Today the church recalls the ascension of Christ to heaven, where he sits at the right hand of God the Father. In the liturgies for this day, the assigned psalm is often Psalm 47: “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!” Here is the Genevan tune for this psalm, sung in French:
Here is my own English versification:
shout to God with a song of joyful mirth!
Hold the Most High our LORD in reverent awe.
Our great King rules the peoples with his law;
he has put all the nations in their place;
he has chosen us, Jacob, in his grace.
God ascends amid great resounding cries,
with the blast of the trumpet see him rise!
Sing to God, all your praises to him sing,
let your praises be rendered to our King!
For our God is the Ruler of the earth;
sing his praise, sing to him with psalms of mirth!
God reigns over the nations here below,
from his throne his decrees down to them flow.
Princes gather from earth’s remote extent
with God’s people of Abraham’s descent.
All the shields of the earth to God belong;
let us highly exalt him with our song!
Text and harmonization copyright © 1999 by David T. Koyzis.
May 13th, 2010 | 12:30 pm | #1
Beautiful.
Those French have a different word for everything.
May 13th, 2010 | 2:08 pm | #2
It is beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
May 13th, 2010 | 2:27 pm | #3
Wonderful. David, is there somewhere to read the original French lyrics, and also to learn a little more about this recording? I so love hearing God’s Word read or sung in other languages – it’s a reminder that God has promised to save people from every tribe, tongue and nation. My dear husband, OTOH, firmly believes that where France is concerned, God has already kept His promise by saving John Calvin, and has long since moved on. This would be a great opportunity to persuade him otherwise. :)
May 13th, 2010 | 7:55 pm | #4
If you click on the image itself you may find out more on youtube. I don’t know whether the lyrics they are singing are the original 16th-century lyrics, but they can be found here, along with a somewhat hesitant organ rendition of the tune.
Some of the French lyrics to the Psalms can be found here: The Huguenot Psalter. The archaic spelling suggests these are indeed the 16th-century lyrics. However, Psalm 47 is not included.
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