Patient in hope, I sought the Lord

As a ‘spiritual autobiography’ (Coggan), or a very full picture of the Christian life, Ps 40 is valued not only for its highly personal testimony to divine deliverance, where 1 Sam 15 may shed light on stz 3, but for the hint of a far greater rescue spelled out in Heb 10. David Preston’s 1996 version, not previously published, was revised in Aug 1998 and again won acceptance for its faithfulness and clarity. Some of the approximate rhymes (pit/feet etc) were settled on ‘unusually and reluctantly’ (DGP), but each stz ends with an exact one. This Psalm’s final lines are virtually repeated as Ps 70. Of the ‘new song’ (v3, or 1.5 in this version, as ‘newborn’) Calvin writes that it is meant ‘in the sense of exquisite and not ordinary, even as the manner of [David’s] deliverance was singular and worthy of everlasting remembrance … so that our songs may correspond to the greatness of the favour which has been conferred upon us.’ This Psalm also has been more lightly paraphrased by Paul Wigmore; the Reformed Canadian W van der Kamp’s 1972 version reflects the Heb opening with I waited and I waited for the LORD; while the Scottish I waited for the Lord my God still appears in many books. Keble begins strongly with For mine almighty Lord I waited patiently Joseph Parry’s tune MERTHYR TYDFIL (set in G minor at 452) is named from his birthplace in S Wales, though it is also known as DIES IRAE. It was first published in the 1870 edition of an 1859 collection, Llyfr Tonau Cynulleidfaol—The Book of Congregational Tunes.

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*.