It’s been another busy couple of years marked by a lot of changes again but I’ve managed to squeeze in writing and recording another song. I’m hoping to spend some more time writing and recording this year but possibly as a follow-up to my album Embers. You should be able to listen to my new song God and King from 6th March 2020 on all major streaming services like Spotify, Apple, Amazon, etc. You can find links to those on the song page and I really hope you enjoy listening to it. You can read the lyrics below as well as some background about the Psalm and my approach to writing the lyrics. Please leave comments below if you want to let me know what you think or would like any more info.

Having worked as a youth pastor for a couple of years, I’m now team leader of an Eden team in Hillhead, Kirkintilloch. After releasing my previous song, Forevermore, based on Psalm 121 in the Bible, I wanted to pick another Psalm and one that would be relevant to the work I’m doing with Eden. I chose Psalm 145, which was written by King David of Israel around 3000 years ago and is a song of praise for God.

I took the same approach as I did with Forevermore and took the text found in the Bible and paraphrased it so that it would flow in song format while trying not to lose any of the meaning behind the original text. To do this, I looked at several different translations of the Bible to see the phrases used by different translators as well as some of the commentaries written about it. Here are the words to Psalm 145 from the CSB Bible:

I exalt you, my God the King, and bless your name forever and ever. I will bless you every day; I will praise your name forever and ever. The LORD is great and is highly praised; his greatness is unsearchable. One generation will declare your works to the next and will proclaim your mighty acts. I will speak of your splendor and glorious majesty and your wondrous works. They will proclaim the power of your awe-inspiring acts, and I will declare your greatness. They will give a testimony of your great goodness and will joyfully sing of your righteousness. The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love. The LORD is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made. All you have made will thank you, LORD; the faithful will bless you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom and will declare your might, informing all people of your mighty acts and of the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule is for all generations. The LORD is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his actions. The LORD helps all who fall; he raises up all who are oppressed. All eyes look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all his acts. The LORD is near all who call out to him, all who call out to him with integrity. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry for help and saves them. The LORD guards all those who love him, but he destroys all the wicked. My mouth will declare the LORD’s praise; let every living thing bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 145 (Christian Standard Bible)

The chorus of my song picks up the opening theme of the song that we will praise God who is the King of Kings every day into eternity. The author, David, is king of Israel but he recognises that God is his king and worthy of praise every day. The first verse of the song looks at the next few lines of the Psalm and focuses on the greatness of God and the way the mighty works he has done will be shared from one generation to the next. The word saints used in the first verse is simply a reference to any other believers. The second verse focuses on some of the characteristics that we see of God in relation to mankind. We see that God is gracious, compassionate and great in faithful love. We understand that he is patient as he is slow to anger.

The third verse gives thanks for what God has done and continues to do for everyone. God knows our every need and is there to help those who call on him, including those who fall, those carrying burdens, those who hunger, and those who want to be forgiven. It is not just believers who God helps but he is good to everyone. This can be difficult to understand because there is so much suffering in the world, but there is hope for all who trust him. The bridge is then looking at the theme that God hears those who call out to him and he is near them. The Psalm also mentions that God destroys the wicked but I didn’t have room to include that in the final version and instead implied it by writing that God hears those that fear him and is near to those that call him Lord and Saviour.

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The song is written in the key of D with a 6/8 time signature and I played the guitar in the tuning of DADF#AD. Recording the song was difficult as I had a couple of house moves to contend with and didn’t have all of my audio equipment in one place for long. My first couple of attempts to record the song were a bit of a disaster as I originally wrote the song in 4/4 with some time signature changes in the chorus. This sounded pretty good but I thought in the end that it was over complicated. I started the recording in my mum’s house but finished off most of it in my new home. I hope you enjoy listening to it.