Hymns of the Soul

Leon Wencelius, "The Word of God and Culture," in The Word of God and the Reformed Faith: Addresses Delivered at the Second American Calvinistic Conference held at Calvin College and Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan, June 3, 4 and 5, 1942, pp. 169-171:

Music is born of joy. It is the direct manifestation of the soul happy to know itself united with God. Do not the angels sing of His glory and His sovereign goodness in their celestial choirs, and did not see the Lord himself like to sing those "hymns of the soul" which are the psalms with his disciples? Music is the art most capable of rendering glory to God. It is the most dynamic of arts, capable of moving all the senses profoundly. It is capable of setting the soul on fire, and when it attains its end, it reaches bliss in the most perfect serenity.

Music can have for its object either the praises of God or the joy of man who lives in the universe. Secular music, in the realm of general grace, has a role analogous to that of painting and of sculpture. It gladdens the soul and represents its emotions, but like the plastic arts it, too, can be corrupted. It, too, can swell the heart with vanity, flattering the singer, while nursing his pride, and develop in him hypocrisy, the taste of immoderation, thus corrupting him. In just such a way the Tyrians soothed their ears with voluptuous and perverse songs.

The Word of God teaches us that God should be the object of our songs. They must praise his creation in "profane" music and glorify salvation in religious music. Here again, the very history of the Reformation shows us how the Calvinistic civilization of the XVIth century was aware of music in the field of Culture.

From the time of his arrival in Geneva Calvin recommended the singing of psalms. He looked for translators and composers and set himself to work upon them. But when he discovered the psalms of Marot, he gave up his own translations in favor of those of the poet. Calvin discovered the most appropriate melodies for the interpretation of the spiritual truth of the Psalms, first among these were the noble airs of Bourgeois and of Goudimel.

As an Alsatian I am happy to point out that the tune of the songs which became the national anthem of the Huguenots was given to Calvin by an Alsatian composer, Greiter; and so Strasburg, which later gave France its Marseillaise, can be even more proud of having given to the Huguenots the melody of their famous Psalm 68: "Que Dieu se montre seulement!"

We are at the time of Calvin in the presence of a real Renaissance of sacred music. The people of the XVIth century enthusiastically adopted the psalms. They were sung by everybody, even by Charles V when he passed Paris, and especially along the pré aux clercs, by all the fervent youth of Paris. Faithful to Calvinist sobriety, the composers of the Psalter searched for the simplest possible melodies. They discovered, according to the work of a French critic of music, the predestined forms in which the religious fervor and though contained in the psalms flow with the greatest possible harmony. Once the theme was found, the composers were to treat it in the most simple manner, note against note. Music became simple and its notation underwent a complete transformation. The principal melody changed from the tenor to the soprano voice. The expression which established harmony between song and words was discovered and was to lead to the oratorio. Music, heretofore reserved to the clergy, now became a universal art, thanks to the Reformation. The Psalter, call[ed] the "siren of Calvinism" by its enemies, captivated many souls and its harmonies soon spread over all the world. The history of the Psalter was to parallel that of Calvinism and it is interesting to note that at the present moment, together with a renaissance of Calvinism, there is apparent a growing taste on the part of modern Calvinists for the old psalms of the XVIth century.

We may conclude by saying that music is a form of culture inspired by God in order to glorify the creation and its Creator.

Psalm 124

The setting to Psalm 124 that we know as Old 124th was composed by Louis Bourgeois and appeared in the 1551 Genevan Psalter entitled Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (Eighty-Three Psalms of David). The psalm itself is a song of hope and has been sung on many special occasions celebrating God's providential deliverances.

It sung by the Jews at the Feast of Purim to commemorate their deliverance from the schemes of Haman.

In Scottish church history, it is known as "Durie's Psalm" because it was sung after John Durie (1537-1600), who had been banished from Edinburgh for critical remarks against King James VI of Scotland, was readmitted to the city in 1582. James Melville wrote in his diary:

Within few days after the petition of the nobility, John Durie gat leave to ga haim to his ain flock of Edinburgh; at whase returning there was a great concours of the haill toun, what met him at the Nether Bow; and going up the street, with bare heads and loud voices, sang to the praise of Goed, and testifying of great joy and consolation, the 124th Psalm, "Now Israel may say, and that trewly," till heaven and earth resoundit. This noise, when the Duke (of Lennox), being in the toun, heard, and ludging in the Hiegate looked out and saw, he rave his beard for anger, and hasted him off the toun.

The event known to Genevans as L'Escalade, which occurred in 1602, was a great deliverance in the history of the Protestant Church. The Duke of Savoy launched a surprise attack on the night of December 11-12 and it was repelled by the city's defenders. Theodore Beza led the city in service of praise to God afterwards at which Psalm 124 was sung.

In 1900, as the Boxer Rebellion got underway, persecution against American missionaries intensified and many were killed. But in August, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions received a cable quoting Psalm 124.7: "Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we are escaped." The cable reported that twenty-missionaries and eleven children who had been missing for 73 days, and were believed to be dead, were in fact alive and safe.

Spontaneous singing of this psalm occurred in the English Parliament after the end of World War II and after Holland's liberation from the Nazis in May 1945.

Lewis Lupton, A History of the Geneva Bible, Vol. 5, p. 85:

This psalm to Bourgeois' tune is an impressive expression of joy at sudden deliverance and has preserved its vitality through the centuries. When liberation came so dramatically to Holland in 1945 Dutch people flocked into the streets and squares in their thousands singing this psalm (in Dutch of course) to this tune. The English version was sung at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on May 8th, 1945, when the House of Commons attended in state. Sir Winston Churchill and many other Members were much struck by it. For my own part the studies connected with the Geneva Bible have become part of my life, and on more than one occasion this psalm has meant as much to me as it did to oppressed believers in bygone days.

As we sing this psalm in our day, the counsel of John Brown of Haddington holds true:

This psalm is highly applicable to every remarkable deliverance which God works for his church, especially to the great redemption wrought for his people by Christ. In it, (1.) David magnifies the danger they were in, ver. 1-5. (2.) Ascribes the glory of their deliverance to God, ver. 1-2, 6-7. (3.) Improves the deliverance as an encouragement to trust in God, ver. 8.

Let me behold Jehovah as a present help in trouble. Let my waiting eyes be towards him, who, notwithstanding all the combined power and policy of hell and earth, is able and ready to pull my feet out of the net.

1 Now Israel
may say, and that truly,
If that the Lord
had not our cause maintain'd;
2 If that the Lord
had not our right sustain'd,
When cruel men
against us furiously
Rose up in wrath,
to make of us their prey;

3 Then certainly
they had devour'd us all,
And swallow'd quick,
for ought that we could deem;
Such was their rage,
as we might well esteem.
4 And as fierce floods
before them all things drown,
So had they brought
our soul to death quite down.

5 The raging streams,
with their proud swelling waves,
Had then our soul
o'erwhelmed in the deep.
6 But bless'd be God,
who doth us safely keep,
And hath not giv'n
us for a living prey
Unto their teeth,
and bloody cruelty.

7 Ev'n as a bird
out of the fowler's snare
Escapes away,
so is our soul set free:
Broke are their nets,
and thus escaped we.
8 Therefore our help
is in the Lord's great name,
Who heav'n and earth
by his great pow'r did frame.

Old 100th

'Old 100th' or 'Old Hundredth', also known as 'All People That on Earth Do Dwell,' is one of the most famous and beloved Christian Church tunes of all time. Some today recognize it in connection with or association to The Doxology (1674) by Thomas Ken ('Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow'). But the tune has its origins in the Huguenot or Genevan Psalter of 1551, entitled Pseaumes Octante Trois de David (Eighty-Three Psalms of David). However, in that Psalter the tune was associated with Psalm 134 (as translated by Theodore Beza), not Psalm 100. As a musical composition, its authorship has been ascribed to Claude Goudimel (who did compose a polyphonic arrangement), Guillaume (William) Franc (Le Franc) (1520-1570) and Martin Luther, among others. Nineteenth century scholarship pointed to Franc, in particular, as the composer. However, modern scholarship, primarily based on the discovery of a single surviving copy of the 1551 Psalter, which was deposited in the library at Rutgers University (a facsimile copy was made in 1973), indicates that the actual composer is understood to be Louis Bourgeois. Bourgeois got in trouble with the Genevan magistrates for unauthorized compositions associated with that particular Psalter, but his friendship with Calvin, who recognized his talents, enabled him to leave prison and resume his work.

The tune was not associated with Psalm 100 until the publication of the 1561 Anglo-Genevan Psalter (Four Score and Seven Psalms of David). It was employed along with an arrangement of this psalm by William Kethe, although initially ascribed to Sternhold & Hopkins. The tune was also used in the same psalter with a versification of the Lord's Prayer by William Whittingham. It took the name "Old 100th" later to distinguish from the "new" Psalter by Tate and Brady.

One may enjoy listening to the tune and reading the lyrics to 'All People That on Earth Do Dwell' here (note that the last stanza is a doxology and not part of Psalm 100).

Lewis Lupton, A History of the Geneva Bible, Vol. 5 (1973), pp. 87-88:

The most interesting feature of this edition [ie., the 1561 edition of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter] is the inclusion for the first time of the Old Hundredth 'All people that on earth do dwell'. Surprisingly enough it is under the signature of Tho. Ster:

The explanation is that Kethe translated this psalm (which was written to fit a tune composed by Louis Bourgeois for psalm 134 in Beza's Psalter of 1551) after he had left Geneva in 1560 on his way to Britain....In the English black letter edition [a copy of the 1561 Anglo-Genevan Psalter printed in England rather than Geneva] the hundredth psalm is attributed to Kethe (Psalme C. W.Ke.) at the foot of the previous page to that on which the psalm begins which is, of course, the reason the Genevan printers failed to notice the author's name and substituted the most likely one they could think of.
...
As far as the tune of the 'Old Hundredth' is concerned, its introduction into Britain would appear to be due to Whittingham as well as Kethe.

The Genevan Psalter and Common Grace

John H. Gerstner, "Singing the Words God Has Put in Our Mouths" (originally published in The Hymn, January 1953), in John H. Gerstner: The Early Writings, pp. 204-205:

The third theological foundation of the Genevan Psalter was the doctrine of common grace. By this it was recognized that there are two types of divine gifts -- supernatural and natural. The former are the virtues wrought in the soul by a special work of grace; the latter are those which pertain to secular matters and are distributed to all, not to saints only; as a matter of fact, often to sinners. But, wherever they were, Calvin recognized these and used them for his purposes. Skill in music is a natural rather than a supernatural skill, but Calvin was ever on the alert to capture this for the worship of God. Thus, at his Academy in Geneva, he made music required four hours each week. The choir thereby trained in this skill was to lead the people so they could, under its leadership, cultivate the same skill. Acting on this same principle, Calvin was quick to appreciate the able -- though not excessively orthodox -- Marot, and to stand by the gifted composer, Bourgeois, who was thrown into prison for breaking some of the rigid disciplines of Geneva of which Calvin was himself the main author. Abraham Kuyper, in his admirable Lectures on Calvinism, so aptly remarks, "Music...would flourish, henceforth, not within the narrow limitation of particular grace, but in the wide and fertile fields of common grace."4

4 Lectures on Calvinism, p. 228.