This is a new thing for me.

Last year I started diving into the Psalms, and trying to swim deep underwater.  I read a couple of books about the Psalms and started working through them with a commentary.

I was struck by many things.  For example, it seems to me that you can’t do theology without connecting it to life, and that life without theology is not what life should be.  Theology must be expressed in praise.  Conversely, praise must be grounded in theology.

But lofty conceptual generalisations aside, the psalms RESONATE with the human spirit.

I have been connecting with lots of people lately with deep inner struggles.  And then I find myself reading the words of the psalms.  And singing them.  And I personally connect with the yearnings by hearing the expression of the psalmists.

So, yes, I have been singing them.  I have decided to use the versified versions of the psalms as found in the Anglican Australian prayer books… the so-called “liturgical psalter”.  Why?  2 reasons: 1. They scan well (although not necessarily symmetrically), and 2. There is transportability into churches who use the liturgical psalter.

As I sing them, I’ve been finding gradually evolving tunes coming into my head.  These are not for congregational singing, although I am thinking through how they might be able to be done in a contemporary way.

And some of them are starting to crystallise as “musical compositions”.  So I thought I’d share one of them and ask for feedback.

This is psalms 42 and 43.  They are really one psalm, as I have tried to demonstrate. Maybe you know the old chorus “As the deer pants”? Well, this is the entirety of that psalm.

It’s not just a psalm about being a passionate Christian.  It’s a longing to see God in eternity.  It’s a vocalisation of deep torment of the spirit, pouring out of tears, remembrance of better days in the fellowship of God’s people, acknowledgement that it is God himself who has allowed the psalmist to hit rock bottom, as well as a sense that the enemy is involved in the oppression of his spirit.  But ultimately, the psalmist reminds himself that he must put his trust in God, quite simply because he is God the deliverer.

I’ve called this unpolished more to describe the performance and recording than the psalm itself. Yet honestly, life is not about polish and airbrushing our appearance before others.  God sees us as we are.  And as the psalmist reminds us, he sends out his light and his truth, which is our guide, not just for living now, but for finding our way to his eternal presence.

Have a listen: