Psalm 6
This is the second place where I differ from the proposed Psalter. The OPC/URC proposal uses Olive’s Brow (from the BPS/BPW). While Olive’s Brow is a beautiful tune, it does not seem to me to be superior to the Genevan tune that has been used in the 1961 Trinity Hymnal and both Psalter Hymnals (1959 and 1987).
Text: 776 D (MCPC, 2010)
1 No longer, LORD, despise me, nor in your wrath chastise me. 2 Be gracious to me, LORD.
How long, LORD, must I languish? O heal me in my anguish; 3 my soul is troubled sore.
4 Turn back, O LORD, in favor and in your love deliver, save me in faithfulness.
5 How can the dead adore you, or bring their thanks before you; in Sheol who gives praise?
6 I am worn out with moaning; all night I weep with groaning, I flood my bed with tears.
7 My foes are all around me; my enemies surround me; my eyes are growing weak.
8 All who work evil, leave me; the LORD has heard my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my plea.
10 My foes shall all be shaken, turned back, by shame o’ertaken; ashamed they all shall be.
Tune: O Esca Viatorum (Genvan 6) (Louis Bourgeois, 1549)
Commentary
Psalm 6 is titled, “To the Choirmaster: with Stringed Instruments; according to The Sheminith. A Psalm of David.”
Structure:
Our four stanzas take their shape from the ESV layout of Psalm 6. The text bears some resemblance to the text found in the old Trinity Hymnal with “Pleading” (Pleading is simply another name for Genevan 6).
The OPC/URC proposal uses a LM text from Sing Psalms that divides the Psalm into five stanzas (two biblical verses per stanza). It is a very good translation — so I have no objection to the inclusion of the LM text with Olive Brow — but I would be disappointed to see the Genevan tune disappear from our repertoire.
Translation Notes:
Psalm 6 asks a hard question: “For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?” (v5)
Both the Sing Psalms translation and the MCPC translation do well with this.
Tune Notes:
The Genevan tune for Psalm 6 — sometimes called “Pleading” or “O Esca Viatorum” — fits beautifully with this lament. The internal rhymes of the AAB CCB poetic structure are mirrored in the musical lines as well. While the Genevan tunes can be challenging to learn, many of them are well worth the effort.
The Genevan tune has been used with Psalm 6 in the 1961 Trinity Hymnal, the 1959 and 1987 Psalter Hymnals, the RCNZ’s Sing to the Lord, as well as the Canadian Reformed Book of Praise.
Conclusion
I freely grant that the OPC/URC proposal is a good option. The Sing Psalms text is a good text, and Olive’s Brow is a good tune. I simply would argue that the Genevan tune is superior in conveying and supporting the text of this lament.
I have not yet preached on Psalm 6.
— Peter J. Wallace
Dr. Wallace, I have to concur with you that the Genevan tune of Psalm 6 is far more appropriate and beautiful than Bradbury’s OLIVE’S BROW. I would love to see GENEVAN 6 return in the URC/OPC proposal. (Here’s an instrumental recording of said tune: http://youtu.be/oxsXgU35KbM)
Thank you, Michael, for your reply. I’m curious as to why you chose to play it so slowly? Is that the tempo normally used in URC churches? (I’ve only heard it more quickly — though obviously it shouldn’t be “rushed”).
Peter
Truth be told, Dr. Wallace, I’ve never heard this particular Genevan psalm sung in any of the URC’s I’ve visited. Most would probably sing it at least a bit faster, though. As this was a piano solo, I felt more freedom to stretch the tempo out a little bit.