Psalm 119:103-4

Here's another setting I recently completed of a couple verses from Psalm 119.  Enjoy!

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.

The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing. (Psalm 65:13)

This verse supports the medieval notion that creation is ordered much like a piece of music. The order and harmony of the earth itself sings God’s praise. In Paul’s language, God’s invisible attributes are known from the things made. Our songs then should reflect the harmony of the Godhead, the wisdom of God in creation, and strive remind us of God’s manifold attributes.

Didactic Singing

It has been said that preaching should comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Music in God's worship ideally will do a similar thing. As we sing God's praises we are reminded of the protection and Fatherly care we receive from God (Psalm 91) as well the seriousness of sin (Psalm 51) and importance of righteousness (Psalm 15). From the references in Ephesians and Colossians we know that singing is a means of teaching and correcting one another. This is consistent with the view that the book of Psalms in addition to being "the prayers of David" are a microcosm of the entire canon of scripture: we learn the Bible as we sing the psalms and therefore teach each other through singing.

Just what form this takes requires study and reflection and will inevitably lead to some liturgical reform. The fact is that the metrical psalms we sing in our Reformed churches aren't set up well for "teaching and admonishing one another," for in Hebrew poetry the natural dialogue that occurs structurally is downplayed in metrical settings. The didactic element of singing Paul talks about is likely the physical and spacial performance of the parallel phrase structure in the psalms. Early Christians would have been familiar with this method of singing from what was done in Jewish worship. In singing to each other (i.e. Dec. and Can.) we tangibly "discern the body" similarly as when taking the Supper.

Winfred Douglas on the Psalms

“Few churches sing the Psalms at all. Fewer follow any order which insures the regular use of the entire Psalter…I know of at least one small country church where for years the daily Evensong Psalter has been sung through every month, and the Matins Psalter read. A certain degree of adaptability to conditions, of reasonable flexibility is good but the permissions granted in the rubric have further worked out disastrously in our Offices. Not only our people but some of our clergy, are slowly losing any spiritual knowledge of the Psalter as a whole. The spiritual knowledge has, in every age, been the main sustainer of the soul of man apart from the sacraments and prayer, and the vehicle of the praise of God even in the sacraments.”

What a sorry state of affairs. Douglas wrote this back in the 30's. We Presbyterians should be ashamed; we who claim to value the psalms so highly. Even if we don't revive the daily office we'd be doing well if we had regular contact with the psalms.

Psalm 96:1-4

O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless His name; shew forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people. For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods.

Here we are exhorted to sing a new song. A less-evident understanding holds that old songs are to be sung as if they are new, in a fresh and winsome way. But the more obvious meaning certainly applies. During David’s and Solomon’s times lots of brand new songs were sung. We continue to sing new songs unto God because His mercies are “new every morning.” God has not ceased to be faithful when He granted us salvation but continues to save us and provide for our every need. Therefore new praise is necessary: “…shew forth His salvation from day to day.”

Psalm 95:1-3

O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods.

Singing is a fitting act of worship. Worship of God requires a joyful spirit that pours out praise. Praise is a worthy sacrifice. Blood is necessary in so much that our flesh and blood are to be living sacrifices to God. Part of what it means to present our bodies living sacrifices is to praise God in singing.