Congregational Songs

Showing 133–144 of 248 results

  • Psalm 122: Let Us Go!

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_122-let_us_go.mp3"][/audio]

    Psalm 122 is full of exuberance at the mere thought of going to worship. For the Israelites, the song would have accompanied them on the long journey to Jerusalem. I can imagine this song would be one of their favorites along the way: it called them to join the journey, it boosted flagging spirits along the way, and it would be a grand anthem upon arriving at their destination.

    Like all my Pilgrim Psalms, “Let Us Go!” is very simple and easily learned without music. It is an eight-measure chorus repeated ad-lib with three verses that can be sung by a leader on top of the chorus. Think of it as Hillbilly Taizé.

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 123: Have Mercy

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_123-have_mercy.mp3"][/audio]

    Psalm 123 is a prayer for mercy. The first half of the Psalm describes our eyes looking up to heaven–an acknowledgment of the true God–and the second half is asking God to look down and intervene against lesser authorities–those gods of this earth who abuse their power. It is a simple, but powerful Pilgrim Psalm.

    This song is mentioned in Greg’s podcast, “Psalm 123 and Mercy.”

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 124: If God Had Not Been on Our Side

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/psalm_124-if_god.mp3"][/audio]

    The urgent images of Psalm 124—foes, floods, and fowler’s snare—form the backbone of this song, ultimately celebrating the God who saves us from our attackers.

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 124: Our Help

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_124-our_help.mp3"][/audio]

    “Our Help” is the shortest of my Pilgrim Psalms. It can stand on its own or act as a “bookend” for my longer setting of Psalm 124, “If God Had Not Been on Our Side.”

    But let me suggest one more way to use the song: “Our Help” is based on the words that traditionally begin Reformed worship services: Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Why not sing those words? “Our Help” is easy to pick up by ear and is the kind of song that can be sung multiple times while people gather and focus on worship. It could also segue into an opening song like Ron Rienstra’s “The Lord Be with You.”

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 125: Everlasting Peace

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_125-everlasting_peace.mp3"][/audio]

    This Pilgrim Psalm setting of Psalm 125 has the voice at the center. Indeed, there are no instruments at all on this recording. Of course, you should feel free to try it with a praise band or a simple keyboard accompaniment.

    Just in case you don’t pick up on my musical word-painting, Psalm 125 talks about God surrounding his people like Mount Zion circles Jerusalem; what better way to represent that image than with a round?

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 125: Those Who Trust in the Lord Shall Abide

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    http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/psalm_125-those_who_trust.mp3

    The music for this setting of Psalm 125 is quite adaptable: It could be led by one folk guitar, played in flowing arpeggios on the piano, or rocked out with a full metal praise band. The third verse draws from John 14:23-31; it’s uncanny how closely that passage tracks with Psalm 125. The Psalm alludes to “the scepter of wickedness” and the Gospel “the ruler of this world,” “those who trust” becomes “those who love me,” and “Peace be upon Israel!” is transformed to “My peace I leave with you.”

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 126: Tears and Joy

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_126-tears_and_joy.mp3"][/audio]

    Of all the Pilgrim Psalms, Psalm 126 is known for its joy. In fact, it uses the word four times in a mere six verses. But this is not an easily earned joy; it is the joy of people who have known tears but have been rescued from misery just when they were about to give up.

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 127: Wait for the Work of the Lord

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_127-wait_for_the_work_of_the_lord.mp3"][/audio]

    We have a strange relationship to work. Some of us are workaholics. Others are “working for the weekend.”

    Of all the Pilgrim Psalms, Psalm 127 provides us a theology of work. As Eugene Peterson points out in A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, the first thing the Bible tells us about God is that God created–God worked. Work is at the core of who we are as creatures in God’s image. Unlike God, however, we have limits to what we can achieve with our work. Psalm 127 tells us that we can keep watch, but only God keeps us secure. We can plant, but only God can give the harvest. Peterson compares frantic activity on the one hand and detached laziness on the other. In between those extremes is work that is full of joy and meaning, that trusts the Lord for the miracles of life and food, and that rests securely in the Lord when work is over.

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 128: Bless Us, O Lord

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_128-bless_us_o_lord.mp3"][/audio]

    The idea of “blessing” runs throughout the Pilgrim Psalms, coming to full bloom in Psalm 128. The heart of this Psalm’s message is “Serve God, work hard, and God will bless you.” While this may sound like “works righteousness,” I would suggest a much simpler conclusion: God is very fond of us and wants to shower us with good things!

    “Bless Us, O Lord” sticks close to the theme, with the people singing only those four words in response to a leader’s verses.

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 129: We Won’t Stay Down Forever

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_129-we_wont_stay_down.mp3"][/audio]

    Our journey through the Pilgrim Psalms has covered a lot of emotional terrain, but Psalm 129 is still surprising: a fight-the-man screed sung by the scrappy underdog who’s waiting for vindication. What better way to express the pent up anger and down-but-not-out camaraderie of the Psalm than with the music of a full-throated sea chanty?

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

     

  • Psalm 13: How Long?

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    https://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/how_long.mp3

    Psalm 13 is the loneliest of Psalms. It begins with the famous words, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” In this song, I cast the “enemy” named in the Psalm as depression. The clues are all there: endless sorrow, feeling forgotten, emotional turmoil–even the lethargy and over-sleep that often accompanies depression. The Psalmist poignantly prays to be seen: “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.” Certainly, we’ve all felt some of this at some point.

    This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.

  • Psalm 130: From Down in the Depths

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    [audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_130-from_down_in_the_depths.mp3"][/audio]

    Psalm 130 ranks as one of the best-known Psalms of confession, second only to Psalm 51. Like all my Pilgrim Psalms, this song focuses on simplicity. The call and response format means the leader can “feed” new lines to the people. After singing it a few times it should be pretty easy to remember, even without music or words.

Showing 133–144 of 248 results