Why this song?
As a musician and songwriter, I’ve always found the Psalms fascinating. While we have to texts preserved over thousands of years, we have little or no idea what music went with them. Even if we did, the way the ancient Israelites approached the structure of their poetry is so much different from our modern Western sensibilities, that it’d be difficult to use them in a congregational setting.
That’s why I love when songwriters take a psalm and adapt it as they’ve done here. Taking the heart of these great texts and creating lyrics and melodies that are beautiful and usable by a congregation.
Song Breakdown
In Hebrew poetry, parallelism, or the repeating of lines or ideas, is used to provide emphasis. So when looking for the key ideas, all we have to do is look for what is repeated.
In Psalm 62, two ideas come up over and over again. First, my soul finds rest in God alone. The second idea provides us the reasons why: he is our rock, our salvation, our fortress, our refuge. We find our rest in God because he is the only one capable of providing that spiritual rest.
Use in Worship
Stuart Townend has a knack for writing incredibly singable melodies. Here, he teams with Aaron Keyes to create a melody that is very easy for congregations to pick up.
Thematically, I cannot think of a setting where this song would not work. In worship, God provides us with spiritual rest by reminding us of his promises to us. This song distills that idea into 3 verses and a chorus that can be used year-round.
Resources
Free Lead Sheet and Chord Chart