L.F. Kosten MA dr. J. van Wijk
sing hosanna psalms, Hymns and spirituals
Dedicated to youth learning English
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Paul, apostle
Selection and comment: L.F. Kosten MA dr. J. van Wijk
sing hosanna psalms, Hymns and spirituals
Contents
Contents Woord vooraf 1.
Classic Psalms Introduction Psalm 50 Psalm 77 Psalm 98 Psalm 100 Psalm 116 Psalm 138
2.
Classics from the British Isles Introduction Our God, our Help in Ages Past There is a Land of Pure Delight When I Survey the Wondrous Cross There is a Fountain Filled with Blood God Moves in a Mysterious Way Amazing Grace How Sweet the Sound Rock of Ages Cleft for Me The Lord our Righteousness (= I Once Was a Stranger to Grace and to God) Abide with Me Fast Falls the Eventide Praise My Soul the King of Heaven The Old Rugged Cross Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise God Be in My Head
2
3.
Classics from America Introduction Pass me Not, o Gentle Savior Safe in the Arms of Jesus, Safe on His Gentle Breast Rescue the Perishing, Care for the Dying Some Day the Silver Cord will Break When Peace Like a River Attendeth my Way What a Friend We Have in Jesus Come ye Sinners, Lost and Hopeless Be not Dismayed Whate´er Betide God Be with you Till we Meet Again There Shall Be Showers of Blessings I Love to Tell the Story (…) / Tell me the Old, Old Story (…)
4.
Classic Negro Spirituals Introduction Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Deep River Go Down Moses Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
5.
Classic songs of our time Introduction Abba Father Let me Be Seek ye First the Kingdom of God
Father, I Adore You Suffer Little Children to Come unto Me Give me Joy in My Heart (=Sing Hosanna)
6.
Classic patriotic songs Introduction The Battle Hymn of the Republic God Save our Gracious Queen
3
Woord vooraf
Is er behoefte aan een bundel met Engelse liederen? Moet er zo nodig aandacht gevraagd worden voor andere liederen dan Psalmen en de enkele bekende liederen die in het Psalmboek staan? Wat zijn de motieven om deze bundel op de markt te brengen? Enkele vragen die gemakkelijk opkomen als jij/u deze bundel in handen hebt. Internationaal Vandaag de dag zijn we internationaler ingesteld dan enkele decennia geleden, maar wie verder in de geschiedenis duikt, moet zeggen dat ´Nederlanders´ eigenlijk altijd al een internationale blik hadden. Hoeveel vluchtelingen waren niet uitgeweken naar Engeland of Duitsland? Gingen predikanten niet studeren naar bijvoorbeeld Geneve? Waren de schepen niet op weg naar Indië, oost en west? Nee, wat dat betreft, is het niet nieuw als we aan internationalisering doen. De Nederlandse kerk heeft voor zang in de eredienst in navolging van Calvijn gekozen voor de Psalmen en enkele geestelijke liederen. Wie naar een reformatorische kerk gaat, is daarmee groot gebracht en er wordt beslist geen poging gedaan daarin verandering in te brengen. Maar: naast de zondag zijn er zes andere dagen dat er gezongen
4
kan worden. Daarbij kan het vrije lied aandacht krijgen zoals dat in Luthers Duitsland een plaats gekregen heeft of zoals dat door Engelse christenen gezongen wordt.
zien belangstelling te hebben voor die ‘vreemde’ cultuur. Deze bundel is juist bruikbaar om er met niet-Nederlandse christenen uit te zingen tijdens ontmoetingen.
Tijdens de Engelse les hymns onder de aandacht van leerlingen brengen kan hen alleen maar verrijken. Zijn alle hymns acceptabel? Dat zal niet. Maar dat houdt niet in dat er niets goeds te vinden is. Deze bundel mag niet gezien worden als een bundel waarop de reformatorische school het stempel zet, beslist niet. Bij sommige liederen maken we kanttekeningen. We moeten niet op alle slakken zout leggen, maar ook niet alles accepteren wat zich aandient. Een kritische geest blijft geboden. Overigens geldt dat ook voor de psalmberijming van 1773, die wel erg vertrouwd geworden is door gebruik, maar waarin berijmingen staan die theologisch gezien niet door de beugel kunnen.
Inhoud Wat valt er veel te leren van het lied! Neem alleen het taalgebruik van de dichter. Schrijft hij gewoon of dichterlijk? Zijn de woorden bekend? Hoe staat het met de zinsbouw? Het zijn allemaal zaken die in het voorbijgaan aan de orde komen. Wie daarna de liederen zingt, echt geregeld zingt, doet ongemerkt aardig wat kennis van het Engels op, niet in het minst van het theologische Engels dat in de liederen gebruikt wordt.
Als jongeren belangstelling krijgen voor het geestelijke goed dat buiten de landsgrenzen te vinden is, juichen we dat toe. Een van de redenen een vreemde taal te leren is te kunnen communiceren met christenen die geen Nederlands verstaan. Wie een aantal liederen in die taal kent, laat daarmee
De opzet van de bundel is als volgt. Er zijn zes afdelingen gemaakt aan het begin waarvan steeds een introductie staat. Daarna volgen de liederen waarop enige toelichting gegeven wordt. Soms wordt de achtergrond blootgelegd. Je ziet dan bijvoorbeeld tegen welke moeilijke omstandigheden het lied, waaruit vertrouwen spreekt, geplaatst moet worden. Soms gaat het om de tekst die nader bestudeerd wordt. Komt wat de dichter zegt wel met de Bijbel overeen? is dan de vraagstelling. Een andere keer is het commentaar meer
gericht op de melodie en de tekst of op literaire aspecten van de tekst. Kortom: er wordt vanuit verschillende gezichtshoeken naar de tekst gekeken. Voor alles wil de tekst echter gezongen zijn! De naam van de bundel is ontleend aan het Engelse lied: Sing Hosanna for the King. Lofliederen bevat deze bundel zeker, maar wie thuis is in de Bijbel weet dat het Hosanna-gejuich van de massa al snel veranderde in ´Kruis Hem´. In Jezus´ leven vond het allemaal in de laatste week plaats. Impliciet verwijst de naam van de bundel ook daarnaar: er komen dus net zo goed liederen van lijden en verdriet voor, van bekentenis van schuld en van smeken om genade. Liederen met vaderlandse inhoud passen eveneens bij deze titel, als we bedenken dat de menigte met Hosanna juist bedoelde Jezus als aardse koning te gaan huldigen. Later in de geschiedenis zijn het christelijke koningen die regeren bij de gratie Gods en dat is te horen in ´anthems´. Ontstaan Met veel genoegen hebben wij gewerkt aan de samenstelling van deze bundel. Tijdens bijeenkomsten van het lectoraat Engels (2010-2014) begonnen we elke keer met een hymn. Juist bij de voorbereiding bleek ons hoe groot de schat is die
5
Woord vooraf
we in handen hebben, maar ook hoe betrekkelijk weinig we weten van deze schat. Zo is het idee ontstaan een bundel uit te geven om ook onze collega´s met hun leerlingen iets van die schat te laten zien. Ze hoeven zelf geen zoekwerk te doen en ook niet steeds te kopiëren. Omdat de projectleider verbonden was aan het Calvijn College in Goes is bij het College van Bestuur gepolst hoe het stond tegenover een uitgave als deze. In de heer A.J. Vogel, voorzitter van het CvB, hebben wij een warm voorstander van het uitbrengen van een bundel met Engelse liederen ontmoet. Zingen is een heerlijke bezigheid, christelijke liederen zingen is naar Augustinus´ woord ´tweemaal bidden´ en als leerlingen in het Engels leren zingen is dat van grote vormende waarde, zowel geestelijk, cultureel als taalkundig. Wij ontvingen dus alle medewerking, waarvoor we hier openlijk onze dank uitspreken. Wat zou het mooi zijn als er straks vanuit de scholen gevraagd wordt om een tweede bundel of om een liedbundel met Duitse of Franse liederen!
ziekdocenten is gekozen voor het landscapeformaat. Dat maakt het mogelijk dat alle notenbalken op een en dezelfde bladzijde komen te staan. Mario van der Voorst heeft het omslagontwerp gemaakt. Van zijn hand is overigens de hele vormgeving. We zijn er hem dankbaar voor dat hij de bundel ook aantrekkelijk gemaakt heeft voor het oog.
Vormgeving en druk Wil een bundel gebruikt worden, dan moet ze een handzaam formaat hebben. Op advies van mu-
6
7
classic psalms
Section 1
Introduction In the 20th century many members of Dutch Reformed Christians went to the United States or to Canada. Some started farming in the far west, in British Columbia, whereas others settled in the environment of the Great Lakes. There were a lot of possibilities for them to start a new future. It was thought that after the Depression of the 1930s and after the Second World War it would be hard to gain a living in the Netherlands and therefore they left our country. The Dutch government helped them in leaving the country. Financial help was provided when you had the right job for the country you wanted to live in. For big families there were really opportunities abroad! Imagine them making that long voyage by steamer. Of course, there were planes, but it was not that easy to fly as it is these days! Leaving your family meant that you would probably never see them again. In the New World it was not easy for the immigrants. Many had difficulties with the language. But there were other problems such as getting a good income and many had a hard struggle to escape poverty. Some of them failed.
8
Church life What possibilities did the immigrants have concerning their religious life? In Canada and in America there were Christian churches they could have joined. But they usually didn´t. They tried to continue their services the way they had had them in Holland. So new congregations were formed. To continue Dutch life people chose the Dutch church order. Attending a service or listening to a sermon, you would experience more or less the same as in your own congregation. Due to a lack of preachers they invited Dutch ministers and some of them really crossed the ocean. In Holland there are many different churches and more or less the same came about in the countries overseas. Worse still; a church split in the Netherlands had its effect in Canada and the US and thus believers in these, mostly small churches, split off from others. As a result, there are a lot of different churches in the States and in Canada and so you will find NRC, HNRC, URC etc., whose members have all but one Saviour, Jesus Christ! Psalms And now we come to the point. The question is how did these immigrants cope with hymns. Did
they choose for a translation or did they make a choice for something they had found in English literature? When you have a look at the Psalter they make use of now, you will find that both answers are correct. All 150 psalms are present, but the tunes are different from ours. In section 3 of this songbook we want to tell you more about the original American hymns, but for now it is enough to know they used the psalms written by English and American songwriters and they did not make new tunes. Hymns 1 until 413 are hymns about psalms. As you can see there are more hymns than psalms. That is because more hymns for every single psalm were written. For example, there are four hymns on Psalm 150. After this first large section there is a different section with Psalms with the Geneva tune. These are the psalms we are familiar with and It is only a selection that is to be found in this Psalter (414 until 450). How do Americans and Canadians sing these psalms? Like in Holland some congregations sing somewhat faster than others, but that´s not what we mean. Do they sing all the notes of equal length since in Holland most Reformed Churches do so. In the States, however, believers have chosen for a certain rhythm. Singing most American
hymns rhythmically, it is understandable they make the same choice for psalms. And so in this John Calvin´s idea about singing is better understood abroad than in Holland. We have opted for well-known psalms, say the classics (except Psalm 50). It would not be too difficult to sing those special hymns. If you want to sing more psalms for example at home with your parents and brothers and sisters, the site of the Protestant Reformed Churches in America provides all hymns. You can browse: http://www. prca.org/resources/categories/psalter.
9
1. The might-y God, Je-ho-vah, speaks
From beauteous Zi-on God shines forth,
He comes and will not si-lent be;
De- vour-ing flame be-fore Him goes,
2.
He calls aloud to heaven and earth That He may justly judge His own; My chosen saints together bring Who sacrifice to Me alone; The heavens His righteousness declare, For God Himself as Judge is there.
3.
Hear, O my people, I will speak, Against thee I will testify; Give ear to me, O Israel, For God, thy covenant God, am I; I do not spurn thy sacrifice, Thy offerings are before My eyes.
And calls the earth from sea to sea;
Psalm 50
And dark the tem-pest round Him grows.
I will receive from out thy fold No offering for My holy shrine; The cattle on a thousand hills And all the forest beasts are Mine; Each mountain bird to Me is known, Whatever roams the field I own.
5.
Behold, if I should hungry grow I would not tell My need to thee, For all the world itself is Mine And all its wealth belongs to Me; Why should I aught to thee receive My thirst or hunger to relieve?
The gist of this psalm is that Jehovah, the almighty God, who created heaven and earth, is all sufficient in himself. Sometimes believers think that they must offer God a lot to satisfy him. But God needs nothing. He is rich. Not mentioned in this text is that mankind have to offer God a broken heart and a wounded spirit. In stanza 6 you can read about another offering: thanksgiving and praise.
Section 1
10
4.
When you sing psalms in your church, you will certainly know that the choice is rather small. Sometimes the minister will ask the congregation to sing an unknown psalm, but that is not so successful. We agree: the lyrics are wonderful in accordance to his sermon, but too few members know the tune. The result is a minimal performance. What a pity! Every now and then believers try to change this by paying extra attention to these unknown psalms, but without results. Look at psalm 50. We assume that you hardly know this psalm. We understand, since it is one of the unknown psalms. But in the Psalter this psalm is not unknown and the tune is not either. Bortniansky (1751-1825) wrote a famous tune. In Dutch we sing on this tune: O, welk een macht heeft Uwe liefde, Door Jezus mij geopenbaard, Die Hij hoe snood men Hem ook griefde, Aan haat’ren zelfs niet heeft gespaard, In plaats van aan mijzelf te denken, Wil ‘k U geheel mijn leven schenken. But perhaps you have never heard of that hymn!
classic psalms
11
Psalm 77
1. In my grievous tri - bu - la - tion,
Hear my cry and su - ppli - ca - tion;
O my God, who hearest prayer,
Look on me in all my care.
Day and night in my com-plai-ning,
Ne’er my mournful voice re-strai-ning,
I in vain with tear-ful eye
Sought re-lief with Thee, Most High.
12
Will the Lord cast off forever, Ties of covenant friendship sever? Will He show His face no more As He did in days of yore? Will the word, to Israel spoken By our fathers’ God, be broken? Must we in our grief complain That His promises are vain?
3.
Shall His wrath, my way attending, So I asked in sorrow bending, Ever stem His wondrous grace, And conceal His kindly face? Then my faith, by sorrow chastened, Cast out fear and doubt, and hastened To reply in nobler strain: God will send me joy for pain.
4.
I’ll remember, O my Savior, How the years of joy and favor, Like the dew on arid land, Came to me from Thy right hand. I’ll recall, Thy works confessing, All the wonders of Thy blessing; With my mouth will I proclaim: Great and glorious is Thy Name.
Nearly every Christian knows this situation: he or she is in distress and sorrow and perceives nothing of God. Then doubt arises in their hearts and they think that God does not exist or does neither see nor help them. A truly sad situation. In Psalm 77 you will find a similar situation and therefore this psalm is instructive and full of comfort. What to do in unbelief? The well-known English minister Martin Lloyd Jones (1899-1981) has given us a kind of method to overcome doubt in his book From fear to faith. By four steps you may get rid of unbelief. 1. Start thinking. Most people will start talking, but that is wrong. At this moment you will perhaps offend God. 2. Go back to what is evidently true. This is an indirect method, but it will help you. In the Second World War the Germans were finally overcome, but the triumph started in Africa! When you are in moors you have to pass by looking for stones: If not you will drown. So: recall what is absolutely true. Write it down and tell yourself: in this difficult situation I am sure about… . The strategy will
be clear: when you realize what is eternally true, your panic will subside. 3. The next step is to put your specific problem in the context of what is absolutely true. Mostly problems will be solved when they are put into context. 4. Are you still in doubt? Entrust it to the Lord in prayer. Let him reign. Perhaps he will give a solution, perhaps not. Looking at Psalm 77 you will find elements of this strategy: stanza 1: the prayer mentioning the problem. stanza 2, 3 and 4: the thinking about it and going back in history to see what the Lord did in the past. stanza 4: the trusting of the case in God´s hands. The Dutch version of psalm 77 numbers 11 stanzas, the English version made by William Kuipers in 1931 only 5. The number of stanzas in the Dutch psalter is equal to the French . The French ‘made’ the original, the Dutch used a translation in the 16th century. And when, in 1773, a new psalter was proposed to the churches the same amount of stanzas was opted for. But in Liedboek voor de Kerken,
13
Section 1
2.
classic psalms
2.
For mighty wonders He has done.
His right hand and His arm most holy
3. Join to the harp your glad rejoicing; A Psalm of adoration sing, With trumpet and with cornet voicing Your joyful praise to God the King. Let oceans roar with all their fullness, The world and all that dwell therein. Acclaim the LORD’s great power with boldness; Exalt Him ever and again.
The victory for Him have won.
The LORD displayed His just salvation;
Revealing to the heathen nations
That judgment issues from His throne.
14
4.
Let all the streams in joyous union Now clap their hands and praise accord, The mountains join in glad communion And leap with joy before the LORD. He comes, He comes to judge the peoples In righteousness and equity; He will redeem the world from evil And righteous shall His judgment be!
Some critics have stated that psalms are of the old testament. “You will not find Christ in them,” they say. Is that true? Yes and no. They are right: you will not find the Christ as a living person in the psalms but they are also wrong: Christ is promised in the old testament. He is the One to come. You will find him for instance in Psalm 22, 24, 40, 45, 47 and so on. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the famous Baptist preacher who preached in the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London, wrote in his comments on the psalms about Psalm 98: “… a new song because he has come, and seen and conquered. Jesus, our King, has lived a marvelous life, died a marvelous death, risen by a marvelous resurrection, and ascended marvelously into heaven. By his divine power he has sent forth the Holy Spirit doing marvelous deeds, and by that sacred energy his disciples have also wrought marvelous things and astonished all the earth. Idols have fallen, superstitions have withered, systems of error have fled, and empires of cruelty have perished. For all this he
deserves the highest praise. His acts have proved his deity, Jesus is Lord, and therefore we sing unto him as the Lord. (…) Glory be the Conqueror, let new songs be chanted to his praise.” About singing Spurgeon quoted John Wesley in his report: “Sing lustily, and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead or half asleep: but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sing the songs of Satan.” Spurgeon continued: “God´s worship should be heartily loud. The far resounding trump and horn well symbolize the power that should be put forth in praise. On coronation days, and when beloved monarchs ride abroad, the people shout and the trumpets sound till the walls ring again. Shall men be more enthusiastic for their earthly princes than for the divine King?” Rev. (reverend) Dewey Westra had made this psalm in English in 1931.
15
Section 1
His vindication He has shown,
He has remembered all His mercy, His faithfulness to Israel. The ends of earth have seen His glory; In victory did He excel. Now make a joyful noise before Him; O all the earth, His praises sing! With loud acclaim let all adore Him And let the joyful anthems ring!
classic psalms
Psalm 98
1. Sing to the LORD, a new song voicing,
