I started putting music to the psalms back in the early 90’s. I became a member, (and still am) of the Presbyterian Church of Eastern Australia (PCEA). Our church has a tradition of singing unaccompanied psalms in public worship. This exposure to the psalms motivated me, along with another member, Matthew Jacoby, to try and put music to the psalms straight from the English text, (we used mainly the NIV). We found a third musician, Rod Gear and eventually formed the band Son’s of Korah.

 

I played with S.O.K for a few years then eventually ended up doing a solo album, Songs of Deliverance - 10 psalms set to acoustic guitar based music. My aim was (and still is) to put appropriate musical arrangements to the Biblical text as found in our translations, without letting the music determine the word structure. Therefore having the words rhyme, and fit into a standard verse/chorus arrangement is not important. I want people to be able to sing, and more importantly, remember the Word of God verse for verse in both whole psalms and portions. It’s an amazing advantage to your Christian walk when you can have the Word of God stored in your heart and head ready for use in the battle. (see Psalm 119:11).

 

 

 

In 2005 my wife Jane and I did a U.S tour to promote Songs of Deliverance. The U.S tour went really well. We ministered in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Denver, Colorado Springs, Phoenix, Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Diego, getting 4 or 5 days to wind down in Southern California before flying back to Australia.