Category: Psalms

Categories
Adopt-a-Psalm, 2017 Church Congregational Songs FAWM 2017 Psalms

Psalm 3: I Shall Rest in Peace

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.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

One Generation with liturgical dance

We Will Extol You, God and King from Church of the Servant on Vimeo.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Psalm 82 live at COS

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

It is so rewarding when a song goes from something that was in your head or dots on paper and becomes something people can hear and sing. It never gets old.

This Sunday my most recent Psalm setting “Gathered in the Judgment Hall” was premiered at Church of the Servant. Special thanks to Erin De Young for singing and Scott Yonkers for pianoing.

If you’re interested in reading the dots on paper or the lyrics, see the link above.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Psalms

Psalm 82: Gathered in the Judgment Hall

Update 10/1/20: Sheet music for this song can be downloaded here.

I’ve been working on a setting of Psalm 82 for a few weeks now. It’s really an interesting Psalm. Most of the time it is taken as an indictment of unjust people, but in actuality it appears to be a judgment against the high council of gods. Who are these “gods” over which God holds court? In the Psalmist’s time it would have lmusic_now_thats_what_82ikely referred to the pantheon of gods who were believed to oversee weather, oceans, fertility and every other aspect of life. But I don’t think it would be inappropriate to recast them for modern times as “The Man.” The powers that be. The principalities. The forces (inequity, fear, racism, etc) that seem to control our world on some higher, untouchable plane. However, just like in the Psalmist’s time, these gods of our time are not, in fact, untouchable. They bow to the Almighty God.

With this starting point I began to work on the song. Three significantly different drafts later, it’s done. The PDF score (see link above) may give a better impression of the song than my tired, one-take, midnight demo. But it’s free, so I don’t want any complaining!

Prologue:
Gathered in the judgment hall,
the gods of earth in silence fall
before the Lord, the King of kings,
the Judge of principalities.

1. How long will you gods of earth
grow fat on what you haven’t earned?
How long will hungry mouths chew air,
while you feast on their despair.

How long will the rich go free,
while the poor wait vainly for release?
How long will orphaned children cry,
as hope recedes from sight?

Arise, O God, our one true Lord;
Bring down sweet justice, right these wrongs.
O Ruler of the nations come;
Restore to earth your law of love.

2. How long ‘til you finally know
the darkness of your hearts and souls?
The evil schemes your minds have birthed
are rumbling deep in earth.

Listen closely, earthly powers.
Your day of domination’s over.
Your judgment and damnation come;
undone by flesh and blood.

Arise, O God, our one true Lord;
Bring down sweet justice, right these wrongs.
O Ruler of the nations come;
Restore to earth your law of love.

Epilogue:
Arise, O God, ascended One.
May heaven’s will on earth be done.
Let all the nations give you praise,
and every knee bow at your name.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Hymn tunes Jazz Live Psalms

Another Foothold

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

I recently posted a quick demo of a new tune I wrote for Debra Rienstra’s sweet setting of Psalm 25. Yesterday we introduced the song to the congregation. It went swimmingly, in part due to the leadership of the Rienstra Clan Band (Deb on viola, Ron on bass, Philip on sax).

It’s not a foregone conclusion that a jazzy piece will work with congregation. It may end up sounding too lounge lizardy or it may simply be too complex for a congregation to sing. I feel like we struck a good balance, keeping it from excess and caricature.

I’m pretty sure this song will soon become a staple of jazz worship services all over the world. All two of them.

For those of you who are considering using the song, see the link above for the most recent version.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Hymn tunes Jazz Psalms

Foothold (Psalm 25)

Update 10/2/20: Sheet music for this song is available here.

10 years ago, my friend Debra Rienstra wrote a hymn text based on Psalm 25, called “Foothold.” Not only that, she won the Fuller Seminary School of Psychology Fortieth Anniversary hymn competition with it. As I began to work on an upcoming service in which she, her bass/guitar playing husband Ron, and her jazz sax improvising son Philip would be playing, that song came to mind.

But I wasn’t wild about the KINGSFOLD tune that the text had been paired with. Don’t get me wrong–KINGSFOLD is a great tune. But it is overused: “O Sing a Song of Bethlehem,” “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,” “I Sing the Mighty Power of God.” The list goes on and on. More importantly, the tune seemed like the wrong vessel for this text. It moved too quickly to allow the deep inner life of Deb’s text to emerge.

So I, being the incessant musical tinkerer that I am, set about to compose a tune that would do the text justice while also allowing Philip to unleash his inner Coltrane. I’m always nervous about changing the music a poet originally heard in her ear, but in this case the poet gave me permission to share, so I must not be too far off base.

Want to play it at the piano rather than listening to Greg croon? See the link above for the PDF.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Psalms

Psalm 104, with Doug Gay

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Every few months my friend Doug Gay emails new hymn texts he’s written, many of them Psalm settings. The latest was a setting of Psalm 104. He wrote the text with the 10.10.11.11 tune LYONS in mind (“O Worship the King”). It Destruction_of_Leviathanscans well to this tune and the tune brings out the regal side of the lyrics, but the more I worked with the text, the more I realized they needed a foil that would lighten them rather than heighten their majesty. And since Doug is Scottish, what could be better than an airy Celtic tune?

I wrote the tune the day before a songwriting workshop in which I was slated to present one of my songs. I decided to throw caution to the wind and introduce this brand new song to that audience. It went very well except for the fact that I had made significant tweaks to the melody that morning and was having trouble singing the my finalized melody. But today I have a few hours to record a demo, making sure I got the melody right. Take a listen and tell me: do John Bell and Keith Getty really have a corner on the market of Celtic hymns?

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms

Kimbrough: Oh Rejoice in All Your Works, strings

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Wendell Kimbrough won the Church of the Servant New Psalm Contest a few years ago with his setting of Psalm 104, “Oh Rejoice in All Your Works.” Since that time it has become a favorite of our congregation. Psalm 104 was the lectionary Psalm for Pentecost and I had a string ensemble available, so I took the opportunity to write a string arrangement for the service. It turned out splendidly, if I don’t say so myself.

If you want to hear the song in context (along with Pastor Jack Roeda’s exclamation at the end of the singing) visit the COS website.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Live Psalms Uncategorized

Psalm 67: Let All the Peoples Praise You!

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

If necessity is the mother of invention, the lectionary is the muse of new Psalm settings.

67-10I already composed one setting of Psalm 67, but that was a complicated choir, organ, brass, and percussion anthem. What I needed for yesterday was a simple, solid setting that all but sang itself. A first attempt was…frothy. My second attempt put me on a path I knew would be more fruitful.

The song is in what I’ve dubbed a “modern medieval” style–stately but with a strong rhythmic spine. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how music can dignify or trivialize a congregation’s humanity, and this feels like something an adult could sing without being trite on the one hand or elitist on the other.

One of the cool features of the song is that the verse mirrors the chorus, but one step up. This modulatory slight of hand makes each return of the chorus sound inevitable, but surprising. It also allows for Taizé style layering of verse on top of chorus or men singing the chorus underneath the women singing the verse. I love that Escher stuff!

To feast your eyes on the dignified modern medieval Taizé-style Escheresque goodness, see the link above.

Categories
Choir Church Psalms

A New Song (Psalm 96)

 

One of my first compositions to ever be published was “A New Song (Psalm 96)” in Augsburg Fortress’s GladSong Choirbook in 2005. It’s nice to know that it’s still being used. How do I know choirs are still singing the song? Because I just got an email from a choir director in Lansdale, PA who would like his choir to hear a recording of the anthem. I searched high and low and finally put my hands on the only recording I have. It was just a read through I did with some students at Northwestern College, but it’s the best I’ve got. (Until the folks at Trinity Lutheran in Lansdale send me a recording!)