Mount Zion has a special significance to the author of Psalm 48 because it is the location of the holy city Jerusalem, the palaces of Israel’s king, and the temple of Yahweh. Just as God dwelled in Zion for the Israelites, the Church of Christ should be “a city on a hill”–a holy place that is set apart for God that allows the light of the Spirit to shine. Or as Jesus says in Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”
Showing 81–90 of 119 results
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Psalm 26: Upheld
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Many Psalms talk about God putting them on solid rock, but only Psalms 26 and 143 use the phrase “level ground.” It echoes the words of Isaiah 40: “Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.” This image tells us that God is making a way, clearing a path for us.
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Psalm 31: In Your Shadow Is My Refuge
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Psalm 31 has a place in Holy Week worship because Jesus quoted it from the cross: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Though verses 9-13 give a glimpse into the terror of the cross, much of the Psalm focuses on trust in God’s deliverance. Kate Bluett has written a lovely setting of 31 which captures not only the heart of the Psalm, but also the structure, from plea for help to description of affliction to final words of hope. It is a great comfort to me to know that I can meditate and hope in the same scriptures that Jesus recited in his time of deepest distress.
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Psalm 40: I Will Wait Upon the Lord
Price range: $0.00 through $5.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page[embed]https://musicblog.gregscheer.com/Ps040-i_will_wait.mp3[/embed]This was written for Cornerstone University Ministry at the request of Henry Knapp. I chose Psalm 40 because I felt that the image of the feet being placed on solid rock could be appropriately updated to refer to the Solid Rock, Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone of our faith.
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Psalm 40: Patiently
Price range: $0.00 through $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page[embed]http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/patiently_COS.mp3[/embed]This meditative rendering of Psalm 40 won the 2017 Church of the Servant New Psalm Contest. You can read the whole story below.
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Psalm 46: O Lord of All, You Are Our Home
Price range: $0.00 through $5.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page[embed]http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/psalm_046-o_lord_of_all.mp3[/embed]Psalm 46 offers comfort and hope in times of trouble. It doesn’t promise that we won’t experience hardship, but that God will be with us in those times.
In Martin Luther’s famous setting of Psalm 46, “A Mighty Fortress,” he focused on themes of strength and battle. In my setting, I highlight the Psalm’s images of God as a refuge–God’s stable presence among us in a chaotic world–concluding each verse with an affirmation of hope: “The Lord of all is with us.”
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Psalm 46: The Lord of All Is with Us
Price range: $0.00 through $5.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page[embed]http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/psalm_046-the_lord_of_all.mp3[/embed]This song is something of an homage to the Reformation. It is based on the same Psalm as Luther’s great “A Mighty Fortress” and can, in fact, be sung to that hymn’s tune. My tune uses a mixed meter like many Lutheran and Reformed tunes. The 2+2+3+3 pulse makes the hymn more challenging than most. If you’re up for the challenge, use a hand drum to keep the beat steady. If you’re not up to the challenge, try my song “O Lord of All, You Are Our Home,” which uses the same text set to a simpler tune.
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Psalm 48: A City on a Hill
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Psalm 5: Hear My Words, O Lord
Price range: $0.00 through $5.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page[embed]http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/Ps005-hear_my_words.mp3[/embed]My setting of Psalm 5, “Hear My Words, O God” is composed for two narrators and congregational refrain. It appears as Psalm 5C in the Psalms for All Seasons hymnal, but if you want the un-squished piano music and choral parts you hear on this recording you’ll only find it here. The above recording is just a rough read-through by the Choral Scholars which doesn’t include the scripture reading. The narration allows the whole Psalm to be heard and allows the multiple voices of the original text to come through, as you can hear from the live worship recording below.
[embed]http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/psalm_5_hear_my_words.mp3[/embed] -
Psalm 53: Fools Deny Their God within Them
[audio mp3="https://gregscheer.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/psalm_053-carlill-fools_deny.mp3"][/audio]Adam Carlill’s metrical rendering of Psalm 53, from his excellent Psalms for the Common Era, retains the Psalm’s difficult themes but uses language that allows us to enter into them more easily. My tune accompanies the text with a Baroque-flavor that is off the beaten path, but still accessible, with a simple melody surrounded by harmonies and a bass line that scurry to and fro with all the fury of Psalm 53’s evildoers. The final half verse shifts to a major key, letting the accusations and anger of the previous verses give way to a final note of hope.
Sheet music for voice and piano.
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Psalm 55: Oh, That I Had Wings
Price range: $0.00 through $25.00 Select options This product has multiple variants. The options may be chosen on the product page[embed]http://musicblog.gregscheer.com/psalm_055-oh_that_i_had_wings.mp3[/embed]Psalm 55 is the plea of someone who has been betrayed and attacked by a former friend. Understandably, the Psalmist wants to beat a hasty retreat: “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” Given the urgency of the Psalm, I wrote a tune that comes in short, breathless bursts, with harmonic twists and turns.