Through all the
changing scenes of life
This
is one of the many fine metrical psalms which appeared in the Psalter produced
by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady in 1696. “The
Lord’s my shepherd”, and “As pants
the hart” are two others. Nahum Tate (1652-1715), who seems to have written
this hymn himself, was an aspiring poet, who had come to London from Dublin. To
make a living he translated French and Latin texts for publishers, and wrote
and adapted plays, including Shakespeare’s – he rewrote King Lear to give it a
happy ending. He also wrote the libretto for Purcell’s “Dido and Aeneas”. He
became Poet Laureate in 1692, but later became an alcoholic and died in a
debtors’ refuge in the Royal Mint. This hymn is a paraphrase of Psalm 34, which
is a psalm of praise to God in the face of difficulties. It is easy to praise
God when all is going well, but it is when times are hard that our trust in him
is really vital.
The
tune, Wiltshre, was written by Sir
George Smart, (1776-1867) when he was just 19 and organist at St James Chapel
London. In Scottish tradition it is known as New St Ann and is one of the tunes
to which “The Lord’s my Shepherd” is
sung. Metrical Psalm tunes were often used interchangeably.
Through
all the changing scenes of life,
in
trouble and in joy,
the
praises of my God shall still
my
heart and tongue employ.
O
magnify the Lord with me,
with
me exalt his name;
when
in distress to him I called,
he
to my rescue came.
The
hosts of God encamp around
the
dwellings of the just;
deliverance
he affords to all
who
on his succour trust.
O
make but trial of his love,
experience
will decide
how
blest are they, and only they,
who
in his truth confide!
Fear
him, ye saints, and you will then
have
nothing else to fear;
make
you his service your delight,
your
wants shall be his care.
To
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
the
God whom we adore,
be
glory, as it was, is now,
and
shall be evermore.
- · How easy do you find it to trust God when life seems to be going wrong?
I am going to miss these hymns when they stop! I particularly liked the phrase today " to me His rescue came" as that is so true.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you are enjoying them. I hope that perhaps when these posts come to the end, people will tell me which hymns I missed out that they think I ought to have included! There are lots of hymns on Youtube and I expect I could make up another set for another time.
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