Be Merciful to Me, O God (Post)

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Be merciful to me, O God, bend down and hear my cry

Versifier: Marie J. Post (1982)
Tune: MASSACHUSETTS (Davis)
Published in 1 hymnal

Audio files: MIDI

Representative text cannot be shown for this hymn due to copyright.

Versifier: Marie J. Post

Marie (Tuinstra) Post (b. Jenison, MI, 1919; d. Grand Rapids, MI, 1990) While attending Dutch church services as a child, Post was first introduced to the Genevan psalms, which influenced her later writings. She attended Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she studied with Henry Zylstra. From 1940 to 1942 she taught at the Muskegon Christian Junior High School. For over thirty years Post wrote poetry for the Grand Rapids Press and various church periodicals. She gave many readings of her poetry in churches and schools and has been published in a number of journals and poetry anthologies. Two important collections of her poems are I Never Visited an Artist Before (1977) and the posthumous Sandals, Sails, and Saints (1993). A member… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Be merciful to me, O God, bend down and hear my cry
Title:	Be Merciful to Me, O God (Post)
Versifier:	Marie J. Post (1982)
Meter:	8.6.8.6 D
Language:	English
Copyright:	Text © 1987, CRC Publications

Psalm 57
(hymns)

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Notes

A prayer asking for God‘s deliverance from fierce and ruthless foes.

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

Hounded by fierce foes (v. 4), the psalmist takes refuge in the protective "shadow of [God's] wings" (v. 1). The first half of the psalm is an appeal to God for mercy and refuge (st. 1) and a description of the ferocity of the psalmist's enemies (st. 2). The second half expresses both the psalmist's confidence that these enemies will fall into the trap they have set (st. 3) and praise for God's saving help (st. 4). Both halves end with a refrain exalting God as the LORD over all creation (vv. 5, 11; st. 2, 4). Though originally a lament on being threatened by enemies, Psalm 57 expresses great confidence in God's help; the refrain in stanzas 2 and 4 highlights the tone of praise that often concludes such laments. Marie J. Post (PHH 5) versified this psalm in 1982 for the Psalter Hymnal.

Liturgical Use:
The combined themes of distress, confidence in God, and praise to God suggest a number of uses in Christian worship.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

MASSACHUSETTS (Davis)

Katherine Kennicott Davis (b. St. Joseph, MA, 1892; d. Concord, MA, 1980) composed MASSACHUSETTS in 1962 for The Methodist Hymnal (1964), in which it was set to Charles Kingsley's "From Thee All Skill and Science Flow." Davis named the tune after her home state. MASSACHUSSETTS exhibits the classic s…

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