I’m currently planning next week’s worship service (Jan. 5), which is the Second Sunday after Christmas and has Psalm 147 as the designated psalm in the Revised Common Lectionary. We discussed Psalm 147 and sang different settings in our Psalms for All Seasons Sunday school class back on Oct. 13.

Psalm 147 is part of the collection of Hallelujah psalms that ends the Psalter. The psalm affirms that the God who rules creation is the same God who has a covenant with Israel and who cares for the humble and broken hearted. It consists of three stanzas: God rebuilds Jerusalem and heals the broken hearted (vv. 1-6); God, the ruler of the natural world, takes pleasure in those who trust in him (vv. 7-11); and God, who commands the weather, makes Israel prosperous and secure, and gives it his Law (vv. 12-20). The Word Biblical Commentary (Allen 2002) titles the psalm “God of Stars and Broken Hearts.”

There are only a few settings of Psalm 147 in CRC hymnals, but most of them are good options for congregational singing. Both settings from the blue Psalter Hymnal also appear in the gray Psalter Hymnal and in Psalms for All Seasons. The one most familiar to me is “O Praise the LORD, for It Is Good” (PFAS #147D/LUYH #549/PH87 #187/PH57 #302), which also appears in Lift Up Your Hearts. It has lyrics from the 1912 Psalter and is set to MINERVA. (The 1912 Psalter and 1957 Psalter Hymnal version is titled “Praise Ye the Lord, for It Is Good.” The versification was lightly updated for the 1987 Psalter Hymnal.) It covers the first 13 verses of the psalm.

O praise the LORD, for it is good to sing unto our God; ’tis right and pleasant for his saints to tell his praise abroad.

The other traditional setting is “Sing Praise to Our Creator” (PFAS #147E/PH87 #147/PH57 #303), which doesn’t appear in LUYH. It is set to HARTFORD. The title in the blue PH is “O Sing Ye Hallelujah”; the lyrics were extensively revised and shortened (from six stanzas to five) for the gray PH by Marie Post. It covers all of the psalm.

My favorite setting is “Sing to God, with Joy and Gladness” (PFAS #147C/SNC #29/HFW #12), which doesn’t appear in Lift Up Your Hearts, but is in Sing! A New Creation and Hymns of Worship. The tune (GLENDON) sounds like an Jewish folk song with its lively syncopation, but is a modern composition by John L. Bell of the Iona Community, who wrote or arranged many of the responsorial settings in LUYH. It covers vv. 1-11. (Here’s a sample.)

Sing to God, with joy and gladness, hymns and psalms of gratitude; with the voice of praise discover that to worship God is good.

The final hymn setting is “Praise the Lord Who Heals” (PFAS #147B/LUYH #442), which was written by Norman Agatep, a member of the Filipino Catholic music ministry Bukas Palad. (Here’s a sample.) It strikes me as better suited for a choir than for congregational singing. It focuses on the first six verses of the psalm.

The responsorial setting in PFAS is “Alleluia, Alleluia” (PFAS #147) set to a Honduran tune arranged by John L. Bell. An alternative refrain is the MOZART ALLELUIA).

Psalms for All Seasons also includes a responsive “Prayer of Praise” (PFAS #147F) by John Witvliet.

(Previous posts in my continuing series on our Psalms for All Seasons Sunday school class focused on Psalm 121, Psalm 122, Psalms 2/99, Psalm 72, and Psalm 95.)