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This setting of Psalm 71, written and submitted by Ken Michell, focuses on the rich connection between hope and praise.
Psalm 71
How does this psalm piece interpret the psalm?
Psalm 71 paints a picture of hope in the Lord that is both cause and effect of God-honoring worship. The psalmist draws our attention to this relationship through a series of petitions and affirmations—questions and answers—that resolve in the declaration of verse 14: “As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more” (NIV).
This psalm relates the rich interconnection between everlasting hope (I will ALWAYS have hope) and ongoing praise (I will praise you MORE and MORE). These are time-related qualifiers. We can know God’s hope in every time of our lives – in the good times, bad times, and for all time!
In the good times, when we can say with confidence that God is sovereign (v. 5), the praise we offer pours out of us from the hope that we experience (vs. 5, 8). In the bad times, when we struggle with fear and doubts, when we feel as if God is far away and distant (vs. 9, 12), the beautiful work of praise and worship draws us deeper into the hope to which God has called us. God’s gift of hope doesn’t change. God’s hope is for all time. But our experience of this gift is deeply connected to the God-honoring work of worship that the psalmist expands on in the later verses. Worship tells of God’s righteous and saving acts (v. 15). Worship proclaims God’s mighty and marvelous deeds (vs. 16–17). In worship, we declare the power of God to the next generation and to all who are to come (v. 18).
This psalm setting invites us to read, pray, and sing Psalm 71 through the lens of verse 14 (sung refrain), which reminds us that God’s gift of hope is an “always” hope that leads us to gratitude and praise. And the gift of faithful praise that we offer more and more leads us into a deeper experience of God’s undiminishing hope.
This psalm setting may be used within the praise section of the service or in a time of response. In either section, we pay attention to what God has done (giving us hope) and what we are called to do (praise more and more) and the rich connection therein.
Text and Music: Psalm 71; Ken Michell, © 2020 Ken Michell
Used by permission.
Contact: Ken Michell, kenmichell@gmail.com
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
Why and how did psalm singing become such a hallmark of Reformed worship? Join Dr. Karin Maag for a fascinating journey through time, from Reformation Geneva to Scotland and from the Netherlands to New England, exploring the roots and impact of metrical psalm singing. Along the way, we will hear the voices of early modern Christians as they learned how to sing the psalms, both in unison and in harmony.
Sister Kathleen Harmon of the community of the Ohio province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in Dayton, invites us to be transformed by the psalms and experience them as the whole story God is revealing to us. As we keep praying and singing them, the psalms interpret us, and that’s when the transformation comes.
Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone.
John Goldingay, an Anglican priest and the senior professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, posits the psalms are the densest material in the entire Old Testament. They expound the nature of God as the compassionate, faithful, and committed one, but also as the one who makes demands upon us. The psalms help us talk to God, even about difficult things—and when we do, we are talking to someone who is in a position to do something about it.
