of Letters to Barton W. Stone, on Some Important Subjects of Theological Discussion, Referred to in His "Address" to the Christian Churches in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio (1815);

  • Abraham Brooks Van Zandt, God's Voice to the Nation: A Sermon Occasioned by the Death of Zachary Taylor, President of the United States (1850);

  • Cornelius Van Til, The Defense of the Faith (1955); and Christianity and Barthianism (1962);

  • John Murray, The Reformed Faith and Modern Substitutes (1935-1936); and The Application of Redemption (1952-1954) [a series of many articles which served as the basis for his 1955 book Redemption Accomplished and Applied];

  • Geerhardus Vos, A Song of the Nativity (1924, 1972) [a Christmas poem]; and

  • early sermons by Francis James Grimké, Our Duty to the Poor — How We Observed It on Christmas (1881); Wendell Phillips: A Sermon Delivered Sunday, Feb. 24, 1884, at the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. (1884); Our Future as a People (1890), each of which was contributed by a reader.

Some highlights at the Recent Addtiions page:

Also, be sure also to check out the quotes we have been adding at our blog for DPS members: Though Dead They Still Speak, including John Holmes Agnew: The Lord Loves the Gates of Zion; B.B. Warfield on Theological Study as a Religious Exercise and on What it Means to Glorify and Enjoy God; William H. Green on How the Child of God May Rightly Undergo Frowning Providences; John Murray: To the Calvinist Who Once Struggled With the Arminian Idea of Free Will; E.C. Wines: Christ is the Fountain of the Promises; James Gallaher on the Difference Between Calvinism and Fatalism; William S. Plumer's Suggested Guidelines for Making Family Worship More Profitable; Elizabeth Prentiss on Dying Grace; and T. De Witt Talmage: The Sabbath a Taste of Heaven.

We appreciate hearing from our readers if they find matters needing correction, or if they have questions about authors or works on the site, or if they have suggestions for additions to the site. Your feedback helps the experience of other readers as well.

Meanwhile, please feel free to browse the many resources available to our readers in print and in digital format. There is a lot to explore, and many Presbyterian voices from the past to hear. We look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for Log College Press in 2023. Thank you, as always, for your interest and support, dear friends, and best wishes to you in the New Year!

B.M. Palmer on the Warrant and Nature of Public Worship

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

Have you read the 1853 sermon by Benjamin Morgan Palmer on the Warrant and Nature of Public Worship? A review in Cortlandt Van Rensselaer’s The Presbyterian Magazine (Vol. 4 [1854], p. 39) says that “This discourse belongs to the permanent documents of sacred literature” [italics in the original].

Delivered at the dedication of a new edifice for his church in Columbia, South Carolina, Palmer sketched three principles which relate to the raison d'être of any true place of public worship:

  1. That man, endowed with a social nature, cannot attain the perfection which is possible to him, in the privacy and insulation of his own being.

  2. Public worship is necessary to the Church, as the visible kingdom of Christ.

  3. It is by means of the worship and ordinances of the sanctuary, this kingdom of Christ makes its aggressions upon the surrounding and opposing powers of darkness.

Palmer supports each proposition with Scriptural arguments, all derived from the text of John 4:23-24:

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

We have the text of this sermon on Log College Press, which has been extracted from T.C. Johnson’s biography of Palmer. The original published discourse [not yet available on LCP] also includes at the end Palmer’s concluding prayer, akin to Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple in 2 Chronicles 6. A portion of that prayer is found in the extract that is on Palmer’s page, but the final lines are not included in the extract. Those remaining lines from the original are given here to whet the reader’s appetite for the rest of the sermon.

And now, “O Lord God of Israel, which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants that walk before thee with all their hearts! Behold the Heaven, and the Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which we have built! Have respect, therefore, to the prayers and supplications of thy servants; let thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place! Here choose Zion, and desire it for an habitation. Here abundantly bless her provision, and satisfy her poor with bread! Arise, O, Lord God, into thy resting-place, — thou, and the ark of thy strength; let thy priests, O, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints shout aloud for joy. Let these walls be called salvation, and these gates praise.”

Take time to peruse this valuable discourse here. It is an excellent reminder of why as Christians we gather together corporately to praise and exalt our God, and how God is thereby glorified and the work of the kingdom is advanced.

Samuel Blatchford: Heaven is an Eternal Sabbath

Receive our blog posts in your email by filling out the form at the bottom of this page.

When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise, than when we'd first begun. — John Newton, “Amazing Grace”

A sermon delivered by Samuel Blatchford (1767-1828) not long before his passing from this life to the next still speaks to a truth of great importance to our own generation almost two centuries later. Preached on November 27, 1825 and published the following year, the sermon was titled The Sanctification of the Sabbath. Among the points made in conclusion (p. 20), we find a powerful argument for adhering to the Fourth Commandment in the recognition that the Christian Sabbath is in fact a foretaste of heaven.

A very great part of the exercises of the Sabbath, duly sanctified on earth, bears a strong resemblance to the employments of the heavenly world. Heaven is an eternal Sabbath. There the spirits of just men made perfect approach with delight the seat of the infinite Jehovah. With adoring praise, they pour forth their lively gratitude. With exquisite pleasure, they contemplate the Author of all things, who governs and actuates the immensity of beings, which occupy the universe of life. The hallelujahs of praise break forth in uninterrupted harmony from every angel, and every redeemed sinner. And, my brethren, in the due sanctification of this holy day on earth; in a general consent to worship God; not to speak our own words, nor to think our own thoughts; to have our meditation of God; to croud [sic] about his altars; to esteem a day spent in the courts of the Lord’s house preferable to a thousand elsewhere: O! this is to congregate with the hosts of glory, and to constitute a heaven upon the earth. Hereby we shall know him who hath sanctified the Sabbath, and be maturing for those enjoyments, where there remaineth a rest, a Sabbatismos, for the people of God.

What a profound thought it is to recall that our exercises of worship on the Lord’s Day are but prelude to joining the heavenly choir itself, to glorify God in heaven even more perfectly forever than we aim to do on earth each week. When we exalt the name of God together from one Sabbath to the next, we begin to taste the delight that awaits us where we will praise Him unceasingly. Read Blatchford’s full sermon on The Sanctification of the Sabbath here, and consider the reward of keeping God’s day holy on earth, which is a but a taste of heaven.

A Plea From the Psalter Itself: W.J. Robinson

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

In his introduction to Joseph W. Clokey’s David’s Harp in Song and Story (1896), William J. Robinson, who served as Moderator of the United Presbyterian Church of North America in 1899, puts forth a plea as if from the very Psalter itself.

The context had to do with a request on behalf of the UPCNA and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) to work jointly at developing a Psalter that all Presbyterians could employ in their praise of God.

Hear the plea from the Psalter itself as Robinson put it.

To this united committee from these three leading bodies of Christians this little work goes with its silent plea. It is sent to you that the Psalms may tell their own story. They come in no spirit of dispute; they do not propose to take issue with you on any of the questions of your Psalmody over which you conscientiously differ. At present they only plead for greater prominence in the praises of Zion. We are part of God's Inspired Word, they say to you, sent down from Heaven through the movings of the Holy Spirit that we may be sung in the praises of God's people. For more than twenty-five centuries we have been in the worship of the church, and what we have done in all these long ages, in comforting and inspiring the people of God, we are still capable of doing for the ages to come. Are you, and are your difficulties and dangers, and experiences, so different from your fathers who loved us, that you can afford to consign us to an obscure corner in your Books of Song! We claim a high place in your material of praise. Read our story and consider our plea.

Alexander Blaikie on what it means to praise God

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. — Ps. 150:6

The first chapter of Alexander Blaikie’s Catechism on Praise teaches us what is the fundamental nature of and reason for praise, that joyful duty to which we owe God.

I. What is the praise of God? 

It is the manifestation of his declarative glory by his creatures. Psa. 69:34; 150:6.

II. Do the Scriptures authorize or command that praise shall be given to God, as an act of worship? 

Yes, both. All creatures, but especially Christians, are required to render it. Psa. 86:12,13; 138:1; 65:1; 89:5.

III. Has God given to us any directions how we are to praise him? 

Yes, in his word. Psa. 9:1; 86:12; 109:30; Hos. 14:2; Heb. 13:15.

IV. For what are we to praise God? 

For his great and wonderful excellencies; for what he in himself, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Author of salvation to his saints; for what he has done, and what he has promised to do.

V. For what are we to give thanks? 

For all our comforts and hopes; especially for an interest in Christ, and the hope of eternal life. Eph. 5:20; Heb. 13:15.

VI. What, then, is the nature of praise? 

It is a tribute of affection and esteem, which we give to the true God, that thus we may increase his declarative glory. Psa. 50:23.

It is good not to lose sight of such a precious and fundamental precept as the duty to offer praise to our God. We always have occasion to praise the Lord even in all circumstances. He who praises his Maker and his Redeemer is blessed in rendering glory to God, which is our chief end and also our great delight.

The Benediction: No Mere Form But a True Blessing - William H. Adams

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

William Hooper Adams, Sr. argued in The Southern Presbyterian Review (Jan. 1874) that the benediction, which customarily concludes the public service of worship, is not a mere formality, but rather a crucial, and highly significant and meaningful, aspect of corporate worship.

After a study of the Biblical texts, and reference to many commentaries on the inspired Aaronic and New Testament blessings, Adams concludes that the benediction which customarily concludes a public worship service is not a mere dismissal of the congregation, not a mere prayer, and not a mere formality, but is instead rather a crucial affirmation of God’s blessing upon the worship that has just taken place.

Following Biblical precedent, it must be given by the pastor, who, invoking the sacred and holy name of the Most High, speaks peace to the people authoritatively and comfortingly, as the service concludes. In the words of Adams:

The Benediction is not so much our prayer as it is the Lord's "Amen" to his people's prayers and praises. Into it he collects all the desires and vows and holy meditations of the service now being terminated, and in this single sentence assures every true worshipper that every thing conformable with his will shall be accomplished; yea, that he will do exceeding abundantly, filling them with "all the fulness of God."

With this summary, Adams shows us how much the Lord gives to his children in the benediction, and what a high value we ought to place upon such a gift. Read his full essay on the matter here, and take note of what a rich blessing the benediction truly is at the conclusion of every public worship service.

A Guide to Family Worship by Harold M. Robinson

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

God is to be worshipped every where in spirit and in truth; as in private families daily, and in secret each one by himself (WCF 21.6; Mal. 1.11; Tim. 2.8, John 4.23-24; Matt. 6.11; Jer. 10.25; Deut. 6.6-7; Job 1.5; 2 Sam. 6.18, 20; 1 Pet. 3.7; Acts 10.2).

In 1923, Harold McAfee Robinson (1881-1939) published a helpful guide to family worship. It summarizes and give practical counsel regarding the three main features of worship in the family circle: the reading and study of the Holy Scriptures, prayer and song.

After providing reasons for the gathering of the family unit specifically to praise God, as well as summarizing leading principles that guide Biblical family worship — including such matters as focusing on the needs of the youngest children as well as older persons present, and what time of day to hold family worship — Robinson, in How to Conduct Family Worship, distinguishes the proper acts that constitute such a service.

The Cotter’s Saturday Night by William Kidd

The Cotter’s Saturday Night by William Kidd

What are the acts of family worship?

The acts of worship most appropriate to the family are the use of Scripture, prayer, and song. There are other acts of social worship, such as the sacraments and the bringing of offerings, which are not appropriate to the family. There are also other acts of worship which may be appropriate to the family, but these three acts are the most common and the most appropriate.

Regarding these three elements of family worship, Robinson devotes a chapter to each, which contains useful material to consider.

In the chapter on song, he encourages music in family worship, meaning hymns (he does not recommend the singing of psalms). Suggested material includes Louis F. Benson’s The Best Church Hymns.

Citing Robert M. M’Cheyne, who said, “You read your Bible regularly, of course; but do try to understand it, and still more to feel it. . . . Turn the Bible into prayer,” Robinson encourages families to read the Bible together in portions suitable to the abilities of the hearers, and to take what is read as seeds for prayer.

Finally, prayer is encouraged on the basis that the Word of God spoken to us should lead to a return of words spoken, sincerely, briefly and according to the needs and capacities of the family, back unto God. The matter of Scripture reading, the particular occasions which might call for particular prayers, and the general tenor of all family prayers are addressed.

There are several generally recognized elements in complete and orderly prayer. These are: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, petition, intercession, and submission.

There is much that is good in this handy little volume on family worship. Consider this manual as you and your family gather to praise God daily as we are commanded to do.

Girardeau on "the corner-stone of the Presbyterian system"

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by Himself, and so limited by His own revealed will, that He may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture (Westminster Confession of Faith 21:1).

When John L. Girardeau addressed the Synod of South Carolina at Purity Presbyterian Church, in Chester, S.C., on October 24, 1885, one particular point that he made resonates even today. We are ever prone to “relax” our principles and let our guard down in matters which are of the utmost importance. And as John Calvin has said, that how God is worshipped is the primary component of the substance (or essence) of Christianity itself (The Necessity of Reforming the Church), it is understood that the mode of Christian worship is indeed of the utmost importance. Hear Girardeau’s words then, as quoted by John T. Chalmers in his essay on Ten Reasons Why the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church Adheres to the Exclusive Use of the Inspired Psalter in the Worship of God (1900).

We are, in some respects, relaxing in our adherence to the great principle, that whatsoever is not explicitly commanded in the Scriptures, or cannot be deduced from them by good and necessary consequence, is forbidden — a principle which may be characterized as the corner-stone of the Presbyterian system. We have professedly, appropriated it as ours. In the department of doctrine it has been maintained by us, and in that of government progress has happily been made in its application. But in the department of worship there is a growing tendency to slight it, and the experience of the Church has proved that its abandonment in one sphere is sure to produce its relinquishment in others. There is imminent danger just here, and it is the solemn duty of the young men of this Synod to subject this controlling principle, for which our fathers contended unto blood, to a full and careful study, and then fearlessly to give it that thorough-going application which its supreme importance demands. If not, as surely as water runs down hill, so surely will our Church lapse into defection from her venerable testimonies.

It is not claimed that Girardeau himself adhered to exclusive psalmody as Chalmers did (Girardeau did adhere to a cappella worship). But the words of Girardeau here are consistent with what the Westminster Confession of Faith teaches, which all Presbyterians affirm, in one version or another. In the worship of God, only that which is commanded or may be legitimately deduced by good and necessary consequence is acceptable to Him. Whenever Christians depart from this rule, as Girardeau notes, the Church has lapsed from the Word of God and her great Reformed creedal testimonies. When Christians recover this principle, it is hoped that, by the mercy and blessing of God, Reformation will surely follow.

Is there sunshine in your soul today? For E.E. Hewitt, the answer is, Yes!

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Eliza Edmunds Hewitt (1851-1920) was a teacher in the Philadelphia public school system when tragically she was attacked by one of her students who, it is said, smashed a slate against her back. She was severely injured and spent months in a body cast with a spinal condition during which time she wrote poetry and studied the Scriptures. On the day that her body cast came off, she went for a walk in a nearby park. One can imagine the joy she must have felt on that milestone of her physical recovery. It inspired the hymn below which speaks unequivocally that “There is sunshine in my soul today!”

Hewitt, Eliza Edmunds, Sunshine in the Soul photo.png

Readers will note that the words of this hymn were written by Hewitt, while the music was composed by John R. Sweney. Sweney himself was a well-known musician who is credited with composing perhaps 1000 songs. Sweney collaborated with Hewitt on many hymns, as he had also collaborated with John Wanamaker. Many of Hewitt’s hymns are still sung today. This one stills brings a ray of sunshine to many.

A 1903 recommended pastoral library

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

We have examined previously what constitutes a solid, recommended pastoral library as described by Thomas Murphy; and J.O. Murray, B.B. Warfield, and others. In today’s post, we take a look at recommendations from George Summey of The Presbyterian Quarterly and R.A. Lapsley, Sr. in the Union Seminary Magazine of 1903.

In Vol. 16 of The Presbyterian Quarterly, pp. 407-409, we find a list of 100 recommended titles compiled from the suggestions of many pastors and professors as to what should constitute the basic inventory of a young pastor’s library.

Beginning with the King James Version and Revised Version of the Bible, and Greek and Hebrew lexicons, the list continues with Bible dictionaries and concordances, and Bible commentaries (Matthew Henry and J-F-B on the whole Bible, and select commentators on individual books, such as William Henry Green on Job and Joseph Addison Alexander on Isaiah), before proceeding to classics of Christian literature such as John Calvin’s Institutes, Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology, Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ, Thomas Murphy’s Pastoral Theology, Fisher’s Catechism, B.M. Palmer’s Theology of Prayer, and D'Aubigné’s History of the Reformation; and classics of literature in general, including Shakespeare, Milton, Tennyson and Dickens.

It is a full list with a sufficiently broad scope to encompass many areas of study with which each pastor ought to be acquainted. But no list of this nature is going to be complete. R.A. Lapsley wrote his own article to supplement that of the Presbyterian Quarterly by proposing several additional fields of literature of great value to the young minister.

  • Experimental religion - Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ; Archibald Alexander, Thoughts on Religious Experience; William S. Plumer, Vital Godliness; Jonathan Edwards, Religious Affections; and the practical works of John Owen;

  • Revivals of religion - G.W. Hervey’s Manual of Revivals, with particular reference to the bibliography at p. 143-144, and the outlines of George Whitefield’s sermons, and others;

  • Sermons — The sermons of Charles Spurgeon are recommended, as well as Stuart Robinson’s Discourses of Redemption; and those found in the 1896 Southern Presbyterian Pulpit;

  • Hymnology — S.W. Duffield, English Hymns: Their Authors and History; and

  • Christian biographies — Memoirs of Robert Murray M’Cheyne, Edward Payson, William C. Burns, and David Brainerd are among those recommended.

Lapsley concludes thus:

These, then, are some of the lines along which a preacher's library ought to grow, building upon the solid foundation laid down in the Quarterly’s list of one hundred books. If a man is to be a preacher and pastor, as well as a theologian and exegete, he wants to have and “inwardly digest” some books on religious experience and revivals of religion, some volumes of sermons, something on religious poetry, especially hymnology, and a number of the choicest religious biographies. These, along with text-books on Pastoral Theology and hand-books of missions, furnish the material for that great department of Practical Theology which is a vital point in ministerial equipment, coördinate with dogmatics and hermeneutics.

In short, the well-read and well-rounded minister is one who begins with the study of the Bible and proceeds to consult spiritual classics from the spectrum of history. Lapsley is not averse to recommending (for occasional perusal) the autobiography of Charles Finney (with a caution about his Pelagianism), but offers his highest praise of the practical works of John Owen. Read Summey’s list here, and Lapsley’s article here, for the combined pastoral library recommendations from the 1903 Presbyterian Quarterly and Union Seminary Magazine.

The Keys Psalter

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

Until the 1860’s, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) employed the 1650 Scottish Metrical Psalter (SMP) in its worship. But it was felt at that time that there was a need for a revised psalter.

In 1863, the RPCNA Synod minutes show that a communication was received from William W. Keys proposing the publication of a new edition of the Psalter with music settings appropriate to each Psalm. The Psalter project had apparently been initiated in 1860 (as the Preface tells us). The proposal was referred to a committee initially made up of T.P. Stevenson, A.C. Todd, N.R. Johnston and D.H. Coulter. The Psalter — known as the Keys Psalter — was published that year, and the following year Synod minutes show that Psalter had earned the endorsement of the special committee.

So in 1864, Synod recommended the Keys Psalter, which combined words and music on the same page and modernized some of the Scottish Psalter’s words (William J. Edgar, History of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, 1871-1920, p. 23).

The Committee gave its report as follows (which was adopted):

Feeling the need and importance of earnest effort for the improvement of the service of song-in our church, and the desirableness of greater uniformity in the service among our congregations; appreciating, also, from our own examination, and on the testimony of competent judges, the manifold excellencies of this work, especially its retention of time honored-melodies and generally judicious adaptations of music to the sentiments of the Psalms; and believing that the employment of this book will prove a strong support in the advocacy of Scriptural Psalmody, and also a means of extending the use of the songs of inspiration throughout the churches; therefore,

Resolved, That we recommend the use of this book in all our congregations, as well adapted for the attainment of the specified ends.

We would further recommend, in this connection, that all our sessions be urged to take measures for the improvement of the service of praise in their respective congregations, and that to this end, they encourage the formation of singing classes, and attendance upon them. D. M'Allister, Chairman.

The Keys Psalter had help from some notable names, including

  • French-American composer Leopold Meignen (1793-1873) - who served as a bandmaster in Napoleon’s army before coming to the United States, and who contributed several tunes to the Keys Psalter; and

  • James M. Willson, Keys’ pastor until 1862, when Willson left First RPC in Philadelphia to fill the chair of Theology at RPTS, who helped divide Psalms into smaller sections with assigned tunes.

The tune “Keys,” composed by Dr. Leopold Meignen, is assigned to Psalms 33 and 98.

The tune “Keys,” composed by Dr. Leopold Meignen, is assigned to Psalms 33 and 98.

Keys in his Preface spoke to what he saw as the prime benefit of this new edition of The Psalms of David.

The superiority of this book over any other Psalm-Book heretofore published consists in the music being printed along with each Psalm, or portion of Psalm, throughout the entire book.

The advantage of this is two-fold: 1st. The precentor is not compelled to hurriedly select a tune at the same time that he is searching for the Psalm which has been announced. He knows that having found the Psalm, suitable music to be sung to it is there also, and all he has to think of is to have the tune properly pitched. 2d. There is no doubt or hesitation on the part of the congregation in commencing to sing, as all know precisely what tune is to be sung, and are prepared to commence as soon as the first note is given.

In a Preface to the second edition (published a month after the first), Keys quotes an endorsement from William Blackwood:

Every congregation in the country in which the 'Old Psalms' are used, will thank the author and publisher for this beautiful and admirably designed volume. * * * The airs are selected with taste and judgment. The harmony is delightful; and the general circulation of this book in churches would unquestionably promote in a very powerful manner the extension of congregational singing of a very high order. Every Psalm, and, in many of the longer ones, the portions of them suitable for a service, are provided with a proper air; and thus the book may be used in the pew, the lecture-room, or in the family, as well as by a precentor or leader.

Keys Tune 2.jpg

The Keys Psalter is one of a series of editions approved by the RPCNA besides the old 1650 SMP, and it was followed by an 1889 split-leaf edition, and further editions in 1911, 1919, 1929, 1950, 1973 and 2009. Many of those later revisions took into account the work by Keys. For example, the tune Arlington, paired with Psalm 1, is also associated with Psalm 1 in the 1950 and 1973 editions (the former mentions the Keys Psalter in the Preface).

The Keys Psalter is an important step along the trajectory of psalmody in the RPCNA. Many editions were published in its heyday (at least 15 by 1874). Editions published in 1864 and 1865 are now available to peruse on Log College Press. We have little biographical information as of yet regarding William Wallace Keys, but we have learned when he lived (1832-1892), and where (primarily Philadelphia, although he died in Connecticut), and we take note of his arrangement of the tunes Kilmarnock and Wilson, as well as his driving passion to bring together words and music for the improvement of psalmody in the church. This was his motto, as shown on the cover of the Keys Psalter: “'I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also" — 1 Cor. 14:15.

I trust my efforts have been well directed and that the book may tend to the honour and glory of God, and to the delight of his people, by causing all who use it to "sing with the spirit and the understanding," and "with a loud noise skilfully." If so, then my design will be accomplished. — W.W. Keys

Jenny Geddes' Day

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

It was in the month of July—a month since become so memorable in the history of human freedom—on the twenty-third day of the month, that Jenny emerged from domestic obscurity to historic celebrity and renown.

From the pen of Wiliam Pratt Breed we have a reminder of an historical event of great importance to Presbyterians and all lovers of civil and ecclesiastical liberty. When authorities attempted on July 23, 1637, at St. Giles’ Cathedral in Edinburgh to impose the Book of Common Prayer upon the Presbyterian people of Scotland, a lady named Jenny Geddes is reputed to have started a riot by throwing her three-legged sitting stool at the prelate who was officiating the service while crying “Villian! dost thou say mass in my lug?” (meaning: “in my hearing”). This incident was pivotal in the ensuing Second Reformation of Scotland, which included the signing of the National Covenant in February 1638 and the purging of Episcopal bishops from the Church of Scotland later that year, as well as the military conflict which followed.

Jenny Geddes.jpg

For a helpful resource on the significance of this event in history, consider Breed’s Jenny Geddes, or, Presbyterianism and Its Great Conflict With Despostism (1869). As he walks the reader through those remarkable events in Scottish history, he highlights the debt that American Presbyterians and all Christians owe to Jenny and other faithful Scots during those troubled but inspiring times. As long as liberty is treasured, Jenny Geddes and her stool will be remembered.

A poem for the last day of June by Lucien V. Rule

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

As the first half of 2020 comes to a close, here is a sweet reminder that no matter what our lot, we have reason to fall to our knees with thanksgiving and offer praise to our Maker and Redeemer. This poem was published by Lucien V. Rule in 1903.

Worship

The passing days are full of pain
Unless she sweetly smiles on me;
And I would give all worldly gain
One kindly look of love to see,
Dear heart,
One kindly look of love to see.

The fields of June are golden fair,
The skies above are blissful blue;
But song is dumb with dark despair
Unless my love is fond and true,
Dear heart,
Unless my love is fond and true.

She guards her holy secret well,
Her trembling lips have naught to say;
But tender eyes more truly tell
The tale of love than poet’s lay,
Dear heart,
The tale of love than poet’s lay.

Ah, God, I thank Thee, and am glad
Again; and I will doubt no more;
My soul shall sing where it was sad,
And from its lowly sackcloth soar,
Dear heart,
And from its lowly sackcloth soar.

Sure, Heaven itself hath peace like this;
Sure, angels feel a love so sweet!
O sacred trust, O speechless bliss!
I fall silence at thy feet,
Dear heart,
I fall in silence at thy feet.

Prayers for the times from The Book of Common Worship

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

In times of national calamity, prayer is needed more than ever. And although written prayers imposed on corporate worship are not compatible with the liberty given to God’s people who are to keep only those ordinances which are commanded, and not those “which are in any thing contrary to His Word; or beside it, if matters of faith or worship” (WCF 20.2); yet, they may aid in our devotions as samples and guides, and The Book of Common Worship (1906) has some prayers which seem suitable to the times in which we live.

The 1906 Book of Common Worship was controversial in its day. It was the work of a committee composed of Henry Jackson Van Dyke, Jr., Louis F. Benson, and others. Some of the prayers below are also found in Benson’s A Book of Family Worship (1921), as well. May these particular prayers serve as encouragements to pray in our day along the lines of the sentiments expressed therein.

In Time of Pestilence

Holy and mighty Lord, who didst turn back the angel of the plague from the dwellings of Thy people; We beseech Thee to hear our cry for those who are suffering and dying, under the visitation of disease. Mercifully bless the means which are used to stay the spread of sickness, strengthen those who labour to heal and comfort the afflicted, support those who are in pain and distress, speedily restore those who have been brought low, and unto all who are beyond healing, grant Thy heavenly consolation and Thy saving grace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

After a Great Disaster

Almighty God, who are a very present help in time of trouble; Let not the heart of Thy people fail when fear cometh, but do Thou sustain and comfort them until these calamities be overpast: and since Thou knowest the cause and reason why this grievous disaster, hath fallen upon men, so do Thou heal the hurt and wounded, console the bereaved and afflicted, protect the innocent and helpless, and deliver any who are still in peril, for Thy great mercy’s sake. Amen.

In Time of Insurrection and Tumults

O Almighty Lord God, who alone riddest away tyrants by Thine everlasting determination, and stillest the noise and tumult of the people; Stir up Thy great strength, we beseech Thee, and come and help us; scatter the counsels of them that secretly devise mischief, and bring the dealings of the violent to naught; cast down the unjust from high places, and cause the unruly to cease from troubling; allay all envious and malicious passions, and subdue the haters and the evil-doers; that our land may have rest before Thee, and that all the people may praise Thee, our Help and our Shield, both now and evermore. Amen.

For Deliverance From National Sins

Lord God Almighty, defend our land, we beseech Thee, from the secret power and open shame of great national sins. From all dishonesty and civic corruption; from all vainglory and selfish luxury; from all cruelty and the spirit of violence; from covetousness which is idolatry; from impurity which defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit; and from intemperance which is the mother of many crimes and sorrows; good Lord, deliver and save us, and our children, and our children’s children, in the land which Thou hast blessed with the light of pure religion; through Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and King. Amen.

For All Who Are In Trouble

O God, remember in Thy mercy the poor and needy, the widow and fatherless, the stranger and the friendless, the sick and the dying: relieve their needs, sanctify their sufferings, strengthen their weakness: and in due time bring them out of bondage into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Amen.

Almighty and everlasting God, the Comfort of the sad, the Strength of sufferers; Let the prayers of those that cry out of any tribulation come unto Thee; that all may rejoice to find Thy mercy present with them in their afflictions; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

God of all comfort, we commend to Thy mercy all those upon whom any cross or tribulation is laid; the nations who are afflicted with famine, pestilence, or war; those of our brethren who suffer persecution for the sake of the Gospel; all such as are in danger by sea or land, and all persons oppressed with poverty, sickness, or any infirmity of body or sorrow of mind. We pray particularly for the sick and afflicted members of this church, and for those who desire to be remembered in our prayers. May it please Thee to show them Thy fatherly kindness, chastening them for their good: that their hearts may turn unto Thee, and receive perfect consolation, and deliverance from all their troubles, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Be merciful, O God, unto all who need Thy mercy, and let the Angel of Thy Presence save the afflicted: Be Thou the Strength of the weary, the Comfort of the sorrowful, the Friend of the desolate, the Light of the wandering, the Hope of the dying, the Saviour of the lost, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

We remember before Thee, O Lord, our brethren who are tried with sickness: entreating Thee to increase their faith and patience, to restore them to health, if it be Thy will, and to give them a happy issue out of all their troubles. Have pity on all widows and orphans; succour all who are in danger by sea and land, all prisoners and captives, and all who are oppressed with labour and toil. Have mercy on those who are tempted, and on those who are in darkness and perplexity, and strengthen them with Thy Holy Spirit. Be present with those who are dying, and grant that they may depart in peace, fearing no evil, and live before Thee in Thy heavenly kingdom; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Van Rensselaer's Calendar for Every Year

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

In 1841, the Episcopal Bishop of New Jersey, George Washington Doane, published a pamphlet titled The Rector’s Christmas Offering, in which he expounded upon the meaning of the liturgical calendar as employed by his church. Soon thereafter, a response appeared — one of several directed towards the High Church views of his neighbor — by Cortlandt Van Rensselaer, Sr. (under the pseudonym, “a Presbyterian”) — representing the Presbyterian view of the liturgical calendar, which is undergirded by the Second and Fourth Commandments: it was titled Man’s Feasts and Fasts in God’s Church (1842). He took the bishop to task for intruding upon the simplicity of Biblical worship — as marked by 52 (on occasion 53) holy Sabbath days per year, rather than a host of (approximately 120) man-made holy days intermixed with God’s own divinely-appointed day of rest. Appended to his pamphlet is a calendar which sometimes makes the rounds on social media even today (occasionally modified to reflect the current year).

Van Rensselar’s calendar for 1842.

Van Rensselaer’s calendar for 1842.

One may read Van Rensselaer’s position in his own words here, but the calendar speaks for itself.

It is noteworthy that when Bishop Doane passed away in 1859, it was his neighbor, Van Rensselaer, who stepped up to deliver his funeral sermon. It is found in his Miscellaneous Sermons, Essays, and Addresses, published posthumously in 1861, in which he prefaces his remarks:

Providence often summons a person to the performance of duties, which would otherwise more naturally have devolved upon others. Living In Burlington, by the side of Bishop Doane, I felt called upon to notice his death. My own stand-point varies from that of some others. I shall have no personal controversy with any who differ from me. God is the Judge of all.

The backstory for this calendar is helpful to bear in mind as it has a context in which its author strenuously argues for simplicity of Biblical worship, and later demonstrated graciousness in honoring his opponent on this very subject with a funeral sermon commending the Bishop’s virtues while acknowledging their differences. If this is your first look at the calendar, consider what Van Rensselaer has to say in regards to the liturgical calendar. If you have seen it before, but without context, now you know the rest of the story.

W.D. Ralston: Jesus Sang Psalms

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30).

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me (Luke 24:42).

It is a simple truth, but one which is often forgotten or overlooked, that Jesus in His earthly ministry sang the very Psalms that speak so clearly of Him.

William David Ralston in his Talks on Psalmody in the Matthews Family (1877) reminds us of this truth.

When Jesus was here upon earth he sang these Scripture psalms. We find him speaking of them as the Book of Psalms, and we read that he, in company with his disciples engaged in singing, and we are driven to the conclusion, that the songs they sung were these psalms of David, because we have not the least evidence that any other sacred songs were then in existence. We know that the psalms were then sung in God's worship, and we have no evidence whatever, that any other sacred songs were sung, or were in existence. In Matth. xxvi. 30, we read, "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." Expositors of the Bible tell us that this hymn was a Jewish hallel which is a portion of the psalms, namely, the cxiii and cxviii inclusive. I am clearly convinced that if our blessed Savior sung any songs when here on earth, they were the psalms, and surely we ought to prize them, because he sang them. If they were good enough for him, ought they not to be good enough for us?

The Southern Presbyterian Review at Log College Press

(Receive our blog posts in your email by clicking here. If the author links in this post are broken, please visit our Free PDF Library and click on the author’s page directly.)

As our friends at the PCA Historical Center, who have done much to aid students of history by indexing a valuable theological journal, have noted about The Southern Presbyterian Journal:

Published from June of 1847 through October of 1885, the Southern Presbyterian Review remains a significant publication for the study of the history, doctrine and polity of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., a denomination more commonly known as the Southern Presbyterian Church. As one of its authors, John B. Adger noted, "Running from 1847 to 1885, its thirty-six volumes cover a very interesting term of years. Political, educational, moral, ecclesiastical, theological discussions were rife in those times. The war was coming on, and the ideas that led to it stirred men's minds and hearts."

At Log College Press, we have recently add all 36 volumes to the site for your reading pleasure. This journal included writings by Southern Presbyterian giants such as John B. Adger, Samuel J. Baird, Robert J. Breckinridge, Robert L. Dabney, John L. Girardeau, George Howe, Benjamin M. Palmer, Thomas E. Peck, William S. Plumer, Stuart Robinson, Benjamin M. Smith, Thomas Smyth, James H. Thornwell, B.B. Warfield, John L. Wilson, and others. Some additional contributors found within these pages include the Irish Presbyterian Thomas Witherow, the Scottish Presbyterian William Garden Blaikie and the German-born, New Orleans-based Jewish Rabbi Isaac L. Leucht. There is a wealth of discussion, and sometimes a diversity of views, on matters such as the office of the diaconate, church-state relations, baptism, Roman Catholicism, dancing, missions, church history, musical instruments in worship, poetry, preaching, the Christian Sabbath, evolution, eschatology, and much more.

Begin your reading here, and remember that some individual articles are found on the author pages at LCP, and some are not (or not yet). Thanks to Dr. Wayne Sparkman, author and subject indices are available at the PCA Historical Center. There is a veritable treasure trove of material here to download, digest and reference at your leisure. Enjoy!