A text and musical arrangement of Psalm 16.
Click here to download the sheet music as a pdf.
Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge.
You, only, O LORD, are my good and my light.
As for all Your saints on the earth, they are worthy,
The excellent ones who are all my delight.
The sorrows of those who rebell will be many.
Their off’rings of blood I will never pour out.
My lips will not utter their names or recall them.
The LORD is my portion, my cup, and my lot.
My lot is maintained by the LORD, the almighty.
The lines of my promised land fall pleasantly.
Indeed, my inheritance shall last forever,
And I will bless Yahweh, who gives all to me.
I bless my good LORD, Who has given me counsel.
My heart in the night also guides in His ways.
Since He is by me, I shall never be shaken.
I set the I AM here before me always.
So my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoices;
My flesh, even now, dwells securely this day.
For You will not let the grave keep me forever,
Nor let me, Your holy one, suffer decay.
You show me the Way to True Life everlasting.
With You, in Your presence, my true joy shall ring.
For there, at Your right hand, are pleasures eternal.
All glory to You, my true Savior and King.
History: On June 27, 2024, it struck me that the ESV’s beginning of this psalm could fit into the hymn tune KREMSER (“We Praise You, O God”), and I sat down after work that day and drafted out how the rest of the words might fit the same 12 11 12 11 meter. Sadly, that tune is a bit too cheerful sounding to fit well with a prayer that begins with “Preserve me, O God…”, though the psalm does have many joyful elements across it. I tried searching in vain for other hymn tunes out there that might fit better using that meter, but I couldn’t find any I liked. I didn’t want to make it a drawn out project though, so I thought I’d just leave it at that. But a couple days later a tune popped into my head while I was in bed, and here is the result. I polished the words and added harmonies to the tune later on November 16th, since the following Sunday was the 26th after Pentecost, and Psalm 16 was the appointed Psalm for that day.
It’s not my favorite musical or textual arrangement, but it was fun to work on nonetheless. I won’t be offended if someone chooses to improve upon it. 😉 I could also see an English Country Dance being put to the same tune one day.