Musical Notes

Hello OCBC family,
Easter is gone, but the spirit of celebration for our living Savior remains.  Last week was a week full of blessings because, as a church, we celebrated the last earthly week of our Lord Jesus, and this is important because, using songs, sermons, and prayers, we can understand better His ministry and share them with those who do not believe yet in Jesus as the Messiah.

Next week is not Easter Sunday because the calendar says so, but next Sunday will be Resurrection Sunday because our God says so.  The Sunday after Easter Sunday, according to some traditions, is a Sunday full of worship because the church is celebrating her risen Savior.  As believers we can repeat the words of the Psalm 117.

117 Praise the Lord, all nations!
    Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!

This is the psalm that Isaac Watts used to created his hymn “From All That Dwell Below the Skies.”  Perhaps you remember that before Isaac Watts, the churches only sang meter psalms, which means that every single psalm was made a poem, a very literal poem, with few melodies to exchange between them.  Isaac Watts told his father that even though these psalms were the word of God they did not share the message of salvation in Christ.  Watts’ father told him that he might do something about; and he did it.  He started a collection called “The Psalms of David, Imitated” “rewriting” the psalms, clothing them with the message of Christ.
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“From All That Dwell Below the Skies” originally had two verses, but Charles Wesley added two more, and it became so popular that in some circles this hymn is called the “the classic of English doxologies.”  You can sing this hymn with the melody of the “Doxology”, or “All Creatures of our God and King” adding some “Alleluias” to the original lyrics.
Enjoy the words of this beloved hymn.

1 From all that dwell below the skies
let the Creator's praise arise:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer's name be sung
through every land, in every tongue.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 In every land begin the song,
to every land the strains belong:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
In cheerful sound all voices raise
and fill the world with joyful praise.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Eternal are thy mercies, Lord;
eternal truth attends thy word:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore,
till suns shall rise and set no more.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Alleluia!

In His service,
Israel

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