1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
This vesper service offers a journey through the psalms in a jazz style. Music is adapted from the album Connexion: A Jazz Psalter, produced by Wally Brath. Brath (piano), Nikki Lerner (voice), Greg Tardy, (saxophone, clarinet), and a Calvin University chamber orchestra lead the congregation through God’s story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration, exploring the full emotional depth of the psalms. The jazz-inspired soundtrack offers rich musical expression that complements the divine poetry.
This service was originally recorded at the 2025 Calvin Symposium on Worship.
Rob Linton, David Lerner, Greg Tardy, Maria Stapert Vanden Berg, Nikki Lerner, Shana Brath, Lisa Meyer, Kate Snow, and Wally Brath
“Psalm 96”
Text: Psalm 96; New Genevan Psalter © 1972, 2007 William Helder
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 8”
Text: Psalm 8; English Standard Version Bible © 2002 Crossway
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 13”
Text: Psalm 13; versified, Isaac Watts
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 90”
Text: Psalm 90; Christian Standard Bible © 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 4”
Text: Psalm 4; New Genevan Psalter © 1980, 2017 William Helder
Music: Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath.
“Psalm 142”
Text: Clarence P. Walhout, 1982 © 1987 Faith Alive Christian Resources
Music: Walker’s Southern Harmony; arr. Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath and under CCLI #400063.
“Psalm 23”
Text and Music: Nikki Lerner; arr. Wally Brath © 2015 Nikki Lerner Music
Used by permission of Nikki Lerner.
“Psalm 126”
Text: Michael Morgan © 1999, 2011 Michael Morgan, admin. Faith Alive Christian Resources; refrain Wally Brath © 2023 Wally Brath Music
Music: HITIKVAH; traditional Hebrew melody; refrain and arr. Wally Brath © Wally Brath Music
Used by permission of Wally Brath and under CCLI #400063.
Old Testament scholar Nancy deClaissé-Walford has spent her career studying the ordering of the Psalter. Most of the psalms, she says, are not tied to a particular situation, allowing us to sing and pray them honestly in our own contexts.
Pastor-scholar Andrew Wilkes shares how his worshiping community, Double Love Experience Church, prayed and sang the psalms during the troubling times of 2020. The psalms gave them language and support for praise and lament, and Wilkes asserts that lament is the evidence of faith because we are bringing our troubles to God.
Author and pastor-scholar David Taylor shares how he came to appreciate the psalms and how he encourages people to bring their full, unedited selves to God in prayer and experience a richer and more honest life of faith.
Old Testament scholar Nancy deClaissé-Walford has spent her career studying the ordering of the Psalter. Most of the psalms, she says, are not tied to a particular situation, allowing us to sing and pray them honestly in our own contexts.
Pastor-scholar Andrew Wilkes shares how his worshiping community, Double Love Experience Church, prayed and sang the psalms during the troubling times of 2020. The psalms gave them language and support for praise and lament, and Wilkes asserts that lament is the evidence of faith because we are bringing our troubles to God.
Author and pastor-scholar David Taylor shares how he came to appreciate the psalms and how he encourages people to bring their full, unedited selves to God in prayer and experience a richer and more honest life of faith.
A Psalm Talk by Jared E. Alcántara recorded at the 2026 Psalms 150 conference, with a visual prayer and embodied response from artist Dea Jenkins.
