Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

There are times when prayer is difficult, when one feels too low, too sinful, too earthbound to lift one’s heart up to God. It is at such times that the Psalms can directly express our state of mind, and lift us up out of such a place. 

Some Psalms actively express the individual or group ascent. The ‘Psalms of Ascent’ (Psalm 120-134) were sung by the Israelites as they journeyed ‘up’ to Jerusalem for various feasts, so I suppose they definitively express this idea of ‘lifting up our hearts’ to God in worship.

A prayer book on my shelf places Psalm 121 as one of several that can be used at morning prayer, which is instructive. The text contains this lovely imagery of looking ‘to the mountains’ for God’s help, as well as assurances of God’s protection from ‘all evil’.

I was delighted to discover a setting of text from this psalm by the Estonian composer, Cyrillus Kreek (1989-1962), sung by the lovely Estonian choir, Vox Clamantis. Cyrillus Kreek was one of these turn-of-the-century ‘ethnomusicologist’, which is to say, he collected Estonian folk melodies systematically. I think you can hear both a folk-song element in this Estonian-language setting of the Psalm, and just possibly a hint of Russian Orthodox harmony.

This music aptly expresses ‘looking up’ to God, and away from ourselves.

Yours in Christ,
Justin

PSALM 121, King James translation
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.