Psalms in Our Time

Psalm 51: God, be merciful to me

This twentieth-century version of a penitential psalm represents the spirit of the Scottish psalter.

God, be merciful to me;
On Thy grace I rest my plea;
In Thy vast, abounding grace,
My transgressions all erase.
Wash me wholly from my sin;
Cleanse from every ill within.

For my sins before me rise,
Ever present to my eyes.
I have sinned ‘gainst Thee alone.
In Thy sight this evil done;
That Thy judgment may be clear,
And Thy sentence just appear.

Lo, brought forth was I in sin;
When conceived I was unclean.
Lo, Thou dost desire to find
Truth sincere within the mind:
And Thou wilt within my heart
Wisdom unto me impart.

Then with hyssop sprinkle me,
And form sin I clean shall be.
Wash me from its stain, and lo,
I shall whiter be than snow.
Make me hear joy’s cheering voice;
Make my broken bones rejoice.

From my sins hide Thou Thy face;
My iniquities erase.
O my God, renew my heart,
And a spirit right impart.
Cast me not away from Thee,
Nor Thy Spirit take form me.

Give salvation’s’ joy again,
And a willing mind sustain.
Then thy perfect ways I’ll show
That transgressors may them know;
They converted then shall be
Sinners shall be turned to Thee.

Text: Composite?

Meter: 7,7,7,7
Rhyme scheme: aabbcc

I have not tracked down the source of this version. It obviously owes a great deal (multiple entire lines) from both the 1887 and 1912 Psalters; and yet in its form is poetically superior to either one. It appears in the 1994 Trinity Hymnal with "Redhead 76", which is also often used for its predecessors. An only mildly edited form appears in Hymns for Worship, to "Toplady" (Rock of Ages). One is shocked to find first a coherent text, and then shocked all over again to find it with a workable tune, from that source.

"Redhead 76": Richard Redhead, xxxx?

Incipit: ddrmffm|ddrmrrd; 11234 43112 32211
Melodic scheme: Through-composed

Use:

Notes:

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Copyright © 2002,2003,2004, Stephen Hutcheson
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These studies are created by members of the West Allen Church of Christ in Allen, Texas