When Scripture Sings

“The Lord desires us to make mention of His goodness and tell of His power. He is honored by the expression of praise and thanksgiving. He says, ‘Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.’ The people of Israel, as they journeyed through the wilderness, praised God in sacred song. The commandments and promises of the Lord were set to music, and all along the journey these were sung by the pilgrim travelers.”[*]

The Journey Begins

I have always found it difficult to memorize Scripture. I would labor away in my mind, trying to think what the next word was, and would really struggle to hold the words in my head. It was most unsatisfactory!

Then in 2017 a Seventh-day Adventist friend and I, here in down-under New Zealand, decided to do something about it. We began taking turns setting the weekly memory verses from the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide to music. We alternated, and each week one of us managed to produce a new little tune.

By the end of the year we were humbly thankful for the small collection we had created! Even more exciting, we discovered we could memorize Scripture much more easily when our simple little tunes accompanied the words of the Bible. We can still remember the words that we put to music back when we started in 2020!

Soon we wondered whether these tunes could help others retain the sacred text in their minds too.

Several musically minded Adventists came to mind to help us out. Sonja Whitehouse is a professional musician, blessed with a magnificent set of vocal cords. Driekie Pheiffer plays the piano with great skill and can make a plain tune suddenly sound really interesting. Trevor Brown is a tenor whose voice lifts every song and Tessa Bagrie sounds like a soothing wind instrument when she sings. Then there’s Max Solomon, whose versatile voice combines sacredness with a cool contemporary sound.

I approached these friends, along with a few others who were interested in what we were doing, and before long our little group developed.

The Methodology

Our plan was to record the singing of these verses with a small group of volunteers. But we quickly realized the challenges with this. We had no recording gear or technical expertise ourselves, so we recorded our first song in a studio. Hiring the studio was extremely expensive, and this was just one of several drawbacks. Recording with a group made it difficult to keep everyone singing perfectly in sync and to hear the words clearly.

We didn’t want to throw the towel in yet, however. Encouraged by the thought of these tunes helping folks memorize portions of the Bible, we forged on.

Driekie suggested that the tunes be sung by soloists so that the words would be more clearly heard. Sonja suggested we try recording in one of our church buildings to avoid studio fees. Then another suggested one of our colleagues who owned quality recording equipment—would he be interested in helping? Step by step we pressed on.

We discovered we could memorize Scripture much more easily when our simple little tunes accompanied the words of the Bible.

It’s hard to remember exactly how the team came together. It happened organically, with the Lord pulling all the components together. Before long we were underway.

Recording Days

We meet on Sundays at the Ilam Seventh-day Adventist Church in Christchurch, New Zealand. We begin with prayer, and then record the texts for the following quarter. It generally takes us the whole day to record all 13 texts. We typically have two male and two female soloists, accompanied by a range of instrumentalists, depending on people’s availability.

The tunes are written by four different songwriters. Even though Driekie now lives in South Africa, thanks to email, distance is no barrier! Each composer has a distinct style, which ensures there is good variety for each quarter. Every tune uses the words exactly as stated in the Adult Bible Study Guide and always ends with the Bible reference.

Our writers create their masterpieces at home and then send draft recordings to me. I compile these into a file and email them to our vocalists so they can familiarize themselves with the tunes before we come to record. Then, with a mixture of planning, inspiration, and talent, we put it all together on the day of recording.

Recording days are fun and very informal! Sometimes a tune is successfully recorded after one take, while others can take longer, some up to a dozen takes. At least we become very familiar with that particular text! Occasionally we have two or even three soloists singing together to vary the sound. It’s amazing how mixing a few voices can create a completely different feel to a tune and impact the emotion of the text.

We break up the day by sharing a delicious plant-based meal at lunchtime. During this break we encourage each other and discuss how to keep the standard of the tunes at a quality that reflects the glory of our wonderful Creator.

The Sound of Scripture

Initially these music texts were available to listeners on our local New Zealand South Island church website. But as the collection of tunes grew, the website could not store everything. The site could hold tunes for three quarters, and then the oldest set would drop off. We didn’t want to lose our music. How could we preserve the music permanently?

The solution came with the launch of our own website, TheSoundofScripture.com, which hosts all the Bible texts we’ve set to music. It’s a growing list, as, of course, a new set is added with each quarter. Clicking on the picture of the Bible study guide brings up a medley of all that quarter’s verses—usually 15 to 20 minutes long. Beneath that, each verse can also be played individually.

Sometimes we wonder at how it is that new tunes continue to flow into our minds. We feel very blessed to have produced these tunes, and we pray that the Lord keeps our hearts humble so that He can continue to bless this ministry in the future. Whether we’re recording together or humming alone at home, it’s a joy to know that His Word stays with us, note by note, line by line.

[*] Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons (Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Pub. Assn., 1900, 1941), pp. 298, 299.