Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#160

160. In the Presence of Your People

Text Information

• First Line: In the presence of your people
• Title: In the Presence of Your People
• Paraphraser: Brent Chambers (1977)
• Meter: PM
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 22:3-22
  ;
  Psalm 145:7
• Topic: Commitment & Dedication; Praise & Adoration; Songs for Children: Bible Songs; Prayer
• Copyright: Text and music © 1977, Scripture in Song. Admin. By Integrity Music. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
• ONE LICENSE: 311

Tune Information

• Name: CELEBRATION
• Composer: Brent Chambers (1977)
• Meter: PM
• Key: d minor
• Copyright: Text and music © 1977, Scripture in Song. Admin. By Integrity Music. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.

Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. = Ps. 22:3, 22; 52:9b; 145:7

Brent Sinclair Chambers (b. Napier, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, 1948) composed this song after experiencing an evening of ethnic music and dance in 1977. Chambers attended the Bible College of New Zealand and Auckland University and then became a self-employed painting contractor and song writer. He has written or co-written over five hundred songs, a number of which have been recorded or published. He based the text on Psalm 22:3, 22 and Psalm 145:7, though the words of the first line could also have been taken from Psalm 52:9b. He named his tune CELEBRATION, and both text and music were published in Scripture in Song (1977), one of the most important Scripture-chorus collections (initially from New Zealand) of the 1970s. The vocable "lai," suggested for the descant line on the repetition of the music, can be replaced with combinations of "ah" and "alleluia." Other stanzas can be added as well.

In 1986 Bert Polman (PHH 37) wrote two additional stanzas based on Psalm 22:3, 23-28. These additional stanzas were rejected by the copyright owners for the Psalter Hymnal, but were accepted later for publication in Songs for LiFE (CRC Publications, 1994):

2
All who love you sing your praises
and proclaim your power,
for alone you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
You have not ignored our suffering,
but have heard our cry;
may your power be exalted
here on earth and in heaven above.

3
All who seek your rule will praise you
and be satisfied;
for alone you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel. All the peoples of the nations
will bow down to you;
may your rule be exalted
here on earth and in heaven above.

Liturgical Use:
Beginning of worship, especially at festive services.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

CELEBRATION is music in the style of the Jewish hora, that is, "dance music." Sing the tune with enthusiasm, beginning more slowly, and increasing the tempo for each repetition or new stanza. The accompaniment is best played with piano and/or guitars. The exuberant character of this music also invites hand clapping and the use of other instruments such as strings and tambourines. The descant may be performed instrumentally (on violin or oboe, for example) at pitch or an octave higher. This descant is unusual because it lies below the main tune much of the time. Once the congregation knows the melody, direct the whole choir to sing the descant in octaves.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook