A detailed description of God as protector is given an eloquent poetic setting by the most accomplished nineteenth-century hymnwriter.
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Call the Lord God thy salvation,
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The psalm is an eloquent and detailed description of God as protector from all kinds of ill, both physical and spiritual. This is a free, abridged version by Montgomery. The Hebrew parallelism is frequently preserved in parallel lines; and occasionally the English version expands the Hebrew by introducing new parallels. This gives the hymn an appropriately "psalmic" flavor.
The stanzas are individually well-rounded, usually with a shift in focus at the fifth line (just where the tune modulates to the relative minor.) The missing unaccented syllable at the end of every other line forms a natural pause, which is reflected in the sentence structure; and the end of each line corresponds to a natural syntax break. And yet, read as prose, the phrases fit together smoothly.
As we have come to expect from Montgomery, the stanzas are also balanced, with the center focusing on God's actions, framed by expressions of our reaction to it.
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Through-composed
Rowlands (1860-1937), a teacher, choral composer and conductor, and cong leader, composed this tune during a Welsh revival, naming it after a farm where he had lived as a young man. The Billy Graham crusades popularized it as a tune for What a friend we have in Jesus.
One handbook describes the tune as "majestic, with a fine harmonization, and powerful climax at the end of phrase 3." Joyful yet dignified, emotionally balanced without being either sentimental or dry, it is an excellent tune for this song of confidence.
I confess a special weakness for the bass part, but all the voices have melodies worth singing on their own account, as well as making compelling harmony when sung together -- a combination rare in music this simple.
I have seen it associated with five or six texts, but it does not have a strong connection with any one text. People using the original Hymns for Worship might take a hint from the Graham Crusades, and substitute this for all those psalm texts for which "Erie" was so incongruously suggested.
This psalm is suited for general use; as praise for God the protector, it is a worthy substitute for the over-used Psalm 23. As an affirmation of the comprehensiveness of God's promises, it can well stand beside the under-utilized How firm a foundation. And in times of trouble, specific lines may become especially significant.
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.
| These studies are created by members of the West Allen Church of Christ in Allen, Texas |