Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#43

43. Defend Me, LORD, from Those Who Charge Me

Text Information

• First Line: Defend me, LORD, from those who charge me
• Title: Defend Me, LORD, from Those Who Charge Me
• Versifier: Marie J. Post (1981)
• Meter: 98 99 86
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 43
• Topic: Comfort & Encouragement; Funerals; Illumination; Afflictions; Lord's Supper; Opening of Worship; Prayer; Refuge
• Copyright: Text © 1987, CRC Publications

Tune Information

• Name: GENEVAN 43
• Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel (1564)
• Meter: 98 99 86
• Key: F Major

Text Information:

A prayer for deliverance from jeering enemies and for return to God's precious presence.

Scripture References:
st. 1 =vv.1-2
st. 2 =vv. 3-4
st. 3 = v. 5

Marie J. Post (PHH 5) versified Psalm 43 in 1981 for the Psalter Hymnal. Other settings of Psalm 43 are at 42 and 165. For other commentary, see PHH 42.

Liturgical Use:
See PHH 42. Stanza 2 serves as a call to worship; stanza 3 as a sung prayer of response to the sermon.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

GENEVAN 43 was first published in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter. Claude Goudimel (PHH 6) harmonized it in 1564. Though Goudimel usually placed the melody of his harmonizations in the tenor, which was typical of that time, he placed the melody of this one in the soprano, which was later to become the new style of writing for congregational singing. Each of the six phrases has its own delicate rhythm; the last two phrases should be sung as one long line. The mood should shift from a somber treatment in stanza 1 to increasingly joyful strains in stanzas 2 and 3.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook