609. How Would the Lord Be Worshiped

Text Information
First Line: How would the Lord be worshiped
Title: How Would the Lord Be Worshiped
Author: Marie J. Post (1982)
Meter: 776 778
Language: English
Publication Date: 1987
Scripture: ;
Topic: Industry & Labor; Society/Social Concerns; Joy (1 more...)
Copyright: Text and music © 1987, CRC Publications
Tune Information
Name: HELDER (Assink)
Composer: Brent Assink (1984)
Meter: 776 778
Key: D Major
Copyright: Text and music © 1987, CRC Publications


Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Isa. 58:6
st. 2 = Isa. 58:7
st. 3 = Isa. 58:9b
st. 4 = Isa. 58:8-9a
st. 5 = Isa. 58:10b-ll

Inspired by a sermon on Isaiah 58:6-11, Marie J. Post (PHH 5) wrote this unrhymed hymn text to illustrate the prophet's concept of true worship. Written in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1982, the text was first published in the 1987 Psalter Hymnal.

The passage from Isaiah is a part of the prophet's sermon on the meaning of fasting. Through Isaiah's words God teaches his people that true worship consists not only in the proper rituals but also, and even more so, in the practice of righteousness in daily life. True worship requires fighting injustice, feeding the hungry, and clothing the destitute. The Old Testament prophets were insistent on this theme (Isa. 1:10-17; Jer. 7:21-26; Amos 5:21-24; Mic. 6:6-8). God will accept our Sunday worship and bless us only when such righteous deeds characterize our lives.

Liturgical Use:
Worship that focuses on living the gospel in word and deed and on the meaning of worship; observances of world hunger, international relief operations, and urban ministries.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

The Psalter Hymnal Revision Committee sent Post's text to various musicians and requested a tune. The tune selected was HELDER, composed by Brent Assink (b. Bellingham, WA, 1955) in St. Paul, Minnesota, in December 1984. The following year the Dordt College Alumni Choir, of which Assink was a member, sang the hymn in Sioux Center, Iowa (the choir's conductor, Dale Grotenhuis, was a Psalter Hymnal Revision Committee member). The tune was named in honor of Assink's childhood piano teacher, Martha Helder.

HELDER features some striking melodic and rhythmic motives. For the first three stanzas, consider having a soloist or choir sing the question with the congregation on the response. Then sing all together in unison on stanzas 4 and 5.

Educated in music and business administration at Dordt College, Sioux Center, Assink received a master's degree in musicology from the University of Minnesota. He served the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra first as assistant manager and then as artistic operations manager (1981-1990). From 1984 to 1990 he was also minister of music at Calvary Christian Reformed Church in Bloomington, Minnesota. Assink became general manager of the San Francisco Symphony in 1990 but returned to the twin cities in 1994 to take the position of president and managing director of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook


Media
MIDI file: MIDI Preview
(Faith Alive Christian Resources)

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