672

O Come, My Soul, Sing Praise to God

Full Text

1 O come, my soul, sing praise to God your Maker,
and all within me, praise his holy name.
Sing praise to God, forget not all his mercies;
his pardoning grace and saving love proclaim.

Refrain:
Praise him, you angels,
wondrous in might;
praise him, you servants who in his will delight.

2 Good is the Lord and full of kind compassion,
most slow to anger, plenteous in love.
Rich is his grace to all who humbly seek him,
boundless and endless as the heavens above. [Refrain]

3 His love is like a father's to his children,
tender and kind to all who fear his name;
for well he knows our weakness and our frailty;
he knows that we are dust, he knows our frame. [Refrain]

4 We fade and die like flowers that grow in beauty,
like tender grass that soon will disappear;
but evermore the love of God is changeless,
still shown to those who look to him in fear. [Refrain]

5 High in the heavens his throne is fixed forever;
his kingdom rules o'er all from pole to pole.
Praise to the Lord through all his wide dominion;
forever praise his holy name, my soul. [Refrain]

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Scripture References

Thematically related:

Further Reflections on Scripture References

"O Come, My Soul" is a paraphrase of Psalm 103. The lengthy meter (11 10 11 10) makes possible a clear flow of thoughts and images, and the refrain continually reminds us of the praise running through this much-loved psalm. The versifica­tion comes from the 1912 Psalter with minor alterations.

 

Bert Polman, Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Confessions and Statements of Faith References

Further Reflections on Confessions and Statements of Faith References

The Catechism says that those who know Christ’s forgiveness are “to thank God for such deliverance” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 1, Question and Answer 2). As a result, “With our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, so that he may be praised through us, and that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ” (Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 32, Question and Answer 86).

672

O Come, My Soul, Sing Praise to God

Additional Prayers

Creator of all, you formed us in your image and filled us with life-giving breath.
We bless you: even your name is holy.
Redeemer of all, you have ransomed and healed us, restored and forgiven us.
We remember your blessings with thankful praise.
Sustainer of all, tune the very fiber of our being to resonate with the songs of angels.
We join the hymn of all creation, praising you,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—one God forever. Amen.
— Psalms for All Seasons (http://www.psalmsforallseasons.org)
A Prayer of Praise
Gracious God, you are an overflowing fountain of mercies. You pardon sinners out of your plenteous love. You lift the weak out of your boundless strength. Our own lives are like grass that withers and flowers that fade. But your love is from everlasting to everlasting. So we praise and thank you in Jesus’ name. Amen.
— Cornelius Plantinga, Jr.
672

O Come, My Soul, Sing Praise to God

Tune Information

Name
TIDINGS
Key
B♭ Major
Meter
11.10.11.10 refrain 5.4.11

Recordings

Musical Suggestion

When singing all the stanzas, the refrain may be sung only after sts. 2, 4, and 6. Odd- and even numbered stanzas may be sung antiphonally by two different groups, with all joining on the refrain. It is intentional that “We Worship You, Whose Splendor Dwarfs the Cosmos” (#11) and “O Come, My Soul, Sing Praise to God” are set to the same tune. There is a close connection between these two psalms, which are both framed by the exclamation “Bless the Lord, O my soul.”
— Psalms for All Seasons (http://www.psalmsforallseasons.org)
672

O Come, My Soul, Sing Praise to God

Hymn Story/Background

"O Come, My Soul" is a paraphrase of Psalm 103. The lengthy meter (11.10.11.10) makes possible a clear flow of thoughts and images, and the refrain continually reminds us of the praise running through this much-loved psalm. The versification comes from the 1912 Psalter with minor alterations.
 
James Walch composed TIDINGS in 1875 for Frederick W. Faber's hymn text "Hark, Hark, My Soul! Angelic Songs Are Swelling"; the tune was first published in The Hymnal Companion to the Book of Common Prayer (1877). TIDINGS is often associated with Mary A. Thomson's "O Zion, Haste, Thy Mission High Fulfilling"; in fact, the tune name derives from the word "tidings" in Thomson's refrain. TIDINGS is a fairly dramatic tune, a good match for Psalm 103. Stanza 3 sings well without accompaniment.
— Bert Polman

Author Information

The 1912 Psalter was the first ecumenical psalter published in the United States and the most widely used metrical psalter of the twentieth century in North America.  The United Presbyterian Church invited all other Reformed and Presbyterian denominations to join them in the effort to provide a new versifications of the psalms; six Presbyterian denominations, as well as the Christian Reformed Church and the Reformed Church in America joined in the effort in revising the 1887 Psalter (whose texts actually dated back to the 1871 Book of Psalms; the 1887 edition had added music to the texts.).  The 1912 Psalter included all the psalms in 413 settings, eight doxologies, and the three Lukan canticles (Song of Mary, Song of Zechariah, and Song of Simeon).
— Bert Polman and Jack Reiffer

Composer Information

James Walch (b. Edgerton, Lancashire, England, 1837; d. Llandudno, Caernarvon, Wales, 1901) received a musical education from his father and from the famous organist and organ builder Henry Smart. He served as organist at Duke's Alley Congregational Church (1851-1857), Bridge Street Wesleyan Chapel (1858-1863), and St. George's Parish Church (1863-1877)—all in Bolton. He conducted for the Bolton Philharmonic Society from 1870 to 1877 and near the end of his life was a music dealer in Barrow-in-Furness. Walch composed a number of hymn tunes and other church music.
— Bert Polman
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