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2022 Psalm Collaborations Church Congregational Songs FAWM 2022 Psalms

Psalm 18: I Love You, God My Lord (with Adam Carlill)

Update: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com. I’ve co-written with Adam Carlill three times previously. What I love about his Psalms for the Common Era is that the texts scan so well. “Scanning” is how well a text follows its own patterns of meter and syllabic stress. Hymn text writers often […]

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 56: O God, in Mercy Look to Me (Carlill)

I came back again to Adam Carlill’s Psalms for the Common Era, this time his version of Psalm 56. This Psalm is a plea for mercy when being hotly pursued by enemies. Have you ever felt like David did when he wrote this–slandered, hunted, trapped? The Psalmist petitions God for deliverance, reaffirms his trust in […]

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Hymn tunes Psalms

Psalm 53: Fools Deny Their God within Them (Carlill)

I returned to Adam Carlill’s excellent Psalms for the Common Era to get his take on the difficult Psalm 53. This Psalm (and its nearly identical twin, Psalm 14) is full of rancor, claiming that foolish humans are godless, corrupt, and warring, and will eventually face God’s wrath, their scattered bones telling the tale of […]

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 6: Lord, My God, Do Not Contend (Carlill)

A few weeks ago, a friend recommended Psalms for the Common Era, a collection of 150 Psalm versifications by Adam Carlill. It is a lovely collection that strikes a fine balance between faithfulness to the Hebrew texts and singability for modern congregations. Of course, the best way to become familiar with a hymn text is […]