Psalm 113 – Who is like the Lord our God?

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While Naaman and I were working on our own version of Psalm 113 Wendell Kimbrough (Advent – DC) asked if I might contribute some music to a text he was working on from the same psalm. Wendell is one of my favorite new text writers so I didn’t dare say no.  You can read his lyrics (Psalm 113 through the lens of Phil.2) and listen to some music I contributed from the links below.

Psalm 113 – Who is like the Lord our God?
mp3 | chords

lyrics

Our Father, He lifts from the ashes
He raises the poor and the lost;
He seats them to dine at his table,
To feast without money or cost.

The lonely he settles in families
The barren, a mother he makes;
O happy the heart of the stranger
Who’s welcomed by this King of Grace.

Chorus: 
Who is like the LORD our God,
Whose glory fills the skies,
But humbles himself with the broken to dwell
Who is like our God?

Though equal to God in His glory,
Christ Jesus became like a slave;
He humbled himself in obedience
To Death, and the Cross, and the Grave.

Victorious, he rose to the highest;
In glory, the Savior was raised.
His name above all names exalted;
The heavens and earth sing His praise

Chorus:

O Saints, fix your eyes on the Savior
And count all your righteousness lost
Be found in his love and his favor
And share in his death on the cross

That all of his power in victory,
Imparted to you, may abound
And sharing the suff’rings of Jesus,
You share in his glory and crown

—credits—

Words: © 2013 Wendell Kimbrough; from Psalm 113, Phil 2, 3;
Music: Bruce Benedict & Wendell Kimbrough.
www.wendellk.com
Recorded by Wendell Kimbrough and Ben Hofer
www.adventdc.org/about/our-staff/
churchmusicblog.wordpress.com

Psalm 113 O Who is Like the Lord Our God

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Hallel Psalms cover art
New composition for Psalm 113 that my friend Naaman Wood and I worked on for the latest Cardiphonia compilation on the Hallel Psalms.  One of many psalms that’s fitting to use for Ascension Sunday coming up.

O Who is like the Lord Our God?(Psalm 113)
mp3 | chart | leadsheet

VERSE 1:
O who is like the Lord our God,
Who sits enthroned on high,
Who turns his gaze on all below,
On all the earth and heav’ns?

He lifts the wretched from the dirt,
The poor from heaps of ash,
To make them sit in princely thrones,
In royal company.

CHORUS
Are You the Christ who is to come?
Or should we still tarry on?

VERSE 3:
O who is He whose lowly birth,
In ill repute and shame,
Assumed the Virgin’s empty womb,
As Joseph’s common son?

VERSE 4:
O who is He whose wretched life,
In poverty and want,
Received the shepherd’s filth and praise,
Within the feeding trough?

CHORUS 

VERSE 5:
O who is He whose words refused,
The reach of Satan’s power;
Who healed the blind and raised the lame,
And banished hellish throngs?

VERSE 6:
O who is He who stopped the feast,
With prayers and broken bread?
“This fractured bread—
my ruptured flesh,
“This wine—my bleeding wounds.”

CHORUS 
Are You the Christ who is to come?
Or should we still tarry on?

—
(c) Naaman Wood and Bruce Benedict, 2013
Cardiphonia Music, 2013 (Ascap)

Doxology and Theology Book – Matt Boswell

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dox-theol-book

Excited to share a new book out this month that I contributed too. “Doxology and Theology – how the gospel forms the worship leader.”

I contributed a chapter on my journey into understanding how liturgy helps to communicate the gospel and form the worship leader in sharing the whole counsel of God from scripture.

Here is a list of the other chapters and authors:

1. Doxology, Theology, and the Mission of God (Matt Boswell)
2. Qualifications of a Worship (Matt Boswell)
3. The Worship Leader and Scripture (Michael Bleeker)
4. The Worship Leader and the Trinity (Zac Hicks)
5. The Worship Leader and Mission (Matt Papa)
6. The Worship Leader and His Heart (Stephen Miller)
7. The Worship Leader and Justice (Aaron Ivey)
8. The Worship Leader and Liturgy (Bruce Benedict)
9. The Worship Leader and Creativity (Mike Cosper)
10. The Worship Leader and Disciple-Making (Aaron Keys)
11. The Worship Leader and His Pastor (Andi Rozier)
12. The Worship Leader and Family Worship (Matt Boswell)
13. The Worship Leader and Singing (Matt Mason)
14. The Worship Leader and the Gospel (Ken Boer)

Make sure and check out Matt Boswell’s blog of the same title “Doxology and Theology” for an ongoing exploration of these themes.

 

 

 

New Albums to Check Out – Spring 2013 edition

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Here are a few new albums to check out…

2040652474-1
Songs for the Book of Luke

I contributed a song to this new collection of worship music produced by The Gospel Coalition.  Here can read more about the project HERE and purchase the album on bandcamp HERE.

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Angel Harp & Human Voice cover art

New album of “retuned hymns” produced by Brian T. Murphy (New York Hymns, Red Mountain Music) for Community Presbyterian Church down in Moody, Alabama.
Purchase | Charts

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Lord of Glory cover art

Redemption Hill Church ( Richmond, Va)

New EP “Lord of Glory” to check out from our friends in Richmond who have graciously contributed to a number of our compilations.

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Highland Worship | Highland Worship

purchase – http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/highlandworship

Here is a blurb from their cdbaby page:
Scot-Irish, Celtic roots music, with the pipes, the fiddles, the whistles, and the soul to boot, to lift your spirits into the rafters. Getting to the root of the music in East Tennessee; this band leads worship at Apostles Anglican Church in Knoxville.

Hymn Society 2013 – Blossoming of Song Since Vatican II

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logo2013

(woops….this post is getting out a few weeks later than I intended!)

In honor of the current news cycle obsession with who the new pope will be here is some info on the The Hymn Society conference happening this summer in Richmond, Va looking at the blossoming of congregational song since the 2nd Vatican Council (Vatican II).

For those who don’t know (and I don’t know much!) Vatican II was a hugely significant catholic “conference” hosted in Rome in the early 1960′s that brought about sweeping changes in how the catholic church has related to the modern world, in returning much of the action of worship to the laity, and a thawing of relations with other church bodies leading to the growth of the “ecumenical” church movement in the last 40 years.

Register for the upcoming conference HERE.

 Kevin Twit (Indelible Grace), Greg Scheer, and I will be leading a hymn festival tuesday evening called “Ingrafted Branches: The Old Hymns & New Music of the Retuned Movement.”  Alex Mejias of High Street Hymns, and David Bailey of “Making a Melody” will also be involved. 

I am also trying to organize a “retuned hymns” concert that week at an old church in Richmond that Redemption Hill Church has recently converted into a performance space “The 400“.

Celebrating the Season of Easter

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Easter_Batman

Here’s a few quotes and some resources for celebrating the whole 50 day season of Easter that leads us from Easter/Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost Sunday.

(HT Kevin Twit)
“The great 50 days (originally called the Pentecost) were at first far more important than the 40 days of Lent. It is perplexing why modern Christians concentrate on Lent, the season of sorrow, rather than on Easter, the season of joy. Augustine tells us, “These days after the Lord’s resurrection form a period, not of labor, but of peace and joy. That is why there is no fasting, and we pray standing, which is a sign of resurrection. This practice is observed at the altar on all Sundays, and the Alleluia is sung, to indicate that our future occupation is to be no other than the praise of God.” (Dr. James White, Introduction To Christian Worship pg. 61-62.)

(via The Worship Sourcebook)
“Because the good news of Easter can hardly be contained in a single day’s celebration, Easter is only the first of fifty days of Eastertide, the “Great Fifty Days” that lead up to Pentecost. This season is designed for extended celebration, for exploring the ramifications of Easter for the redemption of all creation, and for joyful Christian living.”

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Stations of the Resurrection – PDF
Riffing on the popular use of the Stations of the Cross this contemporary meditation looks at the significant events of the Resurrection up to Pentecost.  Great to use as a devotional for personal worship, or with a staff or worship team.  You can also use this as an outline for a Pentecost Sunday service of readings and songs.

List of Resurrection Songs – blog post
 (retuned, classic, cont.) focusing on the Resurrection

Communion Songs for Easter – post

Creed – I Believe in the Resurrection (reformed worship)

Songs for Luke Gospel Coalition Album

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2040652474-1The Songs for Luke album commissioned by The Gospel Coalition has finally arrived.  Cardiphonia wrote a song based in Luke 4 “The Spirit of the Lord” that was picked up and recorded for the album.  Thrilled that our friend Melanie Penn provided vocals for the track.

You can download the album @ Bandcamp HERE

You can download charts for the album HERE.

Naaman and I also recorded a demo of our original version which we thought you would enjoy hearing against the fantastic arrangement from mike cosper and co.
mp3 | chords | leadsheet

Note from Naaman about the text:

“The Spirit of the Lord” is a hymn that grounds Luke’s high pneumotology in both Genesis 1 and in Christian baptism. The hymn also foregrounds two other ideas. First, Luke insists that the Holy Spirit is God’s favor poured out on his people. Second, the hymn implies that the same Spirit that God poured out on the earth at creation, on Mary and Jesus and the Pentecost church is the self-same Spirit that God pours out on us when we are baptized.

When earth was welter, waste, and void,
And dark disturbed the deep;
The winds of God ov’er swept the sea,
With favor soon to speak.

REFRAIN:
The Spirit of the Lord was upon it.

When Mary’s virgin womb lay void,
In barren chastity;
“Be not afraid,” the angel said,
And favor canopied.

REFRAIN:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon you.”

When Christ arose from Jordan’s banks,
And raised his voice in prayer,
A sound from heaven rent the sky,
And favor it declared.

REFRAIN:
The Spirit of the Lord was upon him.

When Jesus stood in Nazareth,
He sang the prophet’s words:
“I bring good news, release, and sight
“The favor of the Lord.”

REFRAIN:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”

Over the womb of Pentecost,
The brooding Spirit howled,
And birthed the living flesh of Christ,
With favor to announce.

REFRAIN:
The Spirit of the Lord was upon them.

When plunged into the death of Christ,
And raised to life anew,
The Holy Spirit rests on us,
With favor to imbue.

REFRAIN:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon us.

—
(c) 2013 Cardiphonia Music (ASCAP)