This psalm version presents a timeless eulogy of God's faithfulness, power, and justice.
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My song forever shall record
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This psalm is an appeal to God to restore the covenant with His people, which had apparently been repudiated: the nation had been defeated and ravaged by enemies, and God had allowed that to happen -- He could even be said to have done it. It consists of three main sections: verses 1-18, praise of God's power, faithfulness, and justice; 19-37 (foreshadowed in 3-4) a recitation of the covenant with David; 38-51, the direct appeal from the devastated nation.
This version from the American Presbyterian psalter includes only the first section, and therefore functions as a simple song of praise. This is a looser version than often found in that source, but carefully structured as a hymn: stanza 1, God's faithfulness; 2, His justice; 3: His power. Stanza 4 makes a powerful conclusion: well indeed for the people who have such a God!
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Sponsored by the Empress Catherine, Bortnianski (1752-1825) studied in major Italian musical centers, then returned to the Russian court to compose operas for its theatre and choral music for its chapel. He reorganized Russian Orthodox church music according to modern musical theory. Although he wrote nothing for congregational singing, this tune from a mass was soon adapted by I. H. Tscherlitzky, an organist in St. Petersburg, for a German choralebook published in Leipsig. Today, it is widely used for various English tunes, both in Britain and in America.
We'd expect the second phrase ("mercies of the Lord") to end on a tonic
chord, rather than a dominant suspension exactly like the first phrase
("shall record") in aa' form. But this is the standard German
aab bar form.
A society that worships power, in which Law is often a tool of oppression, that either wilfully ignores the fact of creation or proclaims that God has abandoned any interest He might have had in His creation, especially needs the message of this hymn. Ours is not the first such society. But there is a very real danger that we will see in other societies depths of injustice that are less socially acceptable, less visible, or even apparently less common in our own: and thuse see ourselves as "having already arrived, already been perfected." So such hymns become blasphemous paeans to our own national pride. But that is not only a problem in our hymns: that is a fundamental temptation in all Bible study. We must learn to see, in the Bible's many expressions of God's universal rule, both good news for the world and warnings to ourselves. If we can learn to do that, we can also use these psalms in wholehearted praise to God.
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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 |