Congregational Songs
Showing 157–168 of 275 results
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Psalm 132: Arise, O King of Grace, Arise (O Savior, Come)
$0.00 – $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page[embed]http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/o_savior_come.mp3[/embed]This text teases out Christological imagery from the Psalm in a way that only Watts can do, making this song perfect for both Christ the King Sunday and the season of Advent.
PowerPoint slides for congregational singing are available from Digital Songs & Hymns.
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Psalm 132: Dwell in Us
$0.00 Add to cart[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_132-dwell_in_us.mp3"][/audio]Psalm 132 is a Messianic history psalm. It tells the story of David vowing not to rest until he had built a house in Jerusalem for the ark of the covenant. God, in turn, honors David’s devotion by promising that one of his descendants will forever occupy the throne in Jerusalem. Today we understand this promise to be fulfilled in Jesus.
I chose to tease out the Advent overtones of the psalm, inviting God to make a dwelling place in our hearts. “Dwell in Us” is unique among my Pilgrim Psalms in that it features chant, which allows the whole story to be sung.
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.
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Psalm 133: How Good and Beautiful
$0.00 Add to cart[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/psalm_133-how_good_and_beautiful.mp3"][/audio]Psalm 133 is the quintessential ode to the unity of God’s people. I have set Psalm 133 to music three times in the past, but for the Pilgrim Psalms, I wanted to write something rougher and more muscular. Why? Because it takes a lot of work–even fighting–to achieve the kind of unity that Psalm 133 describes.
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.
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Psalm 133: How Very Good and Pleasant
$5.00 – $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product pagehttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/psalm_133-how_very_good.mp3
My favorite setting of Psalm 133 is Barbara Boertje’s “How Very Good,” and this song adds solo verses between the congregational refrains. My study of the Psalm tells me that the oil represents–thinking broadly–the anointing that made Israel God’s people, and the dew represents God’s blessing through food and creation. Looking through New Testament eyes, we could interpret the oil as Jesus our anointed High Priest and/or the baptismal waters that set us apart as God’s people. The dew could become the bread and wine which are a foretaste of the eternal life promised at the end of Psalm 133.
With that in mind–and with Barbara’s permission–I wrote 2 verses to go with the original song. The verses feel like they’re cut from the same cloth as the refrain and it expands Barbara’s original idea to include the text of the whole Psalm, without increasing the difficulty of the congregation’s part.
Note: This recording is from a previous version of the song.
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Psalm 133: What Wondrous Joy
$5.00 Add to carthttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/what_wondrous_joy.mp3
This setting of Psalm 133 by Michael Morgan was included in a book celebrating the career of Emily Brink: One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church: A Scrapbook of Worship Resources for the Worldwide Church. The grande dame of congregational song, she retired in 2014. Of course, I was happy to add a tune to Michael’s text and a contribution to Emily’s collection.
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Psalm 134: Bless the Lord!
$0.00 Add to carthttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/psalm_134-bless_the_lord.mp3
The biblical Songs of Ascents, and my Pilgrim Psalms song series, conclude with Psalm 134. It is a fitting conclusion, with the people blessing God and God blessing the people. What better way to capture this volley of blessings than with a ten-part round?
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.
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Psalm 135: I Know the Lord Is Great!
$0.00 Add to carthttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/psalm_135-i_know_the_lord_is_great.mp3
Hunter Lynch’s lyric based on Psalm 135 is an exuberant ode to God’s might. It is accompanied by a funky gospel tune. It is likely more complicated than most congregations could tackle, but it would be perfect for Jazz or Gospel choirs.
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.
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Psalm 136: The Gracious Love of God Will Never End
$0.00 Add to carthttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/psalm_136-the_gracious_love.mp3
Psalm 136 is a long Psalm with the repeated refrain, “His love endures forever.” The Hebrew is much richer. The word “love” encompasses loving-kindness, grace, mercy, and compassion. I arrived at a repeated refrain of “The gracious love of God will never end” and a simple call-and-response that can be learned quickly.
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church, please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.
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Psalm 137: So Far from Home
$0.00 Add to cart[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/08-So-Far-From-Home.mp3"][/audio]“So Far from Home” is a setting of Psalm 137, which includes the imprecation: “Blessed is he who dashes their babies against the rocks.” What is an imprecation if it’s not a curse? In this case, I decided to recast Psalm 137 in a modern context, replacing harps with guitars and the Psalms oppressors with the modern forces of human misery: slave traders, pimps, and wars.
This song is mentioned in Greg’s podcast, “Russians.”
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to OneLicense.
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Psalm 14: We Wait for You, Our Savior
$0.00 Add to carthttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/psalm_014-we_wait_for_you_our_savior.mp3
At first blush, Psalm 14 seems almost catty. The Psalmist comes out swinging, calling the godless “fools,” “abominable,” “perverse,” and “evil.” Ouch! However, this vitriol is not aimed at random unbelievers, it is reserved for those “who eat my people as they eat bread” and who would “confound the plans of the poor.” By the end of the Psalm, anger has turned to prayer, asking God to give refuge to those in need.
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church, please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.
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Psalm 141: O Lord, I Call to You, Please Hear Me
$0.00 Add to carthttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/Psalm-141_-O-Lord-I-Call-to-You.mp3
A jazz Psalm is out of the sweet spot of many congregations, but this might be a good place to start. A one-note refrain is paired with straightforward metrical verses. If I were leading this in a congregation, I’d likely have them sing that simple eight-measure phrase only, leaving the verses to a soloist until it became familiar.
This leadsheet is a free download. If you sing this song in your church please report its use to CCLI or OneLicense.
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Psalm 143: O Lord, Hear My Prayer
$0.00 Add to carthttps://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/psalm_143.mp3
One doesn’t usually associate jazz with responsorial Psalms. But as you can hear, this song has everything a good responsorial Psalm needs: a quickly learnable refrain, verses that can expand or contract to match the length of the text, and clear harmonic movement to support the chant. Give it a try!
Showing 157–168 of 275 results