Rev. Dick Wynia and his wife Charlene
Interview with Rev. Dick Wynia
For thirty years Dick Wynia has served as a pastor in several Reformed churches and federations in Canada. He brings experience from the CRCNA, URCNA and most recently from the Canadian Reformed Churches. During the course of his ministry, Rev. Wynia has been asked to teach various courses of doctrine and church history in Ukraine and Timor (Indonesia) and he has spoken at more than a few meetings among the churches on Christian living, Christian education and church history topics. His passion for the Reformed faith is evident throughout his ministry. He was kind enough to join the Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms project and below he lets us in on some of his thinking and experiences as he worked on it. Enjoy! Peter Holtvlüwer
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PH: Let me start by thanking you for your contribution to Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms. Besides being invited, what drew you to participate in this project?
DW: I suppose that what attracted me to participating in this project was my own desire to do some more in-depth study of the Psalms. I’ve always been somewhat intimidated by the prospect of preparing a sermon on a psalm. It’s so often difficult to identify the specific historical context that gave rise to their composition, so I felt as though a key ingredient for understanding and preaching them fruitfully was missing, or not certain. I’ve preached from the psalms in connection with specific events in congregational life, like funerals and weddings, or on special days like Thanksgiving Day or the Prayer Service for Crops and Labour. In that way, there was a context in which to apply the thoughts and sentiments of the various psalms. But I wanted to gain some confidence about preaching relevant sermons from the psalms, and I thought that by taking the time to study a number of them carefully, I could develop a “skill” in working with them for that purpose, in spite of the fact that we can’t always identify the events or experiences that form the background of a given psalm.
PH: Which particular psalms did you work on? Tell us about one of the most interesting or surprising things that you learned in working on your psalms.
DW: I worked on Psalms 73-83, the psalms of Asaph (Psalm 50 is also a psalm of Asaph). As it turned out, in the case of these psalms, not only is it difficult to determine the specific historical background in every case, the fact that we’re given the author’s name doesn’t guarantee tha
t we know exactly who the author was. Asaph was appointed by David as one of the chief musicians, but some of the psalms ascribed to him (Psalm 74, 79, e.g.) give every appearance of having been written after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. Early in my ministry, a member of the congregation had chosen Psalm 73 as the text to be used for the message at her funeral, and I found that Psalm 73 helped her loved ones to come to grips with the difficulties she had faced throughout her life and her sudden death. It was actually that experience that led me to choose the psalms of Asaph as my assignment for the project. I found that in these psalms, Asaph wrestled with the hard things that God’s people both collectively and as individuals have to deal with in faith. They are deeply honest; they ask God questions that we might think are disrespectful and even blasphemous. I found that the Holy Spirit puts these questions into our mouths, and allows us to ask them, but, always, always in the context of God’s sovereignty and God’s steadfast love for his covenant people.
PH: One of the key things you were asked to find were legitimate connections to Jesus Christ in each psalm. How did you find this task (difficult or…)? Did your psalms present any distinctive difficulties in this respect? Did you learn of any connections to Christ that were new to you?
DW: I found that I had underestimated the connection between these psalms and the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. At first glance, that connection is not immediately apparent, but, as you reflect on the psalms, you will recognize how they prophesy about or foreshadow his life and death and resurrection, and how the gift of the Holy Spirit fulfils the prayers offered in these psalms for the restoration of God’s dwelling place. The prayers in these psalms for the preservation of the people are prayers for the work of Christ to gather, defend and preserve a church for himself. One of the most significant Christ connections that you find in these psalms is his role as Judge. Many times these psalms call for God to judge the wicked, and the enemies of God’s people. In this way, the psalmist directs us to look to Christ and to find comfort in the knowledge that he will come again, and he will set things right. In a world filled with rebellion against God and injustice against his people, it is encouraging to know that Christ will repay his and our enemies—and that he will vindicate all those who put their trust in him.
PH: You are a full-time minister with plenty of demands on your schedule. How did you manage to work on CPOP alongside of your regular work? Did you encounter any special challenges? What sorts of things did you do to help you complete the assignment?
DW: My strategy was probably one used by most of the contributors: I tried to get a double benefit out of my work. I used the work that I did for the project to prepare sermons on the 11 psalms assigned to me. I spread my work out through two summers, and managed to get the bulk of the assignment done that way, without adding significantly to my weekly workload. I found that it was difficult to make much progress when I could only devote a few hours at a time. I needed to get into a mode or rhythm of working, so, when crunch time came closer, I used pulpit exchange weeks to spend several days at a time 
working only on the project. That was the most productive way for me to work when I had to “polish off” the psalms for the editor. My consistory was also very understanding, and if extra time was needed, they were willing to grant that to me. One of the biggest challenges that I faced was the one that I always face: my tendency to procrastinate. I’m afraid that I haven’t overcome that tendency yet, but, doing the work on these psalms forced me to be somewhat more disciplined and methodical than I am by nature.
PH: How many hours (on average) did you put into each psalm? How did your wife feel about your involvement in Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms?
DW: I didn’t keep track, but I think that it’s fair to say that it was at least as long as preparing a sermon, and, as several of the contributors have said, that is probably in around 20-25 hours. It’s hard to say, because after I had the main things done, I had to go back and fill in the blanks. I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my writing, and I tend to work on the details for a long time. As for how my wife felt about my involvement in this project, she generally encourages me to take on extra assignments like this. Besides, she’s “ordered” a book of devotions that I’m supposed to have completed by the time we celebrate our 40th anniversary (late 2018, the Lord willing). As far as she was concerned, this project would get me going in the right direction. I won’t say how much—or little—progress I’ve made toward filling her order, but there’s no doubt that the experience of preparing meditations based on my psalms gave me some hope that I just might be able to present her with a book of devotions at some point in the future.
PH: How did the study of the Psalms impact you personally?
DW: I think that the study of the Psalms impacted me most of all in encouraging me to trust in the Lord in the face of discouraging events. Things take place in the life of an individual congregation or believer, and in the situation of the church of the Lord Jesus in this world that confuse us, and may discourage us. The psalms that I worked on dealt with those kinds of things, the questions and the fears that they raise in the hearts and minds of believers. It was very encouraging to be reminded of the history of God’s faithfulness to his people throughout the ages, and as I mentioned earlier, to recognize the fulfilment of his promises and the vindication of his people in Jesus Christ. One of the most trying things that a faithful believer can experience is the deformation of the church, and a sense that God is allowing the enemy to have his way with his people. I found Psalm 74 to be a great help in contemplating that kind of trial, as Asaph cries out to God to remember his people, and traces the mighty acts of God for the salvation of Israel. It was encouraging to be reminded that God’s great concern in his work of salvation is the glory of his Name, and that this is our “guarantee” that he will not abandon his people or his purpose.
PH: CPOP Study Resource was developed in part with Christian teachers and preachers in mind. In your mind, what stands out as the most useful features for educators? For ministers?
DW: I think that for teachers, one of the most useful features of the project is the systematic and thorough way in which the various elements of the psalms are presented. In addition to giving some more technical information about composition and structure, the Study Resource provides them with a brief but comprehensive way of understanding the psalm, seeing it in its Old Testament and New Testament context, in relation to our confessions, and above all, in relation to the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, not only does the Study Resource provide teachers with basic information about the psalms, it does so in a structured and orderly way, that particularly suits the classroom situation. It does all of this in a distinctly Reformed way. I think that it will help teachers to see for themselves and to show their students that the book of Psalms is not a random, loose collection of Hebrew poetry, but a coherent assembly of psalms that deal with a variety of themes. They’ll come to see that these cherished songs reflect the history of God’s work of salvation and how that work of God is a comfort for every believer.
I think that for preachers, probably that last point is among the most helpful features of the project. We’re familiar with the psalms because we sing them every Sunday, and we use them frequently in our pastoral work. They resonate with people who are lonely, discouraged, growing old, as well as with those who are dying as well as those who are welcoming new life into their families. But we don’t often think of them in their context within the book of Psalms, and within the whole canon of Scripture. We don’t always recognize their connection to the history of salvation. The Psalms are a special form of literature, and we can’t treat them as though they were trying to record histo
ry, the way Genesis and Joshua do, for example. Nor should we treat them as though they were epistles, addressing doctrinal and ethical issues in the way the apostles do. But we should understand them and preach them as part of the whole Scriptural revelation. That means that we should preach them as Christ’s psalms, as psalms that promise and foreshadow the coming, the ministry, the victory and the return of the Lord Jesus, as the gospel for God’s people today and every day. Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms will help preachers to fulfil that responsibility.
PH: How do you think people in your church might use either CPOP’s Study Resource or Devotional? What benefits do you see in this material for ordinary Christians? You’ve also been involved in mission work in Timor and training work in the Ukraine. Would CPOP be of benefit to believers in those situations? Please explain.
DW: I think that people in my church could use the Study Resource for a Bible study group. The information provided would be more than adequate to help them to prepare an essay, or prepare for a discussion on any of the psalms, and the questions that have been included lend themselves as a guide for discussion. People can always make use of it for personal study, of course, but it would be an excellent addition to any church library as a resource for the various Bible study societies. I don’t know how many of our people make use of prepared meditations for their regular devotions, but that would be quite an obvious way that they could use the Devotional. They could be used personally, with the family, or when various church or school meetings are being opened.
Teaching the Scripture is obviously one of the greatest priorities of the work on the mission field. In places like Ukraine, where they don’t have the history of Reformed thought and where the freedom of Christians was greatly restricted during the Communist era, there are very few sound Biblical resources available. That means that CPOP would be very useful in those contexts. Again, the information the Study Resource provides is invaluable, but the way in which the psalm is explained and applied, the way it is set in the context of the rest of Scripture and of the confessions, the way in which the psalms are presented as Christ’s psalms, the various Biblical themes that are identified—these make the Resource extremely helpful in these situations.
PH: Thank-you for taking the time to answer these questions. Did you wish to make any other comments about this project that might interest our readers?
DW: The CPOP project is unique, but the contribution that it makes is all the more useful for that reason. The original incentive was to provide a resource for the schools, but it will be helpful in a variety of contexts. I hope that it will be a blessing for God’s people in “our” Christian schools and churches and beyond.
**Fini**
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