Come with all joy to sing to God

‘O come … but then, listen!’; the uniqueness of this ‘gathering’ Psalm, reverting to the theme of kingship begun at 93, lies in its detailed exposition in Hebrews 3 and 4, and its historic place (from at least the 4th c) in Christian liturgical worship as the Venite, so named from the opening word of the Lat version. Like all biblical faith, its roots are in theology, its fruits in obedience; here is both invitation and incentive to worship (Stott), where open ears must accompany open lips. Perhaps surprisingly, unlike the paraphrases of 98 or 100, no metrical version in English has proved satisfying enough to become established, though folk-style renderings by both Richard Bewes and Michael Perry have enjoyed some popularity. Timothy Dudley-Smith’s Come, let us praise the Lord (1981) has, however, become better known in the UK and USA since the late 1980s. Sadly, some recent liturgies which retain the use of this Psalm cut it short at the first half of v7. Not so Hebrews, nor The Book of Common Prayer, nor this version by Christopher Idle which dates from 1978 and first appeared in HTC. The full version has stz 7 as a doxology (‘So to the God of earth and heaven …’) which is omitted here as in some other books. As the text stands in Praise! it retains the surprising biblical conclusion, ending on ‘rest’, but with the solemn warning of losing it. The tune FULDA (known as WALTON or MELCHIZEDEK among other names), to which it was first sung, goes back at least to 1815. It appeared that year in Gardiner’s Sacred Melodies 2nd series, with the words As a shepherd gently leads us; the rhythm has varied since then. Gardiner wrote later (in Music and Friends, 1838), ‘It is somewhere in the works of Beethoven, but where I cannot now point out’. Some have noticed a resemblance to musical phrases in one of his piano trios (Opus 70 no. 2, 1809); others to a line of Mozart, others to a German folk song. Or Gardiner may have composed it himself.

b Bromley, Kent 1938. Eltham Coll, St Peter’s Coll Oxford (BA, English), Clifton Theol Coll Bristol; ordained in 1965 to a Barrow-in-Furness curacy. He spent 30 years in CofE parish ministry, some in rural Suffolk, mainly in inner London (Peckham, Poplar and Limehouse). Author of over 300 hymn texts, mainly Scripture based, collected in Light upon the River (1998) and Walking by the River (2008), Trees along the River (2018), and now appearing in some 300 books and other publications; see also the dedication of EP1 (p3) to his late wife Marjorie. He served on 5 editorial groups from Psalm Praise (1973) to Praise!; his writing includes ‘Grove’ booklets Hymns in Today’s Language (1982) and Real Hymns, Real Hymn Books (2000), and The Word we preach, the words we sing (Reform, 1998). He edited the quarterly News of Hymnody for 10 years, and briefly the Bulletin of the Hymn Society, on whose committee he served at various times between 1984 and 2006; and addressed British and American Hymn Socs. Until 1996 he often exchanged draft texts with Michael Perry (qv) for mutual criticism and encouragement. From 1995 he was engaged in educational work and writing from home in Peckham, SE London, until retirement in 2003; following his return to Bromley after a gap of 40 years, he has attended Holy Trinity Ch Bromley Common and Hayes Lane Baptist Ch. Owing much to the Proclamation Trust, he also belongs to the Anglican societies Crosslinks and Reform, together with CND and the Christian pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation. A former governor of 4 primary schools, he has also written songs for school assemblies set to familiar tunes, and (in 2004) Grandpa’s Amazing Poems and Awful Pictures. His bungalow is smoke-free, alcohol-free, car-free, gun-free and TV-free. Nos.13, 18, 21, 23A, 24B, 27B, 28, 31, 35, 36, 37, 48, 50, 68, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 102, 108, 109, 114, 118, 119A, 121A, 125, 128, 131, 145B, 157, 176, 177, 193*, 313*, 333, 339, 388, 392, 420, 428, 450, 451, 463, 478, 506, 514, 537, 548, 551, 572, 594, 597, 620, 621, 622, 636, 668, 669, 693, 747, 763, 819, 914, 917, 920, 945, 954, 956, 968, 976, 1003, 1012, 1084, 1098, 1138, 1151, 1158, 1159, 1178, 1179, 1181, 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1221, 1227, 1236, 1237, 1244, 1247, 5017, 5018, 5019, 5020.