Genevan Psalm 124

Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

(Psalm 124:8, ESV)

One of the great benefits of the Reformation of the sixteenth century was the recovery of congregational singing.  Luther, Reformer both of church doctrine and worship practice, believed the pursuit of music was secondary only to the study of theology.  Thus music flourished in Lutheran circles and set a faithful precedent for other protestant churches.  Calvinistic congregations took to singing metrical psalms: psalms poetically paraphrased into the native tongue of the local church.  In the centuries following the Reformation, Reformed churches sang only psalms, without harmony or accompaniment.  Yet, the simple and unadorned music that originated in Calvin’s church in Geneva saw widespread popularity throughout Europe.  (Elizabeth I of England supposedly nicknamed the jaunty tunes “Geneva Jigs.”)

The music of the Genevan Psalter was composed and edited largely by Loys (Louis) Bourgeois, composer of the tune ‘Old Hundredth’ (TH 1), commonly sung to the Doxology text “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”  Within a few years, the Genevan Psalter was the official hymnal of the Genevan church and was so highly regarded that the Bourgeois himself was later arrested for altering the tunes.  Unfortunately, this event forced him to turn his back on the Genevan church and leave the city.

‘Old 124^th’, another of Bourgeois’s tunes, was composed early in the development of the Genevan Psalter and was carried to England and Scotland by the returning exiles that had earlier fled the persecutions of Mary Tudor.  Scottish Presbyterians in particular seem to have latched on to this stirring psalm setting.

"Come Ye Thankful People, Come"

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. (Ps. 126:6 ESV)

The phrase “Harvest Home” describes the act of gathering grain from the fields into the village for storage and refers a time of celebration and thanksgiving.  Scripture often connects harvest with rejoicing.  In Ps. 126, for example, sowing seed is a mournful deed in comparison to the peals of joy that accompany the reaping of grain.  Men rejoice at harvest, relieved from the summer’s heat, the weeds and pests, and from anxiously praying for rain.

Recalling the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Mt. 13, the hymn writer uses the grain harvest as a metaphor for the harvest of the redeemed that shall yet occur in history.  The wholesome wheat and troublesome tares grow up together in the same field, but at the harvest God separates the plants for storage or destruction.  Harvest is a day of rejoicing because the grain is gathered into storage and the weeds have been eradicated for all time.

The hymn’s tune, ST. GEORGE’S, WINDSOR, is a majestic, almost regal melody.  The tune appropriately matches this text of Christian experience: it is at once joyous, thankful, and respectful of hardship that has been long endured.  The name of the tune derives from the London church where George Elvey was employed as organist.  The tune is easy to sing and remember because of recurring rhythmic and melodic elements.  Whereas it would be easy for these motives to become tediously repetitive, Elvey has incorporated enough variation to make the tune at once both memorable and interesting.