Worship in the Melting Pot Logo
Worship in the Melting Pot
Part 1
by Dr Peter Masters

Related to this Section

Is 'New Worship' Compatible with Traditional Worship?

Article index

These articles are taken from 'Sword and Trowel' magazine No.3 , 1998.
© Copyright Metropolitan Tabernacle, London. Used by permission.

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: 

  • Psalm 117 (2 verses). Obviously a closing doxology, either for singing at the end of other psalms, or the Temple services. 
  • 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. 
  • 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. 
 
  • Psalm 133 (3 verses). Another annual pilgrimage song, this has the character of a 'grace' for meals, or for times when relations gather in reunion. 
  • Psalm 134 (3 verses). Last of the pilgrim songs, this is an antiphonal blessing. In verses 1-2 the people bless the priests and Levites, and in the verse 3 the latter reply. 
THE REFRAIN OF PSALM 136 Each verse of Psalm 136 (26 verses) includes the refrain, 'For his mercy endureth for ever'. This is not a chorus, because each time it occurs it accompanies a line making a fresh point. A similar refrain is found in the first four verses of Psalm 118. Nowhere else does this occur in the psalter. 

Article index

Top of page

 
CCM Page
Homepage