My fIrst impressions of the Psalter Hymnal Supplement were not good. Not so much because of the words (though there are a few of questionable quality on that score too) as the tunes. I thought to myself: How many of those tunes will we actually be able to sing in the average Canadian Christian Reformed Church, many of which lack real expert organists?

But I didn‘t want to depend entirely on my own judgment, since I’m no musical expert either. So I gave a copy to our head organist, and asked him for his evaluation. A week later he came back and said: There are about 15 of the song. .. that we might be able to sing. Fifteen out of 63. A rather low percentage! I ask: Was it worth the money? Our consistory is thankful that we ordered only a dozen copies. The forms in the back will come in handy.

Frankly, I get a bit perturbed about this. Quite some time ago Editor Haverkamp expressed his dismay in De Wachter about some of the proposed tunes. He said: Let’s at lcast have tunes that we can sing. I say, Amen! I don’t really know what criteria the committee used to come up with the songs they did; but here again, I wish they would have had at least a few of the common, ordinary people on their committee. As it is, the committee is heavily over-balanced with “experts” in the field of music or liturgy. But many pastors and members don‘t go so much for this new-fangled stuff. They want songs they can sing and sing lustily.

I am disappointed too about the songs that are not included in the selection, among them some from the Old Psalter. I still have never figured out why some beautiful songs in the Old Psalter were not put in the new edition. I mentioned this to the committee which was preparing the Supplement, and suggested that they reintroduce some of these songs in the proposed Supplement. They didn‘t, and perhaps they have their reasons.

To my mind there are lots and lots of beautiful hymns available, in all types of books. The problem is to select them and get them together in one book of praise which can be used in our churches. Perhaps this is what the committee refers to when it states: “Certain often requested and liturgically sound hymns had to be eliminated due to copyright costs that could become a misuse of kingdom funds.” But it seems to me that would hardly apply to those songs that were previously included in the Old Psalter Hymnal.

Just to mention a few I would have liked to see included: “There is a Fountain Filled With Blood”; “Though Your Sins Be as Scarlet”; “I Was a Wandering Sheep”; “Some Day the Silver Cord Will Break”; “Most Perfect Is the Law of God.” All songs whose words are thoroughly biblical, and whose tunes are very singable. Why were these not included?

And what about such fine and well-known hymns as “How Great Thou Art”; “There Were Ninety and Nine”; “When Mothers of Salem”; “There’s Power in the Blood”; “Wonderful Words of Life”; “Would You Be Free?”; “A Wonderful Savior”; “There Is no Name So Sweet on Earth”; and several others? I hope that if we’re going to have another supplement in a few years, the committee will include some of these, so the church can really “make a joyful noise” to the Lord. We don’t have much in the case of those difficult, one-tone tunes through which the congregation stumbles and mumbles.

One more thing: Don’t we have enough tunes in the Psalter which we can‘t sing at present? Many are psalms, with beautiful words, but with difficult or awkward tunes. Why doesn’t the committee spend its time finding new tunes for those beautiful words? Then they would really be accomplishing something worthwhile for all the churches. As it stands now, they haven‘t helped us much. I hope there are others who are helped more. And in the future perhaps we can take a cue and some helpful ideas from our Canadian Reformed brethren who just recently published a book of praise for their churches.