Hallelu the LORD Our God

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Hallelu the LORD our God!

Versifier: Calvin Seerveld (1981)
Tune: GENEVAN 150
Published in 1 hymnal

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

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

Versifier: Calvin Seerveld

Calvin Seerveld (b. 1930) was professor of aesthetics at the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto from 1972 until he retired in 1995. Educated at Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan; the University of Michigan; and the Free University of Amsterdam (Ph.D.), he also studied at Basel University in Switzerland, the University of Rome, and the University of Heidelberg. Seerveld began his career by teaching at Bellhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi (1958-1959), and at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois (1959-1972). A fine Christian scholar, fluent in various biblical and modern languages, he is published widely in aesthetics, biblical studies, and philosophy. His books include Take Hold of God and Pull (1966), The Gr… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Hallelu the LORD our God!
Title:	Hallelu the LORD Our God
Versifier:	Calvin Seerveld (1981)
Meter:	7.7.7.7.8.7.7.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	© Calvin Seerveld

Psalm 150
(hymns)

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Notes

Hallelujah, Amen.

Scripture References:
st. 1 = vv. 1-2, 6
st. 2 = vv. 3-6

This final great hallelujah may have been composed specifically to close the Psalms. In any event, Psalm 150 is the grand concluding doxology to this collection of prayer and praise (Book V; briefer doxologies close each of the previous four books: see Ps. 41:13; 72:18-19; 89:52; 106:48). As in Psalm 148, the psalmist summons a universal choir-all who are in the temple, all that are in the heavens, and everything that has breath on earth (st. 1). Praise God, says the psalmist, with every instrument of song and with dancing (st. 2).

Calvin Seerveld (PHH 22) wrote the partially rhymed versification in 1981 for the Psalter Hymnal. He notes the inclusion of the word Lamb in stanza 2 this way: "In order to honor the literary units of the psalm and to fill out the Genevan melody twice, a New Testament echo of the psalm is woven into the text (Rev. 5:12)." Other settings of Psalm 150 are at 189, 466, and 628.

Liturgical Use
An exultant doxology that unites our praise to the LORD God.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

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Tune

GENEVAN 150

GENEVAN 150 was first published in the 1562 edition of the Genevan Psalter. Dale Grotenhuis (PHH 4) harmonized the tune in 1985. Demonstrating how well they were in tune with the musical changes of the mid-sixteenth century, the Genevan musicians chose the Ionian mode (major) for this great doxology…

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