Psalms & Hymns Album Insert

NOTES & LYRICS

Originally published in 1994 as a cassette tape entitled Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, this is a collection of recordings I made in my late teens and early twenties of Psalms from the Bible, old favorite Hymns, and new hymns that I had composed. Unless otherwise noted, I composed, sang, played, and recorded everything. The photo for the album art was taken by my son Peter Wilson from the top of Hahn's Peak, CO. Since I did not have access to even semi-professional recording equipment back in those days, the recording quality is poor. I apologize for that; but hope you can enjoy it anyway. Many of the songs are linked to sample audio clips that have been made extra-compressed for fast downloading so they won't sound as good as the actual album mp3 does. If you would like a free copy of this album as mp3’s, click here for the downloadable zip file. Also, check out over a dozen other albums at http://www.natewilsonfamily.net/#Arts

Blessings,

~Nate Wilson

PSALMS

1. I Lie Down And Sleep

Lyrics from Psalms 3 & 4. I composed this song in 1993, the night my second child was born in an effort to get my first child to sleep! This recording started with the solo I sang for my For the Kids CD, recorded by Mark Miller in the Caleb Projet studio in the year 2000, and then I layered two more vocals over it at my studio in Manhattan Kansas in 2017 to make it a trio.

I lie down and sleep, & I awaken again because the Lord sustains me. I lie down & sleep

I will lie down & sleep in peace, for You alone, oh Lord, make me dwell in safety.

2. How Majestic

Lyrics from Psalm 8. I composed and recorded this song in 1990 in my apartment on Lookout Mountain, TN. I did not have a multitrack recorder at the time, so I played the tracks, one at a time into one channel of a stereo tape recorder, then played the left and right channels of that tape recorder into one channel of a second stereo tape recorder while playing the next instrument into the other channel of the second tape recorder. This made it impossible to go back and fix mistakes or adjust relative volume levels of instruments. Thanks to Ray Dameron who loaned me his trap set and Ed Sunder who loaned me his synthesizer.

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic Your Name is in all the earth!

You have set Your glory high above the heavens.

From the lips of children and infants You have ordained praise

To silence the foe and avenger, because of Your enemies.

When I consider Your heavens, the work of your fingers,

The moon and stars which You have set in place,

What is man that You are mindful of him?

The son of man that You care for him?

Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic Your Name is in all the earth.

You made him a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and honor

You made him ruler over creation and put everything under his feet:

All flocks and herds and beasts of the field

The birds of the air and the fish of the sea—

All that swim the paths of the sea.

3. I Will Worship You

Lyrics from Psalm 9:1&2. Composed and recorded in 1992 in an apartment on Lookout Mtn., GA on a 4-track tape recorder. The electric guitar was probably on loan from my neighbor, Steven St. John.

I will worship You, oh Lord with all my heart;

Your praise shall continually be-- in my mouth.

I will tell of all Your works, I'll be glad and exult in Thee.

I will sing praise to Your Name--, oh Most High.

4. We Have Heard With Our Ears

Lyrics from Psalm 44. Composed and recorded on a 4-track tape recorder in the mid 1990’s at an apartment in Englewood, CO. Soprano Sax was played by Phil Mershon.

We have heard with our ears, O God, Our fathers told us what You did in those days!

With Your hand You drove out the nations; And You planted our Fathers.

It was not by their sword that they won the land Nor did their arm bring them victory.

It was Your right hand, Your arm, Your face Because You had favored them.

You are my King, my God; Who decrees victory for Jacob.

We push back our enemies. Through Your Name, we trample down our foes.

I do not trust my bow; My sword does not bring me victory. You saved us from our enemies; You shamed all who hated us.

We have heard with our ears O God, Our fathers told us what You did in their day.

In our God we boast all day long, And we praise Your name forever!

5. Those Who Trust The Lord

Lyrics from Psalm 125. Same date and recording process as track 2.

Those who trust the Lord are like Mt. Zion Which cannot be shaken, but endureth forever.

As the mountains circle all around Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people evermore.

The scepter of the wicked won't remain On the land allotted to the righteous

That the righteous won't do evil with their hands. Oh Lord, do good unto the upright of heart.

Those who turn to crooked ways are banished By the Lord with all the evildoers.

May Your peace be upon Jerusalem; Peace unto Your people evermore.

6. Praise Ye The Lord

Lyrics: Psalm 117. I composed this around 1985 while in high school – one of my first lyric compositions. After several attempts over the years, I finally got a recording I liked while singing and playing straight onto a stereo tape recorder in my college dorm room on Lookout Mountain.

Praise ye the Lord all you nations;

Praise ye the Lord all you peoples, For He is good.

For His merciful kindness is great toward us.

The truth of the Lord endures forever.

Praise ye the Lord!

7. Sing A New Song

Psalm 96, Composed by Dvorak. Recorded on a portable cassette “jambox” during a voice lesson with Dr. John Hamm in the basement of the Covenant College chapel. I cannot remember the name of the girl who accompanied on the piano, but she did a great job!

Sing a new song unto the Lord with gladness

For with His right hand wrought He victory.

Let the heavens rejoice before Him, and let the earth be glad!

Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof

The earth’s four corners, and all within it dwelling.

Let the floods clap their hands,

Let all the hills be joyful together praising God the Lord

Fields and meadows rejoice together;

Woods and forests be ye joyful before the Lord.

Hymns

Adoramus Te

Traditional text with music by Palestrina. I first learned this hymn under James Brown in the Briarwood Youth Choir. While getting acquainted with a new-to-me 4-track tape recorder, in my Lookout Mtn GA apartment in 1992, I tried to come up with all four parts by memory, and this is how it came out.

Adoramus Te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi.

Qui a per sanctam cruchem tuam. Redemisti mundum.

Qui passus es pro nobis Domine. Domine miserere nobis.

We adore You, Christ, and we bless you,

Who on the holy cross reconciled the world to Himself,

Who gave Himself up for us, Lord. Lord have mercy on us.

9. Another Prayer

Composed while a student at Covenant College in the late 1980’s. At that time in my lilfe, writing a song was often part of my process of mourning over my sin and asking for God’s forgiveness. That was also around the time that the Christian Rock band Prodigal came out with their Electric Eye album in which an entire song was done with reverse reverb. When I figured out how they did it, I had to try it myself around 1991 in the living room of my apartment on Lookout Mtn. GA. I used an old Tascam 4-track tape recorder, sang the vocal, turned the tape over so the vocal would play backwards and ran that recording through a delay pedal to another track on the Tascam, then turned the tape back over and played an accompaniment to that with a guitar borrowed from my neighbor.

Oh to be as constant as the starry hosts, to shine unbounded verity,

To pour like breakers on the coast a sacrifice of purity.

Beyond the range of mortal sense, reality unfolds-

Deeper than the range of this fence that the Almighty holds.

I've known of His existence ever since I was a child,

Perceived His glory at a distance, though oftentimes beguiled.

Beware the dogs: Self confidence says convincingly

With vicissitudes of circumstance that life is no vignette of an eternity.

Thus vexed in soul I come again blinded by the radiance of Your face

Unto the One Who took my sin; avail me of Your grace.

10. O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

Composed by Bernard of Clairvauz and Hans Leo Hassler, this classic hymn is a favorite. In 1987, I borrowed a 4-track tape recorder and made this recording in my bedroom in Birmingham, AL with my brother Ben. I think I was on Tenor and Alto and Ben was on Bass and Soprano.

O sacred head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,

now scornfully surrounded with thorns, your only crown.

O sacred head, what glory what bliss till now was thine!

Yet, though despised and gory, I joy to call Thee mine.

What Thou My Lord, did suffer was all for sinner's gain;

mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior, ‘tis I deserve Thy place;

look on me with thy favor; vouchasafe to me Thy grace.

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend,

for this, Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?

Lord, make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

11. The Love Of God

Composed by F. M. Lehman. My Dad taught this modern hymn to me and my family when I was a teenager, and it has been a favorite ever since. I think this recording was made in 1989 direct to a stereo tape recorder in my bedroom at my parent’s house in Birmingham, Alabama.

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell

It goes beyond the highest height and reaches to the lowest hell.

The guilty pair bowed down with care, God sent His Son to win;

His erring child, He reconciled an pardoned from each sin.

The love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless and strong!

It shall forevermore endure the saints and angel's song.

And were with ink the ocean filled, and were the sky of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade,

To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry,

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky!

12. Love Song On Calvary

I think this recording was made direct to stereo tape recorder also in the bedroom of my parent’s house in Birmingham the summer of 1989. It was composed and sung by my brother Ben. I just played the guitar. I think Ben played the intro on the synthesizer too.

The day was dark and cloudy. The crowds pressed close to see

The dying man on Calvary Who hung upon a tree,

But through His blood, His sweat, His tears rose a sad, sweet melody,

'Cause through His pain and anguish, He was looking right at me,

He was singing me a love song As He hung His head and cried,

A love song of forgiveness, As in my place He died.

The sweetest song I ever heard Flowed down from a Roman tree,

And now I owe my life for the love song Sung on Calvary

My life was full of sorrow; I was living my own way.

I tried to bear my suffering, until I heard one day,

The sweetest song I'd ever heard come drifting through the years,

And I've never quite been the same, Since it fell upon my ears.

13. I Need Thee

Original Hymn composed by Hawks & Lowry. This was recorded direct to stereo tape recorder with a guitar and a microphone in the bedroom at my parents’ house in Birmingham. The music pastor of my college church, James Ward, tweaked Lowry’s original tune for a more contemporary feel, so I used that.

I need Thee every hour most gracious Lord; No tender thought like Thine can peace afford

I need Thee every hour stay Thou nearby. Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh

I need Thee, O I need Thee! Every hour I need Thee;bless me now my Saviour, I come to Thee

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain; come quickly and abide, or life is vain!

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will, and Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

14. Not I But Christ

Composed by Whiddington/Forrest. Recorded in 1990 probably at my parent’s house, probably pingponging between two stereo tape recorders to get me singing all four parts.

Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted;

Not I, but Christ, be seen be known, be heard;

Not I, but Christ, in every look and action,

Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word.

Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision;

Glory excelling, soon, full soon, I'll see--

Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling--

Christ, only Christ, my All in all to be.

15. My Redeemer Lives

Composed by Medley/Hatton. Recorded in 1990 direct to a stereo tape recorder in the living room of my apartment on Lookout Mtn, TN. Probably my favorite Resurrection Day hymn!

I know that my Redeemer lives: What joy this blest assurance gives!

He lives, He lives, Who once was dead; He lives, my everlasting Head!

He lives, to bless me with His love; He lives to plead for me above;

He lives, my hungry soul to feed; He lives, to help in time of need.

He lives & grants me daily breath; He lives, and I shall conquer death;

He lives, my future to prepare; He lives, to bring me safely there.

He lives, all glory to His Name; He lives, my Saviour, still the same;

What joy this blest assurance gives: I know that my Redeemer lives!

16. Wedding Song

Composed by Kemper Krabb. I was asked to sing this at the wedding of my friends Steve & Wendy Thomas in December 1990, so I recorded it around that time direct to a stereo tape recorder in the living room of my apartment on Lookout Mtn, TN.

Here I sit, my face unto you; here I speak my heart’s true vows;

Here I choose to walk beside you,

loving only you; my heart speaks true, forever more from now.

I will love you in the evening and in the bright noonday;

I will love you in the evening;

Every day I live, my life I’ll give; I’ll love you from my grave.

I have heard God in your laughter; I have seen Him on your face,

And it’s clear what He is after,

For He wrote your name on my heart with flame; It’s a wound I’ll not erase

We will ride the wings of morning; we will fly before the wind;

We will dwell within the mysteries

of the glories of Jehovah’s love - a circle with no end.

We will pitch our tents toward Zion, in the shadow of His love.

We will covenant between us;

We will covenant with the earth below and with heaven up above.

We will covenant with the dust below and with heaven up above.

17. Lord God of Abraham from Mendelssohn’s Elijah

From 1 Kings 18:36-37. Recorded on a portable cassette “jambox” during a voice lesson with Dr. John Hamm in the basement of the Covenant College chapel. I cannot remember the name of the girl who accompanied on the piano, but she did a great job!

LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,

This day, let it be known that thou art God and I am thy servant,

LORD God of Abraham,

Oh show to all this people that I have done these things according to thy word.

O hear me, LORD, and answer me,

LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,

Oh hear me, oh hear me and answer me,

And show this people that thou art LORD God, and let their heart again be turned

O show this people that thou art LORD God, and let their heart again be turned.

18. Seafoam

This was one of the first instrumentals I composed on guitar. It is about the place where my family took many summer vacations – an little old, wooden cabin on a sand dune overlooking the Atlantic coast near St. Augustine, Florida. This was recorded in 1986 at my parent’s house in Birmingham, AL on a borrowed 4-track tape recorder with me playing an electric guitar borrowed from the Welch family and my brother playing a bass guitar borrowed from James Brown (the choral director, not the pop singer).

Teaching & admonishing one another with Psalms, Hymns &Spiritual songs, singing & making melody in your hearts to God–Col.3:16b

Again, the mp3 album is much better quality than the linked demo clips but still not professional quality. If you would like a free copy of this album as mp3’s, click here for the downloadable zip file - or check out my other albums at www.NateWilsonFamily.Net/#Music ~Nate