Category: Psalms

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Church Commissions Congregational Songs Psalms

Prayer of Jonah

It’s been a good season for commissions, with hymns, choral anthems, and orchestral compositions waiting to be written. But first, this setting of the biblical Song of Jonah. You’ll remember that Jonah was a runaway prophet who was swallowed by a big fish sent from God. You may not remember that once Jonah was firmly lodged inside this enormous fish’s gut, he began praying to God (in song form).

Every year, Western Seminary students perform a scriptural drama in the original Hebrew as the culmination of their language studies. This year, retiring Hebrew professor Tom Boogaart and professor of worship/chapel Ron Rienstra decided to try something different: The Book of Jonah in a new English translation and with a new musical rendition of the Prayer of Jonah, composed by yours truly.

As I began to work on the song, I was struck by the water imagery that echoes Genesis 1 and Psalms 29, 42, 69, and 130. What better way to express this “out of the depths” prayer than the thundering tones of the bass? And thus the project morphed into a song with an accompaniment of five electric basses. (Yes, that is off-the-hook awesome.)

Musically, the song uses a good deal of word painting. The first phrase, “out of the depths,” is a pentatonic melody that quickly swells from lowest range of the voice to more than an octave up. I love the way this gives a musical sense of the depths, the waves, and the turbulence of Jonah’s situation. The pre-chorus (“Baptized into the cold water”) is “adrift” melodically, with a B in the melody floating on top of the Am chord, and the heavy downbeat F# crashing against the Em chord. At the chorus, there’s a sudden lift to E major. It really feels like a ray of sunlight, doesn’t it? More word painting ensues, with “You have raised me up” leaping up and “from the pit” sinking down.

You can check out the full song (MP3, PDF), or listen to a few interludes that will be used as scene change music:

1. Harmonics

2. Chorus

3. Ascension

4. Chaos

1. Out of the depths of my deep distress
I cried to you, my Lord.
Swallowed up whole in the belly of death,
yet still you heard my voice.

Baptized into the cold water,
into the heart of the sea.
The deep was surging, surrounding;
wave after wave drowning me.

You have raised me up, O Lord,
from the pit I’d sunken in.
Gasping for my final breath,
you breathed me to life again.

2. I was resolved to a watery grave
as the waves rose to my neck.
Eyelids closed to the undertow,
garland of seaweed around my head.

My final thought while descending
into the cold arms of death
was of your glorious temple.
Then I slipped into the abyss. [CHORUS]

3. Out of the depths of my deep distress
I remembered you, my God.
From the abyss my prayer was heard
at your holy temple, Lord.

Some waste their prayers on deaf idols.
Some run when hearing God’s call.
I raise a voice of thanksgiving
unto the Lord, God of all. [CHORUS]

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Choir Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

As the Deer: Greenville, SC

I just found this video of Murray Freedman and the Westminster Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir singing my anthem, “As the Deer.” Good to know that my music has made it’s way to South Carolina!

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Arrangement Choir Church Commissions Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Wen Ti at the 2018 Calvin Worship Symposium

Last fall I was commissioned to write an arrangement of the Chinese folk song “Wen Ti” (聞笛) for the 2018 Calvin Worship Symposium. This beautiful tune often appears in hymnals with the benediction text “May the Lord, Mighty God.”

The idea for this concluding communion service was to weave the song throughout the service with new texts that fit different liturgical moments. Scroll through the video above to hear the different sections of the piece:

11:47 Call to Worship: “Lift Your Eyes unto the Hills” (based on Psalm 121 and 124)
21:44 Assurance of Pardon: “God Is Gracious to Forgive” (evoking Colossians 1:12-15)
1:22:56 Doxology “To the One Who’s Shown Us Love” (from Revelation 1:4-6)

I’m currently reworking this for publication in GIA’s Calvin choral series.

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Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Close to Your Heart (at Fellowship Reformed, Holland)

Fellowship Reformed, Holland, MI

Two more recordings of yesterday’s “Close to My Heart.” Above is Jordan Clegg leading the Fellowship Reformed gang in a beautiful rendition that includes penny whistle (played by Jackson Nickolay). Below is yours truly in a stripped down acoustic version.

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song can now be purchased at gregscheer.com.

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Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 131: Close to Your Heart

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song can now be purchased at gregscheer.com.

Psalm 131 is the third shortest Psalm, consisting of only three verses. So when Jordan Clegg commissioned me to write a song based on the Psalm for Fellowship Reformed in Holland, MI, I thought, “This’ll be a piece of cake!”

While this was certainly easier than a sprawling history Psalm like 78, the challenge is to write a song as concisely focused as the original. In this case, I felt the spirit of Psalm 131 is captured in the image of a child resting with her mother. That utter dependence and contentment is a metaphor for our trust in God’s care.

The song is short, simple, and heartfelt. (This is unusual for me; I tend toward long, complex, and nerdy.) My favorite thing about the song is the way the child/mother image places the child–and by extension, us–next to her mother’s (God’s) heart. That is not only a place of intimacy and comfort, but a place where we can listen for God’s “heart”–God’s desire and will for us–turning the song from statement to prayer.

I will still my soul
like a sleeping child
in a mother’s arms.
I’m content to be,
to be where you are,
to be close to your heart.

Close to your heart, my Lord,
close to your heart.

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Choir Church Congregational Songs Contests Live Psalms

Psalm 40: Patiently (revised, Psalm contest winner)

Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

Let me tell you the history of Psalm 40. Well, not the complete history; that stretches back a few millennia. But I can tell you the history of my musical rendition of Psalm 40; that only goes back two decades. I wrote the song in 1998 and made a demo of it around that time. In 2012, while working with the Choral Scholars on Cry Out to God!, we recorded the song using a new SATB and piano arrangement. In 2017, I entered the song in the Church of the Servant New Psalm Contest; lo and behold, it won! For the premiere, I wrote an arrangement for SATB Choir, Congregation, Piano, Flute, Violin, Accordion, and Flugelbone. (Yes, flugelbone. It’s like a flugelhorn, but in trombone range.) Here’s what I wrote about it for the January 28, 2018 premiere:

You may think that U2 has the corner on the Psalm 40 song market, but I would humbly suggest that there’s room for one more.

I wrote “Patiently” while I was working at a church in Tallahassee. Frankly, it was something of a desert experience for me. Psalm 40 expressed well both my complaints and hope. I love how the Psalm ties together proclamations of God’s good deeds, prayers for salvation, confession of sin, and even a prayer that God would shame the Psalmist’s enemies.

Bible study usually leads to music for me, so I began working on an idea for a song based on the Psalm. It was the first time I had tried to set a whole Psalm to music. At the time I didn’t know much about metrical and responsorial psalmody, I just knew that I liked how the music fit each verse and that it sounded good when the chorus kept coming back. Even though this song is not likely to make its way to the top of the CCLI charts, I was pleased that the contest judges felt it was a faithful and helpful musical rendering of the scripture.

I have a fond memory of a difficult afternoon on which I took a long walk through the hot Florida woods with this song keeping me company. I hope you find it returning to your mind, as well.

You can listen above to the MP3 of the Church of the Servant musicians leading “Patiently.” Check out the revised leadsheet, the congregational piano part, or the full choral arrangement at the link above. If you want the congregational piano part or the full choral arrangement, just email me. There’s got to be some church out there with a flugelbone! (Okay, it can also be played by trombone.)

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Church Congregational Songs Contests Demos Live Psalms

Oh, That I Had Wings (Psalm 55)

Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

You may have heard that I won the 2017 Church of the Servant New Psalm Contest with my Psalm 40 song, “Patiently.” What you may not have heard is that I lost the contest with my Psalm 55 song, “Oh, That I Had Wings.”

It’s understandable that my setting of Psalm 55 didn’t win. It is not the most endearing Psalm in the Psalter. It’s the plea of someone who has been betrayed and attacked by a former friend. Understandably, the Psalmist wants to beat a hasty retreat: “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” These are emotions that most of us have faced, but perhaps few of us are interested in singing about them.

Given the urgency of the Psalm, I wrote a tune that comes in short, breathless bursts. The tight meter could have become trite, but there are lots of harmonic twists and turns to avoid that. The string arrangement on the recording (played by the St. Sinner Orchestra in one take into my laptop) creates a conversation with the melody that pushes the song forward. You can find the string arrangement as well as the piano version at the link above.

1. Listen to my prayer, O God, please hear:
troubled thoughts rise from a heart of fear;
Fear of those who would undo my days—
the whispers, stares, contempt, the lies and rage.

Oh, that I had wings,
Oh, that I had wings to fly,
Oh, that I had wings to fly away.

2. Malice seeks its prey, it roams the streets.
Night and day, it prowls— there is no peace.
God, please let the innocent escape,
while schemers writhe within the traps they’ve laid. (refrain)

3. Bracing for the sword of foe’s attack,
feel the steel of dagger in my back.
Why have you betrayed me, oh my friend?
The one with whom I’ve shared the wine and bread? (refrain)

4. Night and day, I pray, O God, please hear:
troubled thoughts rise from a heart of fear.
Every care that weighs upon my soul
is safe with you, please keep me safe, O Lord. (refrain)

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Choir Church Live Psalms

Psalm 96: A New Song in Lansdale, PA

One of the things that makes me feel downright legit as a composer is stumbling across a video of one of my pieces online–a video that I didn’t upload, performed by musicians I don’t know. In this case, it is the Daybreak Choir at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lansdale, PA. They did a great job with it. I love the addition of the drums!

If your choir wants to follow in the footsteps of the Daybreak Choir, you can order “A New Song” from Augsburg Fortress as part of the GladSong Choirbook.

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Adopt-a-Psalm, 2017 Church Commissions Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 46: O Lord of All, You Are Our Home

Update 10/6/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

You will no doubt remember that during my Adopt-a-Psalm composing frenzy, I wrote a setting of Psalm 46 in 4+6/8 time. Yes, it worked. Yes, it was kind of catchy in its own asymmetrical way. But realistically, it would have been quite difficult for a congregation to pick up. And that’s the point, right? I want congregations to sing the Psalms, so I need to make them as accessible as possible.

So I wrote a spanking new setting of Psalm 46 for my Psalm adopter. Though it shares the same text, it is very different from the previous one. I think it came out so different because when I sat down to write it, the old song’s rhythms were still in my head; I had to expunge them by coming up with a song that had an entirely new character. 

I began with the most unique aspect of the text: the stressed/unstressed endings of each couplet. (“Refuge,” “rescue,” “with us.” What they used to call a “feminine cadence.”) That suggested to me an appoggiatura. One thing led to another and those downbeat appoggiaturas became the song’s primary personality. It’s not unlike “Eagle’s Wings,” come to think of it. 

In any case, this harmonic language gives the song a sweet and gentle feel. I like how it draws out of the text a sense of contented trust, whereas the previous tune or EIN FESTE BURG highlights strength, confidence, and completion. Listen to the above demo or play it for yourself from the leadsheet (see link above).

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Church Commissions Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 118: Give Thanks to the Lord

Two weeks ago, I was artist-in-residence at Western Theological Seminary at the invitation of Prof. Dr. Rev. Ron Rienstra. Part of my work was to plan chapel services with students. We chose the theme “Psalm Echoes,” each day pairing a Psalm with a New Testament passage that quoted the Psalm or resonated with its themes. It was pretty splendid if I don’t say so myself.

Friday’s chapel (a weekly communion service) paired Psalm 118 with Matthew 26. In this retelling of the Last Supper, it is thought that “When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” refers to the singing of the last Hallel Psalm, Psalm 118. Ron was planning to preach on the texts, letting them lead him right to the communion table. Brilliant.

On Thursday evening, I got a text:

(7:17 pm)
Ron: Hey Greg – you want a challenge?
Greg: Maybe?
Ron: At the beginning and end of the sermon can we sing [picture of “Feed Us, Lord” melody with Psalm 118 text] I was gonna ask you to write a quick new song to exactly those words – but then I thought: hey, this would work, too.
Greg: What style and tempo are you looking for?
Ron: Joyful and thankful without rocking out.
Greg: I’m baking fresh bread and might want to add a loaf of fresh notes to the oven.
Ron: Hey if that’s what you wanna do… you are most welcome to do so! If you are up to the challenge, that is. (7:34 pm)

Of course, Ron knew exactly what he was doing. Baiting me with a challenge. Getting me firmly on the hook with a song that would get the job done but wasn’t inspiring or new. And then reeling me in with “If you are up to the challenge…” Naturally, I couldn’t resist. Between baking bread and driving kids various places, I wrote a few drafts. None was quite right. I was just about ready to admit defeat but gave it one last look before heading to bed. Things clicked and I finished it a few minutes later. The night ended with an email to Ron:

(10:47 pm) This is all you’re getting from me tonight: [PDF of new song]

We sang it in chapel the next morning and it worked beautifully. Simple, but fitting. In the recording above I interspersed the refrain with a reading of Psalm 118 in its entirety.