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How blest is he whose trespass hath freely been forgiven,
Whose sin is wholly covered before the sight of Heaven.
But he to whom Jehovah will not impute his sin,
Who has a guileless spirit, whose heart is true within.
While I kept guilty silence my strength was spent with grief;
Thy hand was heavy on me, my soul found no relief;
But when I owned my trespass, my sin hid not from Thee,
When I confessed transgression, Then Thou forgavest me.
So let the godly seek Thee in times when Thou art near;
No whelming floods shall reach them, nor cause their hearts to fear.
In Thee, O Lord, I hide me, thou savest me from ill,
And songs of Thy salvation my heart with delight thrill.
I graciously will teach thee the way that thou shalt go,
And with Mine eye upon thee my counsel make thee know.
But be ye not unruly, or slow to understand,
Be not perverse, but willing to heed My wise command.
The sorrows of the wicked in number shall abound,
But those that trust Jehovah, His mercy shall surround.
Then in the Lord be joyful, in song lift up your voice;
Be glad in God, ye righteous, rejoice, ye saints, rejoice.
Text: The Psalter, 1912
- Meter: 7,6,7,6
- Rhyme scheme:
abcb
This penitential psalm describes an experience
late in the process of repentance.
The writer, feeling the relief occasioned by a sense of forgiveness
obtained through confession, expresses the joy of salvation and calls
on others to confess, being confident that God will forgive them.
And his changed attitude is shown in his realization that his desperate
situation had been caused by his own actions had created: he therefore
turns with new appreciation of God's promises of guidance and protection
(and of guidance as an important aspect of that protection).
It comes from the American presbyterian efforts to maintain a complete
psalter, and is still in wide use (sometimes heavily edited.)
"Au fort de ma detresse": Genevan Psalter, 1542
- Incipit:
mltdtls|dltdrm|mrmfsfm; 51232 17312 34554
- Melodic scheme:
Through-composed
- Mode: Minor
The 1912 Psalter
was not originally supplied with tunes; in
1927 an edition was published using mostly
borrowed Gospel Song tunes.
The that meter of this version matches the tune for the same
psalm in the 1542 Genevan Psalter
is a happy coincidence exploited in Rejoice in the Lord.
It is a splendid tune, intense rather than either sad or happy. This
harmonization, featuring extended modulations to both dominant of the
minor key and dominant of the relative major key, may prove the most
difficult of the minor-mode tunes represented here.
The Genevan Psalter exploited a wide range of
musical modes; the examples in this
collection do not do justice to that aspect.
Use:
The psalm is obviously suitable for use after a baptism or confession
of sin; but it or a song like it could be used
as thanksgiving for forgiveness or salvation (perhaps omitting stanzas
4 and 5). Another cento, omitting the personal experience expressed in
stanza 2, could stand as a wisdom song, praising God for
blessings provided through his guidance:
and therefore useful before sermon or Bible study.
Notes:
- 1The other psalms traditionally
so labelled are 6, 38, 51, 102,
130, and 143. We should not overlook the importance
of that theme in other psalms such as 25.
- 3The 1987 Psalter Hymnal
uses Chretien Urban's 1834 tune "Rutherford" (The sands of time are
sinking), which is at least a somber tune in a Victorian sort of way,
not at all as bad as it sounds. Certainly the Gospel Song style was more
useful for joyful or happy texts (like Psalm 148)
than for psalms of meditation or sorrow.
- 4None of the penitential psalms
are not well represented in our hymnals; for this psalm, an unusable
paraphrase in the original Hymns for Worship is the only version
I have found. "Repentance" as a theme tends to appear only in the context
of the "invitation" song. This is not just not good; this is downright
pathological. (As an aside, this illustrates the importance of the psalms
in reminding us of categories of experience that we have neglected in our
worship.)
- 5Another neglected theme; see
also Psalm 1.
DRAFT COPY: CIRCULATED FOR REVIEW
Copyright © 2002,2003,2004, Stephen Hutcheson
Please circulate copies to elicit comments, but do not broadcast or publish.
Feedback would be received with gratitude.
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