New Lewis-Town
"From ages past the Psalmists sing"
Eastertide, communion
This is a reworking of the tune Lewis-Town by William Billings, 1794, hence the name "New Lewis-Town". Billing's tune is changed to major mode and has simplified melodic patterns making it easier and more fun to sing. The verses were composed specifically for this reworking.
1. From ages past the Psalmists sing
Of love love divine as pastures green,
Where flows our soul’s life-giving spring,
Rejoicing in our Lord.
2. Today we know the love God shows
Through Christ, His Son who died for us–
From tomb* to Glory He arose–
Rejoicing in our Lord.
3. Until this earth we must depart
This life of choice 'midst light and dark,
Of fear unknown, or peaceful heart
Rejoicing in our Lord,
4. Is clear the way our Savior made
For us to follow ev’ry day
To join the Lamb, our ransom paid,
Rejoicing in our Lord.
*may replace "tomb" with "hell"; see last paragraph below
Thoughts behind the hymn:
The meaning of these verses are communicated in pairs. The first two verses express the continuity of God's love through the Old and New Testaments: the "compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34), the God of love praised no more fervently and eloquently than in the Psalms, this same God of love Jesus teaches us about throughout the Gospels, a supreme love that Jesus shows us knows no bounds.
The 3rd and 4th verses are actually one sentence, inspired by Matthew 7, 20, Mark 10, John 14, I Timothy 2 and Revelation 6-22. Someone asked if I meant in the 4th verse that we earn our way to the Lamb by good behavior, but that's forcing a meaning on it. Jesus makes "clear the way" exactly as he teaches and lives by example, no more, no less. "Every day" is written to express the commitment to love and forgiveness Jesus expects from us all and the sacrifice He demands of His disciples. Pastors of every church that sing this hymn will make clear to their congregations how this applies to them.
Someone told me they were a little thrown by the plural use of "Psalmists" in the first line of the first verse. They think of David as the Psalmist. I hope this doesn't put off too many people because among the Psalms, attributions are made to six different authors, and many Psalms are unattributed. I use "the Psalmists" in a general way, as we might say "the prophets" or "today's politicians": We don't mean any specific person nor do we mean a unanimity of the classification; we mean to point out something that is generally true for most of the classification. Plural or singular would work equally well, plural being selected for the rhyme scheme and to minimize the number of "s"es that get aspirated during singing.
"Rejoicing in the Lord" is in one way or another recorded dozens of times throughout the Bible. Rejoicing in "our Lord", repeated the last line of each verse, is more personal and is found most often in the Psalms and Epistles.
Second verse, third line, originally I wrote "From hell to glory He arose" in accordance with the Apostles' and Athanasian creeds (see Matthew 12:40; Ephesians 4:8-10 in reference to Psalm 68:18; I Peter 3:18-20 and 4:6) but I added the option of changing "hell" to "tomb" to reduce potential objections without compromising truth or aesthetic impact.
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