Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#101

101. I Praise Your Justice, LORD

Text Information

• First Line: I praise your justice, LORD, with my thanksgiving
• Title: I Praise Your Justice, LORD
• Versifier: Bert Witvoet (1985)
• Meter: 11 11 10 4
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 101
• Topic: Return of Christ
• Copyright: Text © 1987, CRC Publications

Tune Information

• Name: GENEVAN 101
• Composer: Louis Bourgeois (1551)
• Harmonizer: Claude Goudimel (1564, alt.)
• Meter: 11 11 10 4
• Key: G Major

Text Information:

A pledge of the LORD's anointed to govern God's people in righteousness.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-3a
st. 2 = vv. 3b-5
st. 3 = v. 6
st. 4 = vv. 7-8

Psalm 101 is a king's pledge to reign righteously. As the LORD's anointed, the king praises God's love and justice and pledges to live a pure life (st. 1). In some detail, he repudiates the ways of perverse people (st. 2, 4) and declares – at the heart and center of his commitments – that only those "whose walk is blameless" (v. 6) will have access to him and serve his administration (st. 3). This psalm portrays the commitment to righteousness expected of the LORD's anointed (see also Ps. 72), an expectation perfectly fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Bert Witvoet (PHH 4) versified Psalm 101 in 1985 for the Psalter Hymnal.

Liturgical Use:
Best used with reference to Christ, the only Son of David, who truly fulfilled the Psalm 101 commitment to rule God's people righteously.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

GENEVAN 101 was first published in the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter. Claude Goudimel (PHH 6) harmonized the tune in 1564. Like most of Goudimel's harmonizations, the melody was originally in the tenor. The Psalter Hymnal Revision Committee changed some of the bass notes to provide first inversion chords; Goudimel's original bass provided all root position chords. GENEVAN 101 appears twice in the Psalter Hymnal: once here in its authentic, original Genevan form, and at 248 in its altered Anglo-Genevan form under the name JE TE SALUE. To avoid confusion when introducing the tune, organists should play it through once before the congregation sings. Use strong organ accompaniment, a brisk articulation, and a stately tempo.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook