In this week’s programme, you can hear two settings of Psalm 121: ‘I will lift mine eyes unto the hills’. One’s from the 18th century and the other was written especially for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977.
Photo: 123RF
SONG: PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY
Artist: Choir of Westminster Abbey
Words/Music: Joachim Neander trans Catherine Winkworth/Anon
Recording: Hyperion 712801
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation:
All ye who hear,
brothers and sisters draw near,
praise him in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth
shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth:
hast thou not seen
all that his people have been
granted in what he ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee:
ponder anew
what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath come now with praises before him!
Let the Amen
sound from his people again:
gladly for aye we adore him.
SONG: FAIREST LORD JESUS
Artist: Choir of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Catherine Palmer (dir), Ronald Jordan (organ)
Words/Music: Anon/Trad
Recording: Marquis 181175
Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
thee will I cherish, thee will I honour,
thou, my soul's glory, joy and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and fair the twinkling, starry host;
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer,
than all the angels heaven can boast.
All fairest beauty, heavenly and earthly,
wondrously, Jesus, is found in thee;
none can be nearer, fairer or dearer,
than thou, my Saviour, art to me.
SONG: I HEARD THE VOICE OF JESUS SAY
Artist: Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, Richard Marlow (dir)
Words/Music: Bonar/Trad arr Vaughan Williams
Recording: Conifer 75605-51249
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto me and rest;
lay down, O weary one, lay down
your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary, worn, and sad;
I found him in a resting place,
and he has made me glad.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water, thirsty one;
stoop down and drink and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in him.
I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s light;
look unto me, your morn shall rise,
and all your day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in him my star, my sun;
and in that light of life I’ll walk
till travelling days are done.
SONG: PSALM 23 THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD
Artist: St Michael’s Singers, Coventry Cathedral
Words/Music: Psalm 23/Stuart Townend
Recording: Integrity Music 2007
The Lord's my Shepherd I'll not want
He makes me lie in pastures green
He leads me by the still still waters
His goodness restores my soul
Refrain:
And I will trust in You alone
And I will trust in You alone
For Your endless mercy follows me
Your goodness will lead me home
He guides my ways in righteousness
And He anoints my head with oil
And my cup it overflows with joy
I feast on His pure delights
Refrain:
And though I walk the darkest path
I will not fear the evil one
For You are with me
And Your rod and staff
Are the comfort I need to know
Refrain:
SONG: I TO THE HILLS WILL LIFT MINE EYES
Artist: Scottish Philharmonic Singers
Words/Music: Psalm 121/Ravenscroft
Recording: Abbey 282830
I to the hills will lift mine eyes,
from whence doth come mine aid.
My safety cometh from the Lord,
who heav'n and earth hath made.
Thy foot he'll not let slide, nor will
he slumber that thee keeps.
Behold, he that keeps Israel,
he slumbers not, nor sleeps.
The Lord thee keeps, the Lord thy shade
on thy right hand doth stay:
The moon by night thee shall not smite,
nor yet the sun by day.
The Lord shall keep thy soul; he shall
preserve thee from all ill.
Henceforth thy going out and in
God keep for ever will.
SONG: PSALM 121 (ROSE)
Artist: Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, London, John Scott (dir), Huw Williams (organ)
Words/Music: Psalm 121/Barry Rose
Recording: Hyperion CDP11012
I will lift up my eyes unto the hills
from whence cometh my help come.
My help cometh even from the Lord,
who hath made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved;
he that keepeth thee will not sleep.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord himself is thy keeper;
the Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand.
So that the sun shall not burn thee by day,
neither moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil;
yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out
and thy coming in from this time forth and for evermore.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost.
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be:
world without end. Amen.
SONG: O, THE DEEP, DEEP LOVE OF JESUS
Artist: Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington, Michael Stewart (dir), Richard Apperley (organ)
Words/Music: Trevor Francis/Thomas Williams
Recording: RNZ 2020
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
vast, unmeasured, boundless, free,
rolling as a mighty ocean
in its fullness over me.
Underneath me, all around me,
is the current of Thy love;
leading onward, leading homeward
to my glorious rest above.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus,
spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth,
changeth never, nevermore!
How He watcheth o'er His loved ones,
died to call them all His own;
how for them He intercedeth,
watcheth o'er them from the throne.
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus!
Love of every love the best:
vast the ocean of his blessing,
sweet the haven of his rest!
Oh, the deep, deep love of Jesus,
very heaven of heavens to me,
and it lifts me up to glory,
evermore his face to see.
SONG: IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, GOD ONLY WISE
Artist: Huddersfield Choral Society
Words/Music: Walter Smith/Trad adapted Roberts
Recording: EMI 746202
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might:
thy justice, like mountains high soaring above;
thy clouds, which are fountains of goodness and love.
To all, life thou givest, to both great and small.
In all life thou livest, the true life of all.
We blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
then wither and perish; but naught changeth thee.
Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light,
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render: O help us to see
‘Tis only the splendour of light hideth thee.
