The Psalms
My favorite part of preparing the music for Mass every week is writing the music for the Psalm. The musical setting is always different and allows me to pray with the words of the Psalms in a new way each Mass.
It is fun to be creative and "sing to the Lord a new song"(Ps 96:1) by taking the ageless words of Scripture and allowing my mood and creativity to bring to life each week. As many of you know, David wrote most of the Psalms. He was the King of creativity and drew on his life situations in his writing. I often try to imagine what it would be like listening to him play and sing each Psalm for the first time.
The Psalms are one of my favorite books of the Bible to pray with. There are some that are joyful, some that are laments and others in between. They truly capture the human experience. No matter how I am feeling when I come to church that day, I always know that the psalm can speak to the depths of my heart.
Below are some of my favorite verses from the Psalms about music and a video of the most recent Psalm I sang for Mass on Nov 17th. Enjoy :)
Psalm 95:1 "O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!"
Ps 71:23 "My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to thee; my soul also, which thou hast rescued."
Ps 150:1-6 "1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his exceeding greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with timbrel and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!"