Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#301

301. Taste and See

Text Information

• First Line: With contrite hearts and holy fear
• Title: Taste and See
• Author: Carol Vriend Petter (1981)
• Refrain First Line: Taste and see that God is good
• Meter: CME with refrain
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 33:22
  ;
  1 Corinthians 10:16-17
  ;
  1 Corinthians 10:17
• Topic: Lord's Supper; Covenant; Heritage; Kingdom; Missions; Opening of Worship
• Copyright: © Carol Vriend Petter

Tune Information

• Name: ANTHEA
• Composer: Wim Mennes (1984)
• Meter: CME with refrain
• Key: D Major
• Copyright: © 1987, CRC Publications

Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. 1 = 1. Cor 10:16
ref. = Ps. 33:22, Ps. 34:3b, 8a

Written in 1981, "Taste and See" was one of the first songs written by Carol Vriend Petter (b. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1954) for worship at Church of the Servant, a Christian Reformed church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that celebrates the Lord's Supper weekly. The text makes good use of both Old Testament and New Testament images. In covenant with God, we taste and see his love as we share the Lord's Supper (st. 1; ref.), experiencing the blessings of pardon, grace, and kingdom inheritance (st. 2), at the same time reminding ourselves of our mission to share God's love with the spiritually and physically needy (st. 3).

A graduate of Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Petter is currently a retirement plan administrator for First Michigan Bank in Grand Rapids. She is a member of Church of the Servant, and some of her hymns are published in that congregation's hymnal supplement, Joyful Noises.

Liturgical Use:
Lord's Supper, during distribution of the bread and wine.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

Wim Mennes (b. Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1917; d. Noordwolde, 1996) composed ANTHEA for Petter's text in 1984 in Noordwolde, the Netherlands; his tune was selected by the Psalter Hymnal Revision Committee from among several tunes submitted as part of a hymn search for this text. He named the tune after a granddaughter.

Sing the stanzas of this bar-form tune (AABB') in unison, with organ trio style accompaniment, using manuals only, but sing the refrain in full harmony accompanied by a larger organ registration, including pedal. The refrain should be legato, with repeated notes tied; it also functions well at the beginning of the music. If you like, use the refrain separately as a chorus (possibly sung repeatedly) or as a frame around another psalm or hymn such as 34, 178, or 220.

Born into a family of musicians, Mennes graduated from the Conservatory of Amsterdam in 1941. He was organist in the Gereformeerde Church of Amsterdam South and in the Andreas Church of Zwolle and was a professor of music in a teachers' college in Zwolle. A writer of some fifty hymns, Mennes was a leader in promoting contemporary hymnody in the Netherlands.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook