I Praise the King with All My Verses

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 >

Versifier: Bertus Frederick Polman

Bert Frederick Polman (b. Rozenburg, Zuid Holland, the Netherlands, 1945; d. Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 1, 2013) was chair of the Music Department at Calvin College and senior research fellow for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Dr. Bert studied at Dordt College (BA 1968), the University of Minnesota (MA 1969, PhD in musicology 1981), and the Institute for Christian Studies. Dr. Bert was a longtime is professor of music at Redeemer College in Ancaster, Ontario, and organist at Bethel Christian Reformed Church, Waterdown, Ontario. His teaching covered a wide range of courses in music theory, music history, music literature, and worship, and Canadian Native studies. His research specialty was Christian hymnody. He was also an orga… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: I praise the king with all my verses
Title: I Praise the King with All My Verses
Versifier: Bertus Frederick Polman (1986)
Versifier: Marie J. Post (1985)
Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Text © 1987, CRC Publications

Notes

A song exalting the LORD's anointed on his wedding day.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-4
st. 2 = vv. 5-7
st. 3 = vv. 8-9
st. 4 = vv.l0-12
st.5 = vv.13-17

Associated with "the Sons of Korah," this song in praise of the king on his wedding day undoubtedly refers to the LORD's anointed from the house of David. It may have been used at more than one royal wedding. Since the bride is a foreign princess, the psalmist highlights the king's standing as internationally significant. In post-exilic times this psalm's importance as a description of the Messiah came to the forefront, and the author of Hebrews applied it directly to Christ (1:8-9).

The main body of the song falls into two parts: words addressed to the king (vv. 3-9) and words addressed to the bride (vv. 10-15). Each of the two parts includes exhortations to and a description of the glory of the king or the bride. The psalmist begins by announcing the praise of the king, the defender of truth and right (st. 1). Hail to you, victorious and righteous king, blessed by God, says the psalmist (st. 2); hail to you, glorious king, robed in splendor (st. 3). And to the bride: Be loyal to your royal groom (st. 4). The psalmist then extols the bride's glory, the certainty of the king's dynasty, and the king's international honor (st. 5).

Marie J. Post (PHH 5) versified this psalm in 1985 in four-line stanzas. Bert Polman (PHH 37), at the request of the Psalter HymnalRevision Committee, altered the versification to six-line stanzas in 1986 to match the tune O DASS ICH TAUSEND.

Liturgical Use:
Any occasion on which the church celebrates the marriage of Christ and his bride–the church.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune

O DASS ICH TAUSEND ZUNGEN HÄTTE (König)

Johann Balthaser König (b. Waltershausen, near Gotha, Germany, 1691; d. Frankfurt, Germany, 1758) composed this tune, which later became associated with Johann Mentzer's hymn "O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte" (Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices). The harmonization is from the Wurttembergische Choral…

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Media

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #45
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Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #45

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