One of the more exciting new developments in the Protestant tradition is the writing of new tunes and new paraphrases for the Psalms. The Psalms are of course the songbook of ancient Israel, used in the Temple, which is why we have the name of tunes and even conductors from time to time in the Psalter. There is of course a long rich tradition in Protestantism of singing the psalms, indeed the earliest publication in America seems to have been the Bay Psalter songbook from New England.
The first of these fresh resources for worship comes out of Austin Theological Seminary and the Christian Church tradition and is called ‘Timeless’ and has as its general editor R. Mark Shipp. I was honored to participate in this project and wrote the lyrics for ‘Unshakeable and Standing Firm’ based on Psalm 15 with tune by Marva Hughes. Here are the lyrics. Before the new tune was created I worked from the tune we associate with ‘O God our Help in Ages Past’.
Unshakeable and standing firm
Are those who speak the truth
Who have no slander on their tongues
And are beyond reproof.
The blameless and the righteous ones
Who do their kin no wrong
Shall dwell in peace in sacred space
Secure their whole life long.
Compassionate, and keeping oaths
Are those who fear the Lord
Their walk is blameless in his sight
Their bond is just their word.
Unshakeable and standing firm
The righteous speak their minds
They keep their oaths in troubled times
And leave vile ways behind.
In sanctuary holy ones
Will dwell upon God’s mount
If they display integrity
And know their lifestyle counts.
(If you obtain the book, you will see how the General Editor emended some of my lyrics, just as George Whitefield did to Charles Wesley!)
A second new valuable resources is a product of the work of J.D. Walt and others here at Asbury and is simply called SING, and serves as our Spring 2012 reader. This is the first major product of Seedbed publishing and owes much to Julie Tennent the wife of our President who has masterfully edited a guide to daily worship using the Psalms, among other things. My one small lament about this volume is that there are places where inclusive language could and should have been used, but then the attempt was to expose the audience to original old renderings of the Biblical text, so, I understand why it reads as it does. Anyone wanting a copy of this can go to www.asburyreader.com.
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