Jordan's Song Suggestions

Next time you're planning a service, how about picking some of these songs:

We can use a psalm as a call to worship (e.g. 20, 24, 27, 29), another for confession (6, 25, 38, 51), another for praise for our deliverance into the kingdom (5, 8, 9, 11, 18), another as an exhortation to hear the Word or as a preaching text (1, 14, 15, 19, 37), another as a communion meditation (16, 23, 36, 45, 48), and another as a commissioning dismissal at the end of worship (2, 47, 72, 82, 110, 149). (p77)

Beyond the 150 psalms, there are many other songs in the Bible that we can chant and that should become part of the warp and woof of our being, such as the Song of the Red Sea (Exodus 15), the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), the Song of Deborah (Judges 5), the Song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2), the Prayer of Jonah (Jonah 2), the Song of Habakkuk (Habakkuk 3), several songs in Isaiah, the Song of Mary, the Song of Simeon, the Song of Zechariah, several songs in Paul (Philippians 2:5-11, Colossians 1:13-20; 1 Timothy 3:16), and the songs in Revelation. (p80)

[At the end of the service:] The appropriate response of the congregation is a psalm of dismissal, such as the Nunc Dimittis (“Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace”) or the Benedictus (“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people”).” (p93)

Theses on Worship: Notes Towards the Reformation of Worship second edition, slightly revised (Niceville, Transfiguration Press, 1^st ed. 1994, 1998)

In fact, maybe we should stick to biblical songs till we've got them memorised and then we can worry about mastering Spring Harvest 27, or whatever?