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.
Praise the Lord, O my soul
Praise the Lord, O my soul
Praise the Lord, O my soul,
all my inmost being.
Praise the Lord, and extol,
for he cares for you so well.
He forgives all your failing,
and your faults he sends fleeing,
he is love all-prevailing
and he rescues you from hell.
He meets your heart's desires
with all kinds of good things,
so come praise him with singing,
and exalt him on high.
All God's ways were made known:
to his servant Moses,
and his deeds he has shown
to his people Israel.
He is loving and gracious,
more than mortal supposes,
and his love is more spacious
than the best of us can tell.
His anger could be blazing
at the wrong ways we live;
but instead he is forgiving,
so let's worship and praise.
God the Lord is above
all the heights of heaven
and so great is his love
for the people he has made.
As a father is tender
so our God has forgiven
all our sins, for his splendour
in his mercy is displayed.
His love is everlasting,
his compassion is sure,
he is faithful, enduring,
and remains unsurpassed.
All our days are like dust,
and we fly forgotten,
but the Lord God is just,
to redeem us by his grace:
for God placed our transgression
on his Only Begotten,
and we now have possession
of his righteousness by faith.
So praise him all his angels,
and rejoice in his rule,
for his works are like jewels
glorifying his name.
Words and music copyright © John Hartley 2008. All rights reserved.
Based on Psalm 103.
Story behind the song
"Praise my soul the king of heaven" (H F Lyte, 1793-1847, based on Psalm 103) is one of my favourite hymns, and I have always very much appreciated the third verse, about God being "father-like".
I wrote the words to this hymn the day after we had had "Praise my soul the king of heaven" in our Sunday morning church service, and I was struck afresh at how splendid a hymn it is ... imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I wanted to undertake a more serious and lengthy treatment of the details of the psalm, and to try some form of assonance at the ends of the verses in order to unsettle the singers slightly and make them reflect on the meanings of the words.
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.