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THE PSALTER IS NOTHING
LIKE A BOOK OF CHORUSES
All psalms except five convert
into paraphrases or hymns of at least five verses in short or common metre.
Most psalms are much longer than this. Only five psalms are shorter (3%).
These cannot be regarded as choruses for the following reasons:
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Psalm 117 (2 verses). Obviously
a closing doxology, either for singing at the end of other psalms, or the
Temple services.
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Psalm 123 (4 verses). This
is still too long and has too much matter for a chorus. Lyte's 'Unto Thee
I lift my eyes' tracks this psalm in four verses.
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Psalm 131 (3 verses). A
very personal psalm to be uttered in great humility. Designed to be sung
annually by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem, it is utterly unlike a modern
chorus.
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