Built upon God's holy mountain
Psalm 87
(DELECTABLE MOUNTAIN)
Embedded Files
Built upon God's holy mountain
Built upon God's holy mountain:
Prophets celebrate and sing,
of your worth beyond recounting,
city of the eternal King!
1 Home of peace! The Lord esteems you
more than any other place,
choosing here to make his dwelling
with his family of grace.
Built upon God's holy mountain...
2 Out of every tribe and nation
come the citizens of Heaven;
God has made them heirs together
and to each a birthright given.
Built upon God's holy mountain...
3 In his register is listed
everyone who's born anew.
Hear the joyful songs ascending -
"all my life flows out from you!"
Built upon God's holy mountain...
~~~
Tune: DELECTABLE MOUNTAIN
Metre: 8.7.8.7 + refrain Key: D
words © Emma Turl / Jubilate
CCLI: 5534597
music © John Turl
A setting of these words to another tune can be seen at:
Built upon God's holy mountain - Jubilate
Keyboard Demo:
Sources: Psalms 87, Isaiah 2:2-3, 12:3, Zechariah 8:7-8, Luke 10:20, John 1:12-13, 4:14, Philippians 3:20, Revelation 7:9-10, 21:23-27
Themes: book of life, city of God, grace, joy
When I first paraphrased Psalm 87, some idioms came straight from the New International Version of the Bible, such as its verse 3 which mirrors the opening line of John Newton's lovely hymn, Glorious things of thee are spoken. So I first wrote:
“Built upon God’s holy mountain,
Zion, city of his choice –
Glorious things of you are spoken,
Making all his sons rejoice!”
In this later version I wanted to avoid any appearance of gender bias which the English word 'sons' may now carry, and also to celebrate - as this Old Testament Psalm does - the implicit truth that people from every nation are welcome in the city of God.
The name of John's tune, DELECTABLE MOUNTAIN, comes from John Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress'. From that elevated position the Christian travellers were given a view of the Celestial City that thrilled them as they came near to reaching their goal.
The words are in the Jubilate catalogue set to John Barnard's HEANISH, and are included in 'Psalms for all Seasons' set to F C Maker's MORGENLIED, published in 2012 by Faith Alive Christian Resources, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
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