Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#96

96. Sing to the LORD, Sing His Praise

1 Sing to the LORD, sing his praise, all you peoples;
new be your song as new honors you pay.
Sing of his majesty, praise him forever,
show his salvation from day to day.

2 Tell of his wondrous works, tell of his glory
till through the nations his name is revered.
Praise and exalt him, for he is almighty;
God over all, let the LORD be feared.

3 Vain are the idols and gods of the nations;
God made the heavens, and his glory they tell.
Splendor and majesty shine out before him;
glory and strength in his temple dwell.

4 Give unto God Most High glory and honor;
come with your offerings and humbly draw near.
Worship the LORD in all beauty and splendor;
tremble before him with godly fear.

5 Say to the nations, "The LORD reigns forever."
Earth is established as he did decree.
Righteous and just is the King of the nations,
judging the peoples with equity.

6 Let heaven and earth be glad; oceans, be joyful;
forest and field, exultation express.
For God is coming, the judge of the nations,
coming to judge in his righteousness.

Text Information

• First Line: Sing to the LORD, sing his praise all you peoples
• Title: Sing to the LORD, Sing His Praise
• Meter: 11 10 11 9
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Psalm 96
• Topic: King, God/Christ as; Return of Christ; Christmas; Joy; Judgment; Music
• Source: Psalter, 1912, alt.

Tune Information

• Name: WESLEY
• Composer: Lowell Mason (1830)
• Meter: 11 10 11 9
• Key: G Major

Text Information:

A call to all the nations to join Israel in the worship of the LORD.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-2
st. 2 = vv. 3-4
st. 3 = vv. 5-6
st. 4 = vv. 7-9
st. 5 = v. 10
st. 6 = vv.11-13

The Levites were to sing Psalm 96 in the liturgy of a high festival such as the Feast of Tabernacles (Ps. 96 appears also in 1 Chron. 16:23-33). Standing among the Israelite congregation at the temple, the Levitical choir (or one of its leaders) would call all the nations to join Israel in worshiping the LORD (st. 1, 4). The psalm also calls for proclaiming the wondrous works of the LORD (st. 2), and it contrasts the glory of the God of Israel with the so-called gods of the nations (st. 3). The LORD God created heaven and earth and rules over all nations in righteousness (st. 5). In such calls and proclamations Israel began, in principle, the evangelization of the world (st. 2, 5-6). The cosmic scope of this psalm is very appropriate to the Christian task in the whole world. The versification (altered) is from the 1912 Psalter.

Liturgical Use:
Traditional for Advent and Christmas; mission emphasis; beginning of worship.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

Lowell Mason (b. Medfield, MA, 1792; d. Orange, NJ, 1872) composed WESLEY for Thomas Hastings's (PHH 538) "Hail to the Brightness of Zion's Glad Morning," and the two were published together in Spiritual Songs for Social Worship (1833). The tune name honors the founders of Methodism, John and Charles Wesley. WESLEY consists of four lines–the first and third beginning identically, and the fourth providing a suitable climax to the melody. Sing this jubilant tune with lots of energy.

As a child Mason learned to play every musical instrument available to him. He bought music books and attended a singing school when he was thirteen, and soon began teaching singing schools and directing a church choir. In 1812 he moved to Savannah, Georgia, where he helped to establish the firm Stebbins and Mason, which sold musical instruments in addition to dry goods. Mason also adapted, composed, and harmonized tunes for The Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music (1821). This collection was widely used and resulted in public demand for Mason to lead the music at singing schools, concerts, and Sunday school conventions.

He moved to Boston in 1827 to become the music director in three churches; later he became the choir director of the Bowdoin Street Church. In 1833 Mason helped to found the Boston Academy of Music, which was instrumental in introducing music education to the Boston public schools in 1838. An advocate of Pestalozzi's educational principles (an inductive teaching method), Mason frequently lectured in England and the United States. A major force in musical education in the United States and in the promotion of European models of church music (as opposed to the southern folk-hymn tradition), Mason also encouraged the change from exclusive psalm singing to the singing of hymns in the churches.

In association with Thomas Hastings (PHH 538), George Webb (PHH 559), and others, Mason compiled some eighty hymnals and collections, including The Juvenile Psalmist (1829), Spiritual Songs for Social Worship (1832), and, most importantly, Carmina Sacra (1841, revised 1852). Mason composed over eleven hundred original hymn tunes and arranged another five hundred, mainly from European sources. He derived most of his tune names from the Old Testament.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook