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How does this psalm piece interpret the psalm?
This psalm piece captures the whole of Psalm 13, which is a classic form of prayer. The psalmist honestly voices desperation with four questions of “How long?”. Then comes three petitions with three reasons. The most important part is the turning point of verse 5 when the psalmist chooses to trust in God’s covenantal love, so it forms the song’s hook line. Because the psalmist has received light for his eyes and, though circumstances have not changed, trusts deeply in God’s love, the psalmist is still able to sing the song of salvation with joy. We often use a minor key to express sadness or pain, but this melody uses octaves and the pentatonic scale to express the psalmist’s emotions. The dance interpretation of this psalm piece enriches the expression with another form of art. The black-and-white video highlights the psalm’s lament. The dancer’s postures and movements express the psalmist’s movement from lament to petition to trust. This psalm piece helps us to learn how to honestly voice out our cries and desperation before God and to express our deep faith and trust in God in the face of traumatic events and grief.
English Translation:
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
O Lord, please do not ever leave me,
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
But I trusted in Your steadfast love;
which is a love of covenant and will never change.
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation
For I belong to You and I will turn my eyes upon You.
But I trust in Your steadfast love;
Though my wearies and trials have not been changed,
I will sing to You, because You have dealt bountifully with me
and I will rejoice in You my whole life.
This contemporary song is to be sung in Cantonese (a tonal language). This song is suitable for singing as a prayer to express our trust to God in any situation, as we remember God’s grace. It is also appropriate for singing during Lent or when the congregation is facing severe grief and sorrow.
Text: Psalm 13; Yvette Lau
Carmen Imes has spent the past fifteen years immersed in the book of Exodus, writing about it for both her master’s thesis and her doctoral dissertation. In this lecture, Imes will share some of the most paradigm-shifting insights she’s had while reading Exodus through an Egyptian lens.
“Deconstruction” is a popular term among young people who grew up in the Christian church. In this public lecture, Robert Chao Romero will consider the challenge of widespread deconstruction while offering a hopeful path forward. Expanding on Phyllis Tickle’s analogy of the church having a rummage sale of ideas every few centuries, Romero invites us to consider the contributions of Latina/o theology and the history of the Brown Church as valuable resources for reconstruction on the other side of deconstruction.
Modern song writers are continually setting the psalms to new music for band-led worship contexts. Join Paul Ryan, Nate Glasper, and the Calvin University Worship Apprentices to sing contemporary psalm settings sung in public worship at Calvin.
Carmen Imes has spent the past fifteen years immersed in the book of Exodus, writing about it for both her master’s thesis and her doctoral dissertation. In this lecture, Imes will share some of the most paradigm-shifting insights she’s had while reading Exodus through an Egyptian lens.
“Deconstruction” is a popular term among young people who grew up in the Christian church. In this public lecture, Robert Chao Romero will consider the challenge of widespread deconstruction while offering a hopeful path forward. Expanding on Phyllis Tickle’s analogy of the church having a rummage sale of ideas every few centuries, Romero invites us to consider the contributions of Latina/o theology and the history of the Brown Church as valuable resources for reconstruction on the other side of deconstruction.
Modern song writers are continually setting the psalms to new music for band-led worship contexts. Join Paul Ryan, Nate Glasper, and the Calvin University Worship Apprentices to sing contemporary psalm settings sung in public worship at Calvin.
Join this excursion through compositional method, use of text, melodic creation, vocal range, and inner insights. The session includes the presentation of new psalm settings by Rawn Harbor.
