This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
Down this page:
- the words,
- the story,
- the sheet music,
- media player.
Rejoice in the Lord all you righteous ones
Rejoice in the Lord all you righteous ones
Rejoice in the Lord all you righteous ones,
for praise is the way to respond
to all his goodness and truth and love
and faithfulness which is beyond our dreams,
and faithfulness which is his bond.
Give thanks to the Lord on the harp and lyre,
give thanks with the lute of ten strings:
for God is righteous, his words are true,
creation is filled with the things of him,
creation extols him and sings.
The word of the Lord made the sky above,
his breath set the stars in their place:
he scooped the waters and laid the deeps:
we fear to catch sight of his face, and yet
we love him because of his grace.
So let the whole earth fear the Lord our God
and let the whole earth stand in awe.
As our creator he's kind and good,
and as our redeemer he poured his blood,
and so we will praise and adore.
Words and music copyright © John Hartley 2007.
Story behind the song
This song came out of a request from a member of the COIN (Christians on the Internet) e-mail music discussion group, asking for suggestions of metrical psalms and canticles for the "Easter Vigil". You can find the full scheme for the vigil by clicking here, and this song is an attempt to fill one of these gaps.
Psalm 33:1-9 is a song of praise for God's faithfulness, leading to a sense of awe because of his majesty and justice, but also to a sense of love because of his faithfulness and loving kindness for us.
John Hartley.
Windows Media Player. When you click the left-hand "play" button your computer should have started to play the tune. If it didn't, you might be able to get the tune by clicking here, or by right-clicking the link, choosing "save target as", saving it onto your computer, and then opening it with a music-playing program.
Please remember that a midi file of a tune isn't supposed to be a state-of-the-art musical arrangement - it is only supposed to give a basic idea of how the tune goes. Any reasonable organist / keyboard player / music group could make it sound far better.