Up to you I lift my eyes

For the 2nd time within 3 ‘Songs of Ascents’, the Psalmist raises his eyes— and we, by implication, with him. But this time the gaze is rewarded and the song is briefer; the only 4-verse Psalm in the book (since most Bibles print the 100th in 5). Weiser speaks of its ‘unpretentious … tenderness’; Kirkpatrick calls it ‘touching … an utterance of unfaltering faith and patience’ and links it with an experience such as Nehemiah’s (Nehemiah 2 and 4). The original is highly gender-specific, not to mention its stated relationships of servant-master and maidservant-mistress which are not easy to reflect today. Emma Turl’s text translates this closely, while also conveying the sense of oppression and opposition from those with other masters. It was prompted by a taped address she heard at Eastbourne in May 1984, about servants watching the hand of their lord or lady for every move they took; this reminded her of some of the last words of Archbishop Janani Luwum of Uganda before his martyrdom: ‘Don’t worry; I can see the Lord’s hand in this.’ That led to her own ‘New Year Thought’ for the E London Torch Fellowship in 1985, for which she also paraphrased the Psalm as a focus. Her version was sung when Praise! was launched in London in May 2000. As often, Gill Berry provides the tune; ASHES HOLLOW was composed for this text at Shrewsbury on 15 Nov 1998, by request of the music committee, and words and music both appear here for the first time. They also featured on the first Praise! CD. Ashes Hollow is part of the Stretton Hills at the southern end of Church Stretton, Shropshire; ‘it is very beautiful whatever the season’, says the composer, ‘and one of my favourite places to go walking.’ Cf 110, note.

b Shrewsbury 1946. Stamford High Sch (Lincs) and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (MA English and Cert Ed). Born into a literary household, she loved poetry from childhood, and was converted aged 13 at a Scripture Union camp. She worked as VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) for two years in Ugandan ‘revival country’. Following this she married John and spent the next ten years (1971-81) in Ghana, afterwards returning to live in Waltham Abbey, Essex, where she and her family joined Goldings Hill Evangelical Free Ch, Loughton (1982–2002). She now attends the Abbey Church. While enjoying chanted Psalms as a student she longed for more congregationally accessible ways of singing them, and attributes her first desire to write ‘Bible oriented verse’ to a literary household, and Anglican services (St Ebbe’s Oxford) with readings and canticles. Her first metrical versions were written between 1983 and 1985, during which time she had paraphrased the entire Psalter. A few of these Psalm texts were printed with other verses in Treasures Old and New, 1989, followed by Time to Celebrate 1999, with suggested tunes from her husband John and friend Gill Berry, qv. Some of these are specially needed to accompany a number of unusual metres. Subsequently she has revised many of her original texts in the light of further comments and computer assisted discoveries, and has also added some new versions.
The monthly Evangelicals Now (see under Benton J) published her work occasionally from 1993; Praise! is the first hymnal to include her texts and one of these features in the 2004 edn of CH. Her sight began to deteriorate early; by the age of 13 she could read only with a strong magnifying glass, reading became increasingly difficult and slow, and by her mid 20s she was completely blind. This made her unaware of ‘the oustanding new hymns and Psalm versions which others were already producing, which could have inspired me but could well have put me off’. See her comments on some ‘blindness/sight’ hymns, with practical pastoral considerations, in ‘Singing without seeing’ in HSB234 (Jan 2003). In an earlier Bulletin review (no.225, Oct 2000), Basil E Bridge calls her hymns ‘thoroughly biblical…well – sometimes ingeniously – crafted…I am sure we shall be hearing more of Emma Turl in the future’. Her own choice of 15 of them appears in the collection of contemporary hymns, Emma now attends the abbey church in Waltham Abbey. More of her hymns can be found on the website of The Jubilate Group: www.jubilate.org
Come Celebrate (2009). Nos.30C, 53, 84A, 106, 107, 110, 119G, 123, 130, 168, 825, 1011, 1014, 1034, 1038, 1041, 1045, 1053, 1054, 1058, 1059, 1062, 1063, 1069, 1087, 1088, 1089, 1091, 1092, 1096, 1101, 1103, 1107, 1108, 1110, 1134, 1137, 1195, 1213, 1216, 1239, 1246.