The Musical Diary of Greg ScheerI recently completed a full choral arrangement of Wendell Kimbrough’s “Rejoice in All Your Works.” (Which reminds me that I’ve forgotten to post it here on my blog.) Paul Ryan led it at Sunday’s LOFT service at Calvin College with a full band and the Campus Choir. Pretty cool. It starts at 13:28 minutes into the video below.
Update 11/4/21: Sheet music for this song can now be downloaded at gregscheer.com.
This was one of the “easier” Psalms of my Adopt-a-Psalm month—lots of good images to work with, and no imprecations—but it gave me the hardest time. I think it was difficult because the song is so simple, and simple music has to be just right or else it sounds simplistic.
For example, I changed the first three notes over and over again. I wrote F#, A, B in my first draft, but then second guessed myself because it sounded too much like “Ten Thousand Reasons.” I changed it to A, F#, B, but then it threw off the symmetry with “like the city” a few measures later. So I changed it back, but decided in a final draft to accompany those notes with an F#m chord rather than the D, A/C#, Bm I had at first. On and on it went for a week, writing something, changing it, singing it while driving my car or running, changing it again. I even made significant changes as I went through the process of recording it!
You’ll notice that the third verse (not included on the recording) pulls from John 14:23-31. It’s uncanny how closely that passage tracks with this Psalm. The one alludes to “the scepter of wickedness” and the other “the ruler of this world,” “those who trust” becomes “those who love me,” and “Peace be upon Israel!” is transformed to “My peace I leave with you.”
The music is quite adaptable. It could be led by one folk guitar, played in flowing arpeggios on the piano, or rocked out with a full metal praise band. In the recording above, I went for something of a South American style—perhaps because I spent the week of worship symposium with a group of Argentinians! (Turn the bass up on the recording so you can hear the bass and bass drum groove.)
Those who trust in the Lord
shall abide, shall abide
like the city of God,
Holy Zion.
Oh, the people of God
shall remain, shall remain,
for the Lord shall surround
those he loves.
1. The scepter and the crown
belong to God alone.
Though evil rages,
it shall not rage for long.
2. God, bless us with the strength
to walk your holy way.
Lord, keep your children
within your strong embrace.
3. Christ’s peace will be with you;
Christ’s peace will dwell in you;
Do not be troubled—
let nothing frighten you.
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
Psalm 16 is the next in my Adopt-a-Psalm settings. I took a unique approach on this one. At first glance, it may seem like the song has little to do with the Psalm. It uses none of the “protect me, God” or “path of life” phrases that other settings of this Psalm use. Instead, it goes a layer deeper, into the Psalm’s structure.
Samuel Terrien proposes that Psalm 16 is made up of 6 strophes, with the first three mirroring the last three. In broad strokes, the Psalm begins its focus on things of earth and moves toward heaven. As I meditated on the Psalm it suddenly struck me that it closely follows the span of human life. It is very clear in the last two strophes, which focus on the grave and eternal life. Working your way backward you can see further life milestones: the growth of wisdom (strophe 4) and earthly blessings (strophe 3). The first two strophes are less clear, but with a bit of imagination, I recast the first strophe’s protection and refuge as the womb and the sacrifices to false gods in strophe two as the sins of youth. It’s easier to understand when you see the Psalm and my song side by side as in this PDF.
Once I decided the lyrics would be a life-spanning prayer, I knew I needed a folk melody that could hold all the different emotions. Something with a classic contour and perhaps a Celtic color. The melody came out quickly. I channeled my inner Irish balladeer and wrote a tune reminiscent of “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need,” John Bell’s “O Lord, Our Lord,” or “The King of Love My Shepherd Is.” In fact, it uses the same hexatonic scale as “Be Thou My Vision.”
Try it out for yourself or just take a listen: MP3 (see link above for sheet music)
In the waters of the womb;
In the first breath my lungs drew;
even there I knew
the refuge of my soul.
Please forgive the wasted years
I spent chasing empty dreams
That could never be
The refuge of my soul.
Still, you kept me in your care,
Granted blessings undeserved,
But I treasure most
The refuge of my soul.
As years passed and wisdom grew
My best thoughts were still of you
In the quiet of night
The refuge of my soul.
In the cool air of the tomb
Even there I rest in you.
Still my life, my all,
The refuge of my soul.
And as life begins once more
And I’m filled with joys unknown,
Through eternity
The refuge of my soul.
You will always be
the refuge of my soul.
Things get a little weird when you’re recording with two teenagers. (Okay, and with me.)
Update 11/4/21: Sheet music for this song can now be downloaded at gregscheer.com.
As I was working on Psalm 4, one of the commentaries I read mentioned the connection between Psalm 4’s deep peace amid distress and Philippians 4:7 “May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” I decided this would make a good musical coda to the Psalm.
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
Continuing on my Adopt-a-Psalm journey, we come to Psalm 4. At its core, Psalm 4 is the lament of someone whose honor has been impugned. You can hear the theme of shame and honor recurring throughout. Ultimately, though, the Psalmist chooses to rest in the Lord. It reminds me of what Richard Foster says in The Celebration of Discipline—I believe in the section on silence—about not speaking in defense of yourself, but simply allowing your reputation to stand on its own. This lack of control is frightening, especially when your name is at stake, but ultimately we can’t control what others think of us.
My approach with some of these more difficult Psalms is to address the Psalm’s themes as fully as possible without necessarily adopting all the original text’s images. For example, Psalm 3’s “Break their teeth, O Lord” is a tough sell for a congregational song! I also use the music to soften the blow a bit. In this case, the lyrics and music turn the Psalm from an indignant defense into a quiet prayer in the night. The song’s chorus focuses on rest, as this is what binds Psalm 3 and 4, and I couldn’t resist tipping my hat to Philippians 4:7 on the chorus repeat.
The recording features everyone’s favorite boy band, The Scheers, with Simon on bass, Theo on cello, and me on guitar and vocals (and a light backing track of ukulele). Take a closer look (see link above) or listen (MP3).
1. God, you hear my prayer in the dark.
Only you can judge human hearts.
Lord, set me free from these chains;
Let me see just how gracious you are.
How long must I be bent in shame—
Shackled by dishonor’s dead weight?
Lord, when I call, you will hear,
For you know all I have is my faith.
When I lie down to sleep I shall rest in peace, For Lord, I rest in you.
I know the peace of God Which transcends this world, This peace will rest in me.
2. All the anxious thoughts of my mind;
All of my unrest and disquiet:
When I have nothing but trust,
Lord, I offer it up, sacrificed.
Even in the dark hours of night,
May your countenance once more shine.
Oh, let your joy ever be
This poor heart’s richest feast: bread and wine.
When I lie down to sleep I shall rest in peace, For Lord, I rest in you.
I know the peace of God Which transcends this world, This peace will rest in me.
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
Continuing my Adopt-a-Psalm commission month, I turned my attention to Psalm 12. It’s another difficult Psalm, with abrasive sentiments like, “May the Lord cut off all flattering lips.” Underneath its prickly exterior, though, the Psalm is all about words and how we use them—lies, lips, tongue, boasts, promises—the Psalm is full of “word” words.
Samuel Terrien proposes a chiastic form for the Psalm, with God’s words of verse 5 at the center of the form and the rest of the sections mirroring each other. (So, for example, the power gained by the flattering lips of verse 3 and 4 are answered by God’s sure promises and protection in verse 6 and 7.) That suggested to me that verse 5 would be an appropriate refrain.
Using God’s words as a song refrain is unusual. Normally, a song that uses God’s words has them sung by a leader, while the people sing their response. (Think Dan Schutte’s “Here I Am, Lord.”) But in this song, the verses are sung as a first person prayer and the refrain answers with God’s words. While it’s unorthodox, I like the idea of an individual’s plea for help being answered by a whole group thundering God’s words of assurance.
I was asked by my Psalm adopter to write a song that could be played on guitar. That worked well because I was already hearing a rugged folk style. In my mind was Kiran Young Wimberly’s Celtic Vespers service from this year’s symposium. As I worked on that service, I noticed how the folk melodies served to both tame unruly texts and give a little muscle to the prettier Psalms we’ve heard a million times. So this song has none of the typical “Scheer-isms” you’d expect. It’s just a straight up modal melody and chords.
What’s been interesting to me is how much these more difficult texts have come to mean to me as I work on them. The way humans use words to wield power has never been something I’ve contemplated much. But in this political climate and given some things I’ve been experiencing lately, I found myself praying the text and expressing my own feelings as I wrote and recording the song. I guess that’s what the Psalms are all about, right?
Note: I was having trouble with Logic Pro and my Apogee Duet and found out too late that the digital artifacts I was hearing in my headphones were making their way into the recording. Nonetheless, you are welcome to listen or look (see link above for sheet music).
1. Hear, O Lord, my prayer,
for truth has disappeared;
vanished like a breath or like a sigh.
Here, O Lord, am I,
adrift in floods of lies.
Is honesty extinct from humankind?
I will now arise and the poor will know my might.
I still I hear the needy when they cry.
I will now arise and the poor will know my might.
I, the Lord, have heard the prayer you prayed in groans and sighs.
I, the Lord, have heard the prayer you prayed in groans and sighs.
2. You, O Lord, you know
they benefit by boasts,
flattery, and rumors, and white lies.
You, O Lord, you see:
they gain from their deceit
and misery of those they trap like flies. refrain
3. Speak, O Lord, I’ll hear
the truth your word reveals.
Trusting, though malicious mouths resound.
Your word O Lord, is true.
Your promises are pure;
a refuge when no honesty is found. refrain
Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
This is the second of my February Adopt-a-Psalm commissions, written to commemorate a pastor’s retirement. I had been given a number of possible Psalms and decided Psalm 24 could fit well into a pastor’s retirement celebrations without being so retirement-specific that it wouldn’t be able to be used in the future.
The person who commissioned this mentioned that her church has multiple services in different styles. I wanted to compose something that could be adapted to any of their services. The demo above is done on guitar simply because that’s what I play, but the chords move in a way that it could easily be led by piano or organ. (Actually, I hear an anthem with piano, organ, rhythm section, and brass—and maybe strings, too. But that’s a different commission…)
If you read the Psalm, you’ll see the repeated “Lift up your heads” in v7 and v9. That felt like it needed to be the refrain. That’s where I started. The verses are set off from the refrain with a more subdued melody in a distant key. I’m a big fan of shifting keys like this—it’s a way of providing something fresh in the verses and creating anticipation for the return of the refrain. It also creates the possibility of choir or cantor leading the verses the first time to keep things easy for the congregation.
The Psalm is full of seeming non-sequitors. It starts with the creation themes, then moves to the section on a pure heart. I decided this latter section could be broken into two song verses. The first is a fairly standard rendition of the text. But verse 3 of the song I adapted creatively to fit the pastor’s retirement context. The Psalm says:
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
I decided it would be appropriate to adapt this blessing to infer the blessing a pastor receives after a life of ministry. Further, as often as appropriate I try to find New Testament resonances in the Psalms. In this case, I interpreted the “opening gates” of the refrain as the door that Jesus opens in Matthew 7. A bit of a stretch? Maybe. But it seems appropriate to remember that God has always been opening doors to enter our lives.
3. Oh, who will God call to receive a blessing?
And who will go out with the gift of peace?
The doors open wide to the sound of knocking;
The seeker shall find, those who ask, receive.
Need greater detail? See the link above for the PDF, or listen here: MP3
Lift up your heads, O you gates!
And be lifted up, O you ancient doors!
That the King of Glory may come in.
Who is this King of Glory?
Who is this King of Glory?
It is the Lord—
Our mighty Lord.
1. The earth is the Lord’s and all within it,
for God spoke the word and it came to be.
Within oceans vast, God laid earth’s foundations;
Its pilings secured in the deepest seas. Lord. refrain
2. Oh, who shall ascend God’s holy mountain?
And who shall remain in that holy place?
Only those with clean hands, who have washed in water,
And those with pure hearts, who have bathed in grace. refrain
3. Oh, who will God call to receive a blessing?
And who will go out with the gift of peace?
The doors open wide to the sound of knocking;
The seeker shall find, those who ask, receive. refrain
Update 11/4/21: Sheet music for this song can now be downloaded at gregscheer.com.
As I study the Psalms I’m setting to music during my Adopt-a-Psalm month, I often find echoes of the Psalms in the New Testament. This shouldn’t come as a surprise; after all, Jesus quoted the Psalms more than any other book of the Old Testament. When I was working on Psalm 3: I Shall Rest in Peace, it seemed that Romans 8:38-39 was Psalm 3’s New Testament twin: For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I decided to write a song on Romans 8 that could be paired with Psalm 3. It’s just a short chorus that can be sung as a coda to Psalm 3 (same key) or as a stand-alone scripture song. You’ll notice I took quite a bit of liberty with the text. I think it still conveys the spirit of Romans 8, though it doesn’t quote it verbatim.
Neither death nor demon can hold me,
or life’s sweetest angels control me,
and no pow’r today or to come;
highest high or lowest low.
For nothing can resist the tireless love of God;
And nothing can undo our redemption in Christ’s blood;
For nothing can change what our God’s already done.
Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.
This song is the first of my February Adopt-a-Psalm settings. It is based on Psalm 3, which is traditionally associated with King David as he fled from his son Absalom. Whether or not the Psalm was actually written while fleeing for his life during a revolt, the Psalm is certainly full of fears and anxieties–with a side order of vengeance. (“You break the teeth of the wicked.”
But more than that, the Psalm is full of trust. Even though all hell is breaking loose, the Psalmist talks about going to bed: “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me. I am not afraid…” Indeed, sleep is one of the common themes between Psalm 3 and its pair, Psalm 4 (coming soon!).
As I studied the Psalm and commentaries on it, it struck me that the focus of these two Psalms is not so much the occasion of the cry for help as the deep, centered peace that the Psalmist finds within the storm. So I focused both of the songs on the theme of rest. In this setting of Psalm 3, “I shall rest in peace” becomes a repeated refrain throughout. What I like about that phrase is that “rest” not only indicates peaceful sleep but “rest in peace” is a euphemism for death. It seems to me that many people who might read Psalm 3 or sing this song may be fighting the enemy of disease, age, or death itself. Even in death, we can rest in the Lord.
Musically, the song is almost entirely modal. In early drafts, I had all sorts of clever chord changes but realized they were detracting from the simple beauty of the melody. In the final draft, the only non-modal chord is the Dsus to D which lifts the harmonic progression nicely to the B section. In the demo above, I went with a folkish groove. This shouldn’t be heard as definitive. I worked with what I had. I could also hear this with piano in a slightly slower tempo than my recording with flowing arpeggios in the left hand–still syncopated, but not bouncy.
Below is the text, and see the link above for the leadsheet. Thanks to Tami Parks who adopted this Psalm in honor of Ken & Candace Schaap on the 3rd Anniversary of Faithway Baptist Church
1. Surrounded by my enemies;
I shall rest in peace.
They say there is no help for me;
I shall rest in peace.
For you, O Lord, you are shielding me;
My one true hope and my glory.
I shall rest in peace.
I shall rest in peace.
2. The Lord will hear my cry of pain;
I shall rest in peace.
I sleep, I wake, God still sustains;
I shall rest in peace.
Ten thousand foes may surround my bed;
I shall not fear, for my God protects.
I shall rest in peace.
I shall rest in peace.
3. Rise up, O God, deliver me!
I shall rest in peace.
Lord, bring the violent to their knees;
I shall rest in peace.
For you, O Lord, are a help so sure.
Your blessing’s strong and your love endures.
I shall rest in peace.
I shall rest in peace.