Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, that my soul may praise thee and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.
–Psalm 30: 11,12 (RSV)
I have always loved the KJV translation of this verse:
Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
This KJV text is set to a wonderful old pentecostal chorus. I found an mp3 file of it at http://www.gracesongs.net/ Unfortunately, it’s set to an obnoxious do-wap beat that I’d never heard before. But the tune and words are there.
Thanks for posting these. I have noticed lately how powerfully the Psalms speak in the morning office. They have a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it.
Ah, Kendall, give me that King James language any time at all. What lyrics they made to the old song!
It is impossible to demonstrate that truth is beauty and vice versa, but sometimes it is so clear that there can be nothing more said. Larry
[blockquote] 3 O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
9What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?[/blockquote]
This is my favorite psalm. I was once asked to read the 23rd psalm at a funeral service. I asked to read this instead. To me it is exactly what I would say when I stay before the Lord. The 23rd is beautiful but to me it seems to be something that relates to the start of a Christian life. Instead of funerals the 23rd should be read by everyone at their Confirmation.
And yes I will take the Thees and Thous every time thanks. 🙂
Yesterday Psalm 1 was read at Morning Prayer. I assume it was from the NIV, but I could be mistaken. Poor stuff compared to the beauty of the KJV version.