Narodil se v Prudníku jako Matthäus Apelt, jeho otec byl sedlářem. Vynikl jako talentovaný hudebník a v roce 1625 dostal místo u vévody Jindřicha Václava Münsterberského.
In 1675, the King Charles XI of Sweden appointed him as court chaplain. During the wars in the following years, he followed the King, and became a close confidant of his.
The Becker Psalter is a German metrical psalter authored by the Leipzig theologian Cornelius Becker and first published by Jakob Apel in Leipzig in 1602 under the title Der Psalter Davids Gesangweis.
Johann Matthäus Meyfart, also Johann Matthaeus Meyfahrt, Mayfart (9 November 1590 – 26 January 1642) was a German Lutheran theologist, educator, academic teacher, hymn writer and minister.