It takes resilience to seek love and mercy, justice and peace in a troubled world, and we need resources to help us that are themselves resilient. The psalms offer us a timeless source of healing and hope. They remind us that God listens to our prayers, and they reconnect us with what brings us delight, solace, and joy. The psalms are also honest about suffering and give voice to sorrow and affliction.
The Celtic Psalms project puts this ancient poetry to music, and this worship service uses this work to showcase the power of the psalms to reach across much of what divides us and to help us connect with others and with God. It is a fitting service for Lent, which is traditionally a time when we can allow space for lament and longing while we journey toward Easter. In this service, we provide space to express difficult emotions while tapping into the hopeful future God envisions for all people.
Most of the psalms highlighted in this service have a simple refrain the congregation can sing even if the rest of the song is new and unfamiliar. Music examples for three of the pieces can be found below. The rest are available to purchase through GIA Unbound (see sidebar on page 18). A Spotify playlist of the featured songs can be found at tinyurl.com/CelticPsalms. The service includes transitional language the leader can use to introduce the different psalm arrangements and move smoothly from one section of the service to another.
Unbound (giamusic.com/unbound) is an online collection of thousands of congregational songs published by GIA. New material is continually added, and works by some of today’s best writers and composers are available with just a few clicks of a mouse.
Many Reformed Worship readers already have a One License copyright license that works in tandem with the Unbound website. While One License provides permissions for congregational use, Unbound provides downloadable lead sheets and full scores that make worship planning a breeze.
Introit
Song: “Sing to the Lord (Psalms 98, 99, 100)” Wimberly et al. (see music on this page)
Congregational Refrain
Sing to the Lord, to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord, sing all the earth.
Call to Worship
Welcome to this Lenten evening service, titled “Psalms of Healing and Hope for a Troubled World.” This will be a service of prayer through hearing and singing the words of the psalms set to Celtic melodies.
We’ll open with a call to worship based on Psalm 1: “Their Delight.” You are invited to join us on the antiphonal refrain, “Their delight is in the love of God.”
Let us worship the God of love.
Song: “Their Delight (Psalm 1)” Wimberly et al. (see music on p. 19)
Congregational Refrain
Their delight is in the love of God.
Psalms as a Healing Balm
In this service we’ll turn to the psalms for healing and hope as each one of us in our own corner of the world longs for love and mercy, justice and peace to be in our midst. Today’s music is from the Celtic Psalms project. Kiran Young Wimberly and the McGrath family have set psalms to traditional Irish and Scottish melodies, and as a group they work through the psalms to bring people together across historic community divides in Northern Ireland. The psalms can be a healing balm in difficult times, so today we will lift our voices prayerfully and honestly, not hiding anything, knowing that God listens compassionately. And as we pray, we trust that God will lead us forward into a hopeful future for all people.
We will now hear and sing Psalm 90 as a prayer of confession. Please join on the refrain.
Prayer of Confession: “From Dust We Came (Psalm 90)” Wimberly et al.
Congregational Refrain
From dust we came, and to dust we return to you, my God.
For a thousand years are as yesterday in your sight.
You sweep them away as a morning’s dream,
as grass that withers in the eve.
Teach us to count our every day with wise hearts.
Assurance of Pardon
As far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our sins from us. Know that in Jesus Christ you are forgiven, and be at peace. Amen.
Story Psalms
The next three psalms can be thought of as “story psalms.” They tell stories of particular life experiences, and they express the lament and longing that can be difficult to bring into prayer. As you listen, consider whether these stories give language to prayers for yourself or for someone you love. We will hear and sing these songs without any words in between, allowing this to be a meditative space for you to tend to and honor these stories in yourselves and in others and to remember that God listens and offers healing and hope.
Meditation on Story Psalms: “Save Me, O God (Psalm 69)” Wimberly et al.
Congregational Refrain
Save me, O God, for you are my hope.
Save me, O God, for you are my hope.
Meditation on Story Psalms: “How Long (Psalm 13)” Wimberly et al.
Congregational Response
How long, how long, O Lord?
Meditation on Story Psalms: “Wings of a Dove (Psalm 55)” Wimberly et al.
Congregational Response
Oh that I had the wings, had the wings of a dove.
I would fly far away to the home that I love.
I would fly to the place where my heart is at rest.
In the shelter far from the tempest and storm.
Prayers of Intercessions
We join now in prayers of intercession for the world. We’ll begin by singing Psalm 85, then offer our prayers of intercession, and conclude by singing the psalm again. Let us pray.
Song: “Love and Mercy (Psalm 85)” Wimberly et al.
[Optional: an instrument continues to play underneath the spoken prayer.]
We thank you, God, that you hear us when we call out to you. Today we remember all in this world for whom love and mercy, justice and peace are but a distant dream.
We remember those whose existence is torn apart by war and daily violence. We name those places in our hearts now, and we ask for God’s love and mercy, justice and peace, to shine on those situations. [Pause]
We remember all those who are grieving, through bereavement or any kind of loss. [Pause]
We remember those who have no safe place to call home. [Pause]
We remember those who feel lost, abandoned, or forsaken. [Pause]
We remember those who yearn for a peace they may never see in this lifetime. [Pause]
We remember those who work for love and mercy, justice and peace in their own communities in their own corners of the world. [Pause]
God, in your great compassion, bring healing and hope to our troubled world. Remind us of your hopeful vision—a world at peace, with societies that honor the good of all. Remind us also of the joy and hope and strength that come from you.
Song: “Love and Mercy (Psalm 85)” Wimberly et al.
Congregational Response
Amen.
Passing of the Peace
We invite you to turn to your neighbors to offer the sign of peace, greeting one another in the name of Jesus Christ, as we sing Psalm 122.
Song: “Peace Be with Jerusalem (Psalm 122)” Wimberly et al.
Please stand in body or in spirit as we join to sing a hymn based on Psalms 148, 149, and 150, remembering the deep joy, healing, and hope that can come when we express ourselves authentically in prayer and know that we have been heard by our loving God.
Song: “May We Rise (Psalm 148, 149, 150)” Wimberly et al. (see music on this page)
Benediction and Postlude
And now may we all go forth to seek a world of love and mercy, justice and peace, remembering the hopeful future God envisions for all people.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord look upon you with favor and grant you peace, both now and forevermore. Amen.
Postlude: “Hallelujah (Psalm 146)” Wimberly et al.
[Copyright note for worship planners: Celtic Psalms are licensed through One License. Reprints of the music in this article are permitted for church use with a license from One License, www.onelicense.net.]