Sunday 1st August, 2010
The Ninth Sunday After Trinity
Evensong
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The Psalms (Day 1 Evening)
Then shall be said or sung the Psalms1 in order as they be appointed.2
Psalm 6 Domine, ne in furore
—Bishop George Horne (1730-1792).
Psalms from St. Paul's, Vol. 1: Psalms 1-17
O LORD,
rebuke me not in thine ˡ
indigˡnation : neither
ˡ chasten · me in ˡ thy
disˡpleasure.
2. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for ˡ
I am ˡ weak : O Lord, heal
me, ˡ for my ˡ bones are ˡ vexed.
3. My soul also is ˡ sore ˡ
troubled : but,
ˡ Lord,
how ˡ long ·
wilt thou ˡ punish me?
4. Turn thee, O Lord, and deˡliver my ˡ soul
:
O save me ˡ for thy ˡ mercy's ˡ sake.
5. For in death ˡ no man reˡmembereth thee
:
and who will give thee ˡ thanks ˡ in the ˡ pit?
6. I am weary of my groaning;
every night ˡ wash I my ˡ bed :
and ˡ water my ˡ couch with my ˡ tears.
7. My
beauty is gone for ˡ
very ˡ trouble : and worn away beˡcause of ˡ all mine
ˡ enemies.
8. Away from me, all ˡ
ye that work ˡ vanity :
for the Lord hath ˡ heard
the ˡ voice of my ˡ weeping.
9. The Lord hath ˡ
heard my ˡ petition : the ˡ Lord
will reˡceive my ˡ prayer.
10. All mine enemies shall be confounded, and ˡ sore
ˡ vexed :
they shall be turned back, and ˡ put to ˡ shame ˡ suddenly.
Glory be to the Father, and ˡ to the ˡ Son :
and ˡ to the ˡ Holy ˡ Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ˡ ever ˡ shall be :
world without ˡ end. ˡ Aˡmen.
Psalm 7 Domine, Deus meus
—Bishop George Horne (1730-1792).
O LORD my God,
in thee have I ˡ
put my ˡ trust : save me from all them that
persecute me, ˡ
and deˡliver ˡ me;
2. Lest he devour my soul, like a lion, and
ˡ
tear it in ˡ pieces :
while ˡ there is ˡ none to ˡ help.
3. O Lord my God, if I
have done ˡ any such ˡ
thing : or if there be any ˡ
wickedness ˡ in my ˡ hands;
4.
If I have rewarded evil unto him that dealt ˡ
friendly with ˡ me : yea, I have
delivered him that without ˡ
any ˡ cause is mine ˡ enemy;
5. Then let mine enemy
persecute my ˡ soul, and take ˡ me :
yea, let him tread my life down upon the
earth, and lay mine ˡ honour ˡ in the ˡ dust.
6. Stand up, O Lord, in thy wrath,
and lift up thyself, because of the indignation ˡ
of mine ˡ enemies : arise up
for me in the ˡ judgement that
ˡ thou hast comˡmanded.
7. And so shall the
congregation of the people ˡ
come aˡbout thee : for their sakes therefore lift
ˡ up thyˡself aˡgain.
8. The Lord shall judge the people; give sentence with ˡ me,
O ˡ Lord : according to my righteousness,
and according to the ˡ innocency ˡ that is ˡ in me.
9. O let the wickedness of the
unˡgodly ˡ
come to an ˡ end : but
ˡ guide ˡ thou the ˡ just.
10. For the ˡ righteous ˡ God :
trieth the ˡ very ˡ hearts
and ˡ reins.
11. My help ˡ cometh of ˡ
God : who preserveth ˡ them that are ˡ true of
ˡ heart.
12. God is a righteous Judge, ˡ
strong and ˡ patient : and God is
proˡvoked ˡ every ˡ day.
13. If a man will not turn, he will ˡ whet his ˡ sword :
he hath bent his ˡ bow, and ˡ made it ˡ ready.
14. He hath prepared for him
the
ˡ instruments of ˡ death :
he ordaineth his ˡ arrows aˡgainst the
ˡ persecutors.
15. Behold, he traˡvaileth with
ˡ mischief : he hath conceived
sorrow, ˡ and brought ˡ forth unˡgodliness.
16. He hath graven and ˡ digged up
a
ˡ pit : and is fallen on himself
into the deˡstruction that he ˡ made for
ˡ other.
17. For his travail shall come upon his ˡ
own ˡ head : and his wickedness
shall ˡ fall on his ˡ own
ˡ pate.
18. I will give thanks unto the Lord,
according ˡ
to his ˡ righteousness :
and I will praise the ˡ Name of the ˡ Lord
most
ˡ High.
Glory be to the Father, and ˡ to the ˡ Son :
and ˡ to the ˡ Holy ˡ Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ˡ ever ˡ shall be :
world without ˡ end. ˡ Aˡmen.
Psalm 8 Domine, Dominus noster
|
—Bishop George Horne (1730-1792).
O LORD our Governor,
how excellent is thy Name in ˡ
all the ˡ world : thou
hast set thy ˡ glory aˡbove the ˡ heavens!
2. Out of the mouth of very babes
and sucklings hast thou ordained strength,
beˡcause of thine
ˡ enemies : that
thou mightest still the ˡ
enemy ˡ and the aˡvenger.
3. For I will consider
thy
heavens, even the ˡ
works of thy ˡ fingers :
the moon and the ˡ stars, which ˡ thou
hast orˡdained.
4. What is man, that thou art ˡ
mindful of ˡ him : and the son of
man, ˡ that thou ˡ visitest ˡ him?
5. Thou madest him lower than the angels :
to ˡ crown him with ˡ
glory and ˡ worship.
6. Thou makest him to have dominion
of the ˡ works of thy ˡ
hands : and thou hast put all things in subˡjection
under
his ˡ feet;
7. All ˡ sheep and ˡ oxen :
yea, and the ˡ beasts ˡ of the ˡ field;
8.
The
fowls of the air, and the ˡ
fishes of the ˡ sea : and whatsoever walketh
through
the ˡ paths ˡ of the ˡ seas.
(2nd pt) 9. O ˡ
Lord our ˡ Governor : how excellent is thy ˡ Name in
ˡ all the ˡ world!
Glory be to the Father, and ˡ to the ˡ Son :
and ˡ to the ˡ Holy ˡ Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ˡ ever ˡ shall be :
world without ˡ end. ˡ Aˡmen.
A Short Voluntary3
|
Footnotes
1 "The Psalms". The Psalms are ancient Hebrew songs, many of which were used as part of the Temple worship.
THAT which we read, as matter of speculation, in the other Scriptures, is reduced to practice, when we recite it in the Psalms; in those, repentance and faith are described, but in these they are acted; by a perusal of the former, we learn how others served God, but, by using the latter, we serve him ourselves. "What is there necessary for man to know," says the pious and judicious Hooker, "which the Psalms are not able to teach? They are to beginners an easy and familiar introduction, a mighty augmentation of all virtue and knowledge in such as are entered before, a strong confirmation of the most perfect among others."
YOU may observe here, that St. Paul joins those two Things together, praying with the Spirit, and singing with the Spirit. What is it then? (saith he) I will pray with the Spirit, I will pray with the Understanding also; I will sing with the Spirit, I will sing with the Understanding also. Praying and Singing of Psalms, as they do now, so they did in those Times, always go together in the publick Worship of God.
Each Pslam (and not the whole set) is concluded with the hymn, Gloria Patri. Drawing on ancient historians and their account of Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna (?69-?155), John Shepherd wrote:
"THE earliest instance that we meet with, of the use of this Hymn, is found in the circular epistle of the Church of Smyrna, concerning the martyrdom of their beloved Bishop Polycarp; whence we learn that a Doxology, nearly resembling Gloria Patri, were the last words he uttered. Polycarp was conversant with the Apostles, and was consecrated Bishop of Smyrna by St. John the Evangelist. To him among others St. John is said to have addressed the Revelation, in which Polycarp is entitled "the Angel" of the Church of Smyrna. When this truly apostolic man fell a victim to cruel superstition and popular fury, bound to the stake, with eyes uplifted to heaven, he made a short fervent prayer to God, which is concluded with a Doxology to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost."
Another ancient practice is to select a verse from each Psalm to act as a summary, and sing it both before and after the Psalm. This is known as an Antiphon.
IN its earliest form, the Anthem, or Antiphon, seems to have been a single verse out of any Psalm repeated after the recitation of the Psalm (and, in later times, before its recitation also) with a view of fixing the key-note, so to speak, of the Psalm; of bringing into prominence, and fastening attention upon, some special idea contained within it.
Later, other sacred or even secular texts would be drafted in, a practice clearly fraught with risks.
2 "In order as they be appointed". The Prayer Book runs through the complete Psalter once each month.
WITH us the Psalms are recited much oftener than any other part of Scripture, and thus far our established practice corresponds with the usage of the ancient Church. At the same time, that all the Psalms may be read in course, and that our Morning and Evening Prayer may not tire or disgust by its prolixity, we assign for this purpose the term of thirty days.
As well as the appointed order, custom tells us that the Psalms are said standing.
STANDING has usually been deemed the most proper attitude for praise and thanksgiving. Accordingly we find that, in the ancient Church, the Psalms were almost universally recited in this posture.
In the matter of music, the 18th century writers were very much committed to antiphonal singing, where two choirs alternate. They loudly disapproved of having them ploddingly read out by the minister (or indeed congregation) alone.
THIS alternate recitation of the Psalms is not, as far as I at present recollect, enjoined by any Rubric, nor by any other injunction of our Church. But we uniformly adopt it; and in defence of our practice, we have to allege, that it is perfectly congenial to the usage of antiquity, is sanctioned by the recommendation of the wisest and best among the Fathers, has been ratified by respectable Councils, and the most approved ecclesiastical laws, and is obviously calculated to keep up the attention, and assist the devotion of the people.
AS to the manner: which is alternate or by turns, according to the ancient custom of the Catholick Church; and according to the pattern set us by the Church in Heaven, where, in singing the Trisagium [i.e. the Sanctus], the Seraphims are said to cry one to another. And this custom is well retained in our Church, whether appointed to be sung, as in our Cathedral Service, or to be said, as in our Parochial Worship. For in the former, when one side of the Choir sing unto the other, they hereby both provoke and relieve each others piety, they provoke it by this holy contention, and relieve it by this interchange. And for these reasons it is no less necessary, tho' less beautiful in our Parochial Service, where the reading of the Psalms is divided between the Minister and People.
THIS, St. Basil tells us, was a rite that in his time had obtained among all the churches of God: "After the Confession, saith he, the people rise from Prayer, and proceed to Psalmody, dividing themselves into two parts, and singing by turns."
3 "A short voluntary".
AFTER the Psalms have been sung it is customary in many churches to play a short voluntary on the organ: this is mentioned by Archbishop Secker as having 'long been customary' in his day; and in a letter from Oxford in No. 630 of the 'Spectator.'
Perhaps it may be accounted for by a Salisbury Rubric between the Psalms and Lessons, 'Deinde dicitur Paternoster et Credo in Deum a toto choro privatim' [then let there be said 'Our Father' and 'I Believe In God' silently, by the whole choir].
