Lord, who may venture where you dwell

This Psalm, similar to the central part of the 24th, is about fitness to approach God; John Stott, who summarises its question (v1), answer (vv2–6) and assertion (v7) says that ‘it unites religion and morality in an indissoluble partnership’. Though it also deals (among other matters) with not changing one’s mind, it illustrates by the words and music of this version the value of second thoughts in the right context. David Preston’s text from c1976 appeared first in BP ten years later, but he has so revised it (1987) that only the first lines of stzs 1 and 3, and the last of stz 2, are entirely unchanged. The revised text was published in Come Rejoice! (1989) and elsewhere. Even before debating what kind of world, nation, environment or society we want, we need to discover what kind of people God wants. Paul Wigmore’s 1990 version is Lord, who may dwell within your house. The tune BRESLAU has kept its place as the first choice. It is first found in As Hymnodus Sacer of 1625; F Mendelssohn-Bartholdy in his oratorio St Paul (1836) adapted the rhythm and re-harmonised the tune to provide its familiar modern form. It is commonly set to We sing the praise of him who died (from the 1889 A&M) and to Take up your cross as here, 852. The name, given by A&M in 1861, was that of the capital of Silesia, now Wroclaw.

b London 1939. d 2020. Archbishop Tenison’s Grammar School, Kennington, London; Keble College Oxford (MA Mod Langs.) He worked as a French Teacher, including 11 years at Ahmadu Bello Univ, Nigeria, and gained a PhD on the French Christian poet Pierre Emmanuel (1916 84). A member of Carey Baptist Ch, Reading, for many years, he later moved to Alweston, nr Sherborne, Dorset. He compiled The Book of Praises (Carey Publications, Liverpool) in 1987, with versions of 71 Psalms; these include modified texts of Watts and a few other classic paraphrasers, but most are by contemporary writers including himself. 60 of his metrical Psalm versions are so far published, including one each in Sing Glory (2000), the Scottish Church Hymnary 4th Edn (2005) and Sing Praise (2010), and 3 in the 2004 edn of CH; also 10 tunes. His writing and composing has taken place in Leicester, Reading, Nigeria and his present home; he was a member of the editorial board throughout the preparation of Praise! and had a major share in the choice of music for the Psalm texts (1-150). His convictions about the Psalms, as expressed in the Introduction to BP, are that ‘There is nothing to compare with their blend of the subjective and the objective, the inner life and practical goodness, the knowledge of one’s own rebellious heart and the knowledge of God…Today’s general neglect of congregational Psalm singing is a symptom of the spiritual malaise of our churches. When the preaching of the Gospel has prospered, bringing into being churches vibrant with spiritual life, men and women have taken great delight in praising their Maker and Redeemer through these scriptural hymns’. 15 of his own, self-selected, feature as his share of ‘contemporary hymns’ in the 2009 Come Celebrate; he has also served as a meticulous proof-reader. Nos.1, 2A, 5*, 6, 7, 11, 15, 16, 17, 19A, 24A, 27A, 30B, 32*, 33*, 38, 40, 42, 43, 47, 51*, 52, 55, 57*, 64, 66, 74, 76, 77, 84, 90, 91A, 96*, 97, 99, 100B, 101, 114*, 120, 126, 132, 139, 142*, 143, 145A, 147*, 824*, 830*, 963*.