Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#30

30. I Worship You, O LORD

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Text Information

• First Line: I worship you, O LORD
• Title: I Worship You, O LORD
• Versifier (st. 1-3, 5): James Seddon (1973, alt.)
• Versifier (st. 4): Calvin Seerveld (1982)
• Meter: 66 66 66
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 30
• Topic: Sickness & Health; Easter; Eternal Life; Thanksgiving & Gratitude
• Copyright: Text and music © 1973, Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission
• CCLI Number: 2708364

Tune Information

• Name: BISHOP TUCKER
• Composer: Norman L. Warren (1969)
• Meter: 66 66 66
• Key: C Major
• Copyright: Text and music © 1973, Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission

Text Information:

Praise for God's deliverance from death by healing his servant in answer to prayer.

Scripture References:
st. 1 =vv. 1-3
st. 2 =vv. 4-5
st. 3 =vv. 6-8
st. 4 = vv. 9-10
st. 5 = vv. 11-12

The superscript of this psalm states that it is "for the dedication of the temple." Most likely this superscript refers to the dedication of the second temple by the returned exiles (Ezra 6: 16). In that case the "I" of the psalm came to refer to the repatriated community and the "healing" experienced in restoration from exile. Still later the Jews included this psalm in the liturgy for Hanukkah, the festival that celebrates the rededication of the temple in the days of Judas Maccabeus after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

In singing this thanksgiving psalm, we praise God for deliverance from the brink of death (st. 1) and call all "who know his name" to praise God for unfailing mercies (st. 2). Recalling the LORD's chastisement for proud self-reliance (st. 3), the psalmist reiterates a prayer offered while standing at death's door (st. 4) and closes in praise to God for turning sadness into gladness (st. 5). James Seddon (PHH 15) prepared this versification sometime before 1969; it was first published in Psalm Praise (1973). Calvin Seerveld (PHH 22) provided stanza 4 in 1982 to provide a complete versification of the psalm for the Psalter Hymnal.

Liturgical Use:
Easter; occasions for testimony upon restoration from serious illness or difficulty.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

Composed in 1969 by Norman L. Warren (PHH 15) for this text, BISHOP TUCKER was published in Psalm Praise (1973). The tune name is derived from Bishop Tucker Theological College in Uganda, where Warren and his wife led seminars on worship and counseling. Warren said the tune "is loosely based on a wisp of melody from Rachmaninov's D-flat Piano Concerto." BISHOP TUCKER is a tune of six very similar phrases, in which phrases 1 and 2 interchange to become phrases 5 and 6, and phrase 4 is a sequence of phrase 3. The testimony of God's healing and restoring power may be highlighted by having a soloist sing stanzas 3 and 4.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook