Babylon (Psalm 137)

"Babylon." is from Don McLean's American Pie album. From Wikipedia:

The American Pie album features a version of Psalm 137, titled "Babylon". The song is based on a canon by Philip Hayes and was arranged by McLean and Lee Hays (of The Weavers).

 



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This Befell Us (Pslam 44) John Michael Talbot

Sometimes bad things happen, even when we "do everything right." I heard the song "This Befell Us" several years ago on John Michael Talbot's CD recording, Simple Heart. I found it to be a moving and honest cry that comes from all of us at some point in our life if we dare to be honest. Here the psalmist teaches us that it is alright to question God and to bring our case before him.

This Befell Us (Psalm 44)

By John Michael Talbot

Chorus:

This befell us though we had not forgotten 
Though we never had been false to Your word 
Though our hearts had not withdrawn their longing 
Though our minds had not strayed from Your word 

 You have crushed us to the place of sorrow 
Covered up with the shadow of death 
You make us like the sheep for the slaughter 
And scattered us among the nations of the earth 

(Repeat Chorus) 

You continue to reject and disgrace us 
No longer seen to dwell with us 
You make us now the taunt of our neighbors 
The laughingstock of all who draw near 

(Repeat Chorus) 

All day long my disgrace is before me 
My face is now covered with shame 
This befell us though we had not forsaken 
We had not been false to Your name 

Awake O Lord, why do You sleep and slumber 
Arise O Lord, do not reject us again A
wake O Lord, hide not Your face

Stand up O Lord and come to our aid

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Amsterdam's Choir of the Great Synagogue 1935

From the YouTube site: "November 1935, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the NIHS Jewish Community of Amsterdam (orthodox Ashkenazi congregation started 1635) the dutch film factory Polygoon brought this unique cinema sound newsreel of the Amsterdam Choir of the Great Synagogue..."

Many of these people would die in the Holocaust.

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Miserere Mei Deus

From the Anglican Deist YouTube site:

This piece is Psalm 51, but first set to music by Allegri around 1630. It is one of the finest and most popular examples of renaissance polyphony. It is often heard in Churches of the apostolic Christian tradition on Ash Wednesday, immediately following Shrove (or pancake) Tuesday, marking Christ's return to Jerusalem. Beautifully performed here by The Sixteen, listen out for the simplicity, humility and reverence.

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