Now with Joyful Exultation

Performance Notes:

• The following article is from the Psalter Hymnal Handbook.

Text Information:

A call to worship God as the LORD of all creation and as Israel's Redeemer, and a warning that worship must be accompanied by a life of obedience.

Scripture References:
st. l = vv.1-2
st. 2 = vv. 3-5
st. 3 = vv. 6-7
st. 4 = vv. 8-11

The Levites sang this psalm in the liturgy of a high festival that annually celebrated the cosmic rule of the LORD (perhaps the Feast of Tabernacles). Worship leaders call the congregation of God's people to praise the LORD (st. 1) as the one true God and the King of all creation (st. 2). As Israel's Maker and Shepherd, the LORD is to be worshiped reverently (st. 3) and served in humble obedience. God warns the people not to harden their hearts as their ancestors had done in the wilderness (w. 8-10). The people will enter into the LORD's promised "rest" only if they live according to God's will (st. 4). The versification (altered) is from the 1912 Psalter. Another setting of Psalm 95 is at 173.

Liturgical Use
During Lent; beginning of worship (st. 1-3); during the service of confession (st. 4).

Tune Information:

John Zundel's BEECHER (named after Henry Ward Beecher, his pastor) was first published in his Christian Heart Songs (1870) as a setting for Charles Wesley's "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" (568). The tune is also known as ZUNDEL. Approximating the shape of a rounded bar form (AA'BA'), BEECHER is a strong tune with clean rhythms that should be sung in harmony and with solid organ support (st. 4 needs more modesty).

After receiving an education in Germany, Zundel (b. Hochdorf, Germany, 1815; d. Cannstadt, Germany, 1882) went to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he served as organist of St. Anne Lutheran Church and was bandmaster of the imperial horse guards. He came to New York in 1847 and became the organist at Plymouth Congregational Church in Brooklyn (1850-1878). Henry Ward Beecher, the famous abolitionist preacher, was pastor of that congregation, and their joint ministry caused the Plymouth Church to become well known for its preaching, organ playing, and congregational singing. Dissatisfied with existing hymnals, Beecher asked Zundel to help compile several new hymnals. Temple Melodies (1851) and the Plymouth Collection of Hymns (1855) were the result. Zundel provided twenty-eight hymns tunes for the Plymouth Collection. He also published The Choral Friend (1855), Psalmody (1855), and Christian Heart Songs, and he edited the Monthly Choir and Organ Journal until his retirement in Germany in 1880.

Other Resources: Visit hymnary.org for more information on this song and additional resources.