Category: Psalms

I’ve actually set Psalm 124 to music twice before. The first time was “If the Lord Had Not Been on Our Side,” a Gospel-style choral anthem with narrator that is now published by GIA. The second time was “If God Had Not Been on Our Side,” a congregational song that is one of my proudest moments as a composer of psalmody.

I didn’t feel the need to plow this ground again, but I did want to write something on Psalm 124 that would fit into the larger Pilgrim Psalms series. I decided to write a song that could stand on its own or act as a “bookend” for “If God Had Not Been on Our Side.” “Our Help” is a simple 8 measure chorus that can be chanted at the beginning and or end of “If God Had Not Been on Our Side”; the key and meter are coordinated for that very purpose.

But let me suggest another purpose: “Our Help” is based on the words that traditionally begin Reformed worship services: Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Why not sing those words? “Our Help” is easy to pick up by ear and is the kind of song that can be sung multiple times while people gather and focus for worship. It could also segue into an opening song like Ron Rienstra’s “The Lord Be with You.” (Or pretty much any song in the key of G or E minor, for that matter.)

Our help is in God’s strong name;
the same God who made earth and heaven.

Psalm 123 presents a number of challenges, foremost is its use of slave language to describe our relationship to God. No matter what it may have meant to Hebrew worshipers, I just can’t imagine singing of slavery in a morally neutral tone. So how does one set aside a biblical image and yet stay true to scripture? What is the deeper pattern?

The first thing that caught my attention was Psalm 123’s use of “eyes.” In verses 1-2 it is our eyes that are looking up to God. In verses 3-4, though it doesn’t use the word “eye,” it’s essentially a prayer for God’s eyes to look down and have mercy. The other thing that struck me is that verses 3-4 are praying for salvation from the powerful who oppress them. The first half of the Psalm is an acknowledgment of the true God, and the second half is asking God to intervene against lesser authorities–those gods who abuse their power. My song verses followed this two-part pattern: our eyes look up to God in obedience to God’s true authority and God’s eyes look down to see our plight and deliver us.

Have mercy. Have mercy Lord.
Have mercy. Have mercy Lord.

1. Our eyes look to you.
Our eyes look to heaven.
Our eyes look to you
until you show your mercy, God.

2. Cast your eyes on us.
Cast your eyes on earth.
Cast aside the proud
who bind us with no mercy, God

Psalm 122 is full of exuberance at the mere thought of going to church. That’s hard to imagine in our day and age (at least before COVID-19), but the Israelites were in a different context. For them, God was present only in the Temple in Jerusalem. If they were going to meet with God–if they were going to worship–it would be at the Temple. Indeed, that’s what the Pilgrim Psalms are all about: songs for the long journey to Jerusalem to worship. I can imagine that this song would be one of their favorites along the way: it called them to join the journey, it boosted flagging spirits along the way, and it would be a grand anthem upon arriving at their destination.

In keeping with all my Pilgrim Psalms, “Let Us Go!” is very simple and easily learned without music. It is an eight-measure chorus repeated ad-lib with three verses that can be sung by a leader on top of the chorus. Think of it as Hillbilly Taizé.

Let us go; Let us go; Let us go to the house of the Lord!
Let us go; Let us go; Let us go to the house of the Lord!

1. I was glad when they said,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
And now we’re standing before your doors.
Let us go to the house of the Lord! (CHORUS)

2. The city of God
is made of more than stone.
It is founded on justice and love
for all who go to the house of the Lord! (CHORUS)

3. Give us peace,
O Lord, give us peace.
O Lord, give all your children peace, we pray,
when we go to the house of the Lord! (CHORUS)

For those of you who care about such things, all the voices and instruments were recorded with GLS Audio’s ES-57. It’s a $30 mic fashioned after Shure’s industry standard SM57. I quite like it. It has a little more volume than the SM57 and is perhaps a tad too hyped in the mid-range, giving it lots of presence but a slightly unnatural megaphone-like color for recording. But I bought it for miking instruments live and I think it will do a great job of picking up a piano or guitar amp without much room noise. Kudos GLS!

Technical note #2: I recorded this demo without a click track. I just hit record and started singing. That’s why there are some fluctuations in the tempo here and there. So sue me. It’s also why I had to tune my guitar up a quarter step when I decided to add it after all the vocal tracks were done!

The next Pilgrim Psalm is 121. This is a beautiful Psalm of protection that begins with the words, “I lift my eyes up to the hills.” I already have two songs based on this Psalm: “My Keeper” and “Lift Your Eyes Up to the Mountains!” (a translation of Seong Sil Chung’s song).

In keeping with my Pilgrim Psalms project, this new version is simple enough that it can be sung without musical notation, as it is written in a leader/echo format which makes it easy to learn: simply listen and sing back.

Attentive listeners may discern a new voice in the mix. Usually, I sing all the vocals and harmonies because, well…I’m always here. But on this demo, my son, Theo makes his singing debut as part of the echo chorus. The afternoon we were recording, a sudden thunderstorm hit. I opened the window and recorded a few minutes of the cacophony, deciding later that it fit the song perfectly!

Raising my eyes to the mountains for help,
but the God who made the mountains is greater still.
God will guide me on my way,
through the dark of night and heat of day.
God will take my hand
when I journey out or return again.
God will guard my life always.

I’ve embarked on a new journey: writing songs on all 15 Songs of Ascents (Psalms 120-134).

A number of elements came together to set me on this journey. First, as I’ve watched protests against police brutality unfold across the country, I’ve lamented the loss of the protest song. Marches in the 60s drew from a deep well of music that united people’s voices: Negro Spirituals, Black Gospel, and the folk songs of Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Bob Dylan. Marchers without a song are just a crowd.

At the same time I was contemplating the types of music that might be sung by a moving crowd, I began rereading Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, a wonderful companion to the Songs of Ascents. Psalms 120-134 accompany modern readers on our spiritual journey, but for faithful Jews the songs accompanied their physical journey. They sang these 15 songs as they journeyed to Jerusalem to worship. I decided that each of my Pilgrim Psalms should be singable by a group, without sheet music. So these are simple songs that rely on repetition, call and response, rounds, and other techniques that folk music and work songs have used for centuries to allow common people to take part.

The first song is “Deliver Me,” based on Psalm 120. As Peterson points out, it’s a song of discontent–a discontent that urges us to leave the warring and lies of our native land to set off for the city of God. It is the Pilgrim Psalm that sets us on our pilgrimage.

Too long I’ve lived, surrounded
by those who love to war.
Deception is their native tongue.
This will never be my home.

This will never be my home.
I’ll be a pilgrim seeking peace.
Give me rest, O Lord, at my journey’s end.
Oh, deliver me. Lord, deliver me.