Performed in Heaven is a compact disc of metrical psalms recorded at the Psalmody Recitals, held each winter since 1971 (except 1977) at St Vincent Street Free Church in Glasgow, where sizeable congregations gathered from a variety of churches and denominations. The psalms on the compact disc are all sung by the entire congregation and, as such, reflect the unaffectedness of congregational praise. The recordings are an authentic reflection of the type of singing that has been heard in the Reformed churches of Scotland since the Reformation. In order to produce this unique compilation of congregational psalm-singing, it was necessary to re-master recordings made with the technology of an earlier era. Thus, the recordings themselves span a period of twenty-five years, with the majority being from the seventies or eighties.

Performed in Heaven: Congregational Psalm Singing from Scotland

Psalm 19:1-6 Crediton

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Text: Scottish Psalter (1650) Recorded at Arbroath FCC Youth Weekend.
(Meter: CM)

 3  They altogether filthy are,
       they all aside are gone;
    And there is none that doeth good,
       yea, sure there is not one.

 4  These workers of iniquity
       do they not know at all,
    That they my people eat as bread,
       and on God do not call?

 5  There feared they much; for God is with
       the whole race of the just.
 6  You shame the counsel of the poor,
       because God is his trust.

 7  Let Isr'el's help from Zion come:
       when back the Lord shall bring
    His captives, Jacob shall rejoice,
       and Israel shall sing.

Psalm 14 (Tune: St Thomas)

From the Scottish Psalter of 1650

1  Help, Lord, because the godly man
       doth daily fade away;
    And from among the sons of men
       the faithful do decay.

 2  Unto his neighbor ev'ry one
       doth utter vanity:
    They with a double heart do speak,
       and lips of flattery.

 3  God shall cut off all flatt'ring lips,
       tongues that speak proudly thus, 
 4  We'll with our tongue prevail, our lips
       are ours: who's lord o'er us?

 5  For poor oppressed, and for the sighs
       of needy, rise will I,
    Saith God, and him in safety set
       from such as him defy.

 6  The words of God are words most pure;
       they be like silver tried
    In earthen furnace, seven times
       that hath been purified.

 7  Lord, thou shalt them preserve and keep
       for ever from this race.
 8  On each side walk the wicked, when
       vile men are high in place.

Psalm 12 (Tune: Farrant)

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   Th' afflicted's pray'r he will not scorn.
 18      All times this shall be on record:
     And generations yet unborn
        Shall praise and magnify the Lord.

 19  He from his holy place looked down,
        The earth he viewed from heav'n on high;
 20  To hear the pris'ner's mourning groan,
        And free them that are doomed to die;

 21  That Zion, and Jerus'lem too,
        His name and praise may well record,
 22  When people and the kingdoms do
        Assemble all to praise the Lord.

Text from the Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650.
Recorded at Dowanvale Free Church of Scotland.

Psalm 102 v18-22 (Tune: Duke Street)

From the Scottish psalter of 1650
Recording used by permission of the free Church of Scotland Psalmody committee

1  My heart is fixed, Lord; I will sing,
       and with my glory praise.
 2  Awake up psaltery and harp;
       myself I'll early raise.

 3  I'll praise thee 'mong the people, Lord;
       'mong nations sing will I:
 4  For above heav'n thy mercy's great,
       thy truth doth reach the sky.

 5  Be thou above the heavens, Lord,
       exalted gloriously;
    Thy glory all the earth above
       be lifted up on high.

 6  That those who thy beloved are
       deliver-ed may be,
    O do thou save with thy right hand,
       and answer give to me.


Psalm 108 (Tune: Warrick)

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Text from the Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650. (recording reproduced with permission)Recorded at Inverness Festival of Psalms 2000

1 I joyed when to the house of God,
Go up, they said to me.
2 Jerusalem, within thy gates
our feet shall standing be.

3 Jerus'lem, as a city, is
compactly built together:
4 Unto that place the tribes go up,
the tribes of God go thither:

To Isr'el's testimony, there
to God's name thanks to pay.
5 For thrones of judgment, ev'n the thrones
of David's house, there stay.

6 Pray that Jerusalem may have
peace and felicity:
Let them that love thee and thy peace
have still prosperity.

Psalm 122 (Tune: St Paul)

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Text from the Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650. Recorded during a wedding at St Jude's Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (Glasgow). circa 2011

   7  I bless the Lord, because he doth
         by counsel me conduct;
      And in the seasons of the night
         my reins do me instruct.

 8  Before me still the Lord I set:
         since it is so that he
      Doth ever stand at my right hand,
         I shall not movèd be.

   9  Because of this my heart is glad,
         and joy shall be expressed
      Ev'n by my glory; and my flesh
         in confidence shall rest.

ThePsalmsSung.org

Psalm 16 (Tune: Moravia) @ St Jude's Free Presbyterian Wedding

Psalm 100, to the tune Old 100th, at the beautiful wedding service of Mr & Mrs Chris and Alison Macleod. 

Psalm 100, Old 100th - Chris & Alison's Wedding

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Psalm 43 sung acapella from The Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650. (Meter: CM)

3  O send thy light forth and thy truth;
         let them be guides to me,
      And bring me to thine holy hill,
         ev'n where thy dwellings be.

   4  Then will I to God's altar go,
         to God my chiefest joy:
      Yea, God, my God, thy name to praise
         my harp I will employ.

 5  Why art thou then cast down, my soul?
         what should discourage thee?
      And why with vexing thoughts art thou
         disquieted in me?

      Still trust in God; for him to praise
         good cause I yet shall have:
      He of my count'nance is the health,
         my God that doth me save.

Psalm 43 Tune - Invocation by Bon Accord choir

Psalm 43 (Tune: Invocation)

Text: Scottish Psalter (1650)  (Meter: CM)

1  How excellent in all the earth,
         Lord, our Lord, is thy name!
      Who hast thy glory far advanced
         above the starry frame.

 3  When I look up unto the heav'ns,
         which thine own fingers framed,
      Unto the moon, and to the stars,
         which were by thee ordained;

   4  Then say I, What is man, that he
         remembered is by thee?
      Or what the son of man, that thou
         so kind to him should'st be?

   5  For thou a little lower hast
         him than the angels made;
      With glory and with dignity
         thou crowned hast his head.

   6  Of thy hands' works thou mad'st him lord,
         all under's feet didst lay;
   7  All sheep and oxen, yea, and beasts
         that in the field do stray;

   8  Fowls of the air, fish of the sea,
         all that pass through the same.
   9  How excellent in all the earth,
         Lord, our Lord, is thy name!

Psalm 8 (Tune: Richmond)

Some old singing from FP Congregations in Ullapool and Portree

Ullapool FP Singing

Psalm 45 v 13

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