Favorite Psalms

[meowzician]

I thought it might be nice to share our favorite psalms. Most know a psalm is a sacred song sung to God, but we are so used to thinking solely of the psalms in the Bible that it often doesn't occur to us that the other songs we sing during worship are psalms as well. I'd like suggest that we each share our two favorite psalms, one from the Psalms of the Tanakh/OT, and the other be ANY worship psalm (hopefully with YouTube vid). It can be from your liturgy, it can be praise music, it can be something a band does... I'm after what moves your hearts.

If you are not Christian or Jewish (or within those cultures), I'd love for this thread to be broad enough that you can participate--pick whichever two songs fit most with theme of the thread.

You don't have to, but it would also be lovely if you would share WHY each of your songs is meaningful to you.

Here are my two (I won't torture you with the Hebrew, but we always sing everything in the original language):

Psalm 121

1 A song for ascents. I shall raise my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come?
2 My help is from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to falter; Your Guardian will not slumber.
4 Behold the Guardian of Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your Guardian; the Lord is your shadow; [He is] by your right hand.
6 By day, the sun will not smite you, nor will the moon at night.
7 The Lord will guard you from all evil; He will guard your soul.
8 The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from now and to eternity.

The reason this psalm is so meaningful to me is that it never pretends life won't be painful. What it says is that God is with us through the tears. He will guard and sustain us. That he is always with us, he shall "never slumber nor sleep." I was speaking to a friend about this psalm just the other day, and tears came to my eyes as I looked back on my life, with all its pain, and see how God carried me.


Ritzei (May you find favor): My congregation sings this each year on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). We of course need to repent whenever we sin, but Yom Kippur is a time when we repent as a People rather than as individuals. For me, this psalm is connected with all my feelings surrounding t'shuvah (returning to God).

May You find favor, Adonai our God, in Your people Israel, and accept their prayer with love.
May the worship of Your people Israel always be acceptable to You.
God who is near to all who call, turn toward Your servants and be gracious to us.
Pour out Your spirit upon us, and may our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy.
Blessed are You, Adonai, who restores His Divine Presence to Zion.

 

[Wyote]

The reason this psalm is so meaningful to me is that it never pretends life won't be painful. What it says is that God is with us through the tears. He will guard and sustain us. That he is always with us, he shall "never slumber nor sleep." I was speaking to a friend about this psalm just the other day, and tears came to my eyes as I looked back on my life, with all its pain, and see how God carried me.

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

 

[Fruiteloop]

My mom would play the ending song of The Land Before Time movie on the piano when i was 5 years old.

She wanted to play it at church but I am not sure if she ever did.

The movie made me very sad.

 

[QuickTwist]

(Psalm 121:0-8 ESV)
A Song of Ascents.

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Remains one of my favorite Psalms.

 

[QuickTwist]

Another one of my favorites since the OP mentions the same Psalm I did.

(Psalm 51:0-19 ESV)
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; build up the walls of Jerusalem;
then will you delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

 

[meowzician]

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."

Amein

 

[meowzician]

My mom would play the ending song of The Land Before Time movie on the piano when i was 5 years old.

She wanted to play it at church but I am not sure if she ever did.

The movie made me very sad.

Which song is that?

 

[Fruiteloop]

Which song is that?

If We Hold On Together

 

[John K]

share our favorite psalms

A psalm that has been a backstop for me for many, many years is Psalm 88. It's very dark, with apparently no light to relieve the darkness, but the way it mirrors what I am feeling at the darkest points is to have a deep friend alongside me. It's the context of scripture as a whole that gives hope in this case, and this psalm is very much in the context of the whole story.

David Suchet NIV Bible 0566 Psalm 88

It's so hard to pick just one piece from beyond the psalms - indeed it's hard to pick just one psalm because there are ones for all seasons aren't there? I'm very moved by religious music which has a meditative aspect, even a touch of trance - from whatever religious framework. These guys are incredible - the depth of feeling and devotion they express is very special. Such music bridges the gaps between us all. I should add that I haven't a clue what they are singing - I'm going entirely of the form and sound.

كليب محمد نور - عبد القادر المرعشلي & عبد الرحمن دوزجان

(Sorry, they don't give a Roman alphabet equivalent of the title)

 

[meowzician]

A psalm that has been a backstop for me for many, many years is Psalm 88. It's very dark, with apparently no light to relieve the darkness, but the way it mirrors what I am feeling at the darkest points is to have a deep friend alongside me. It's the context of scripture as a whole that gives hope in this case, and this psalm is very much in the context of the whole story.

David Suchet NIV Bible 0566 Psalm 88

I completely understand what you are saying. There are times when you really do NOT want a psalm with a light ending because at that moment, you don't have any light. You need a psalm that speaks your heart. And sometimes, this one does.

It's so hard to pick just one piece from beyond the psalms - indeed it's hard to pick just one psalm because there are ones for all seasons aren't there? I'm very moved by religious music which has a meditative aspect, even a touch of trance - from whatever religious framework. These guys are incredible - the depth of feeling and devotion they express is very special. Such music bridges the gaps between us all. I should add that I haven't a clue what they are singing - I'm going entirely of the form and sound.

كليب محمد نور - عبد القادر المرعشلي & عبد الرحمن دوزجان

(Sorry, they don't give a Roman alphabet equivalent of the title)

So beautiful. If I am not mistaken, he is chanting the Quran.

 

[QuickTwist]

(Psalm 53:1-6 ESV)
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good.

God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.

They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God?

There they are, in great terror, where there is no terror! For God scatters the bones of him who encamps against you; you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

 

[John K]

So beautiful. If I am not mistaken, he is chanting the Quran

I've put the script through Google translate and they are singing verses from medieval Turkish Sufi poets I think. The text refers to
Yunus Emre 1240-1320
Kudusi Ahmed Efendi 1769-1849
Hafiz Nuri Pasha 1930-2009

I had assumed they were Sufi oriented from the mystical flavour of the music. There's quite a few of their videos on You Tube - all really good if you like that sort of thing.

 

[meowzician]

I've put the script through Google translate and they are singing verses from medieval Turkish Sufi poets I think.

Really!!!!!

The text refers to
Yunus Emre 1240-1320
Kudusi Ahmed Efendi 1769-1849
Hafiz Nuri Pasha 1930-2009

I had assumed they were Sufi oriented from the mystical flavour of the music. There's quite a few of their videos on You Tube - all really good if you like that sort of thing.

I based my -- apparently mistaken! -- guess on what a friend from long ago told me. He was Sunni, and one of the things he did was chant the call to worship. He told me that Muslims don't typically sing worship songs, although they will chant the Quran. However, those soulful Sufis often don't fit into the usual boxes, do they?

 

[John K]

Really!!!!!

I based my -- apparently mistaken! -- guess on what a friend from long ago told me. He was Sunni, and one of the things he did was chant the call to worship. He told me that Muslims don't typically sing worship songs, although they will chant the Quran. However, those soulful Sufis often don't fit into the usual boxes, do they?

They don't - I mentioned them once to a Muslim guy in one of my teams at work and it sounds like the Sufis are a bit dodgy as far as the orthodox are concerned. The Sufi religious dances are great too - I've come across quite a few Dervish numbers on YT.

 

[meowzician]

They don't - I mentioned them once to a Muslim guy in one of my teams at work and it sounds like the Sufis are a bit dodgy as far as the orthodox are concerned. The Sufi religious dances are great too - I've come across quite a few Dervish numbers on YT.

For sure. I've known Muslims who insist that Sufis are not Muslim. I just kind of tuck those comments into the same duffle bag as "Catholics aren't Christians." LOL My opinion? The world needs more Rumi's.