Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. —James 5:13, King James Version Though psalm singing is a common practice throughout the history of Christian worship, the creation of metrical psalms—translations of the psalms into strict rhyming verse that can be easily fitted to musical settings in repeating stanzas—is a hallmark of the Reformation Era. John Calvin himself noted that "we shall find no better songs nor more appropriate to the purpose than the Psalms of David which the Holy Spirit madeand spoke through him." This morning, we have three examples of metrical psalmody in the service, with three fairly different musical approaches. Louis Bourgeouis' GENEVAN 42 was written as a setting of Psalm 42 for the 1551 edition of the Genevan Psalter (with a French text: our English text is taken from the 2018 Trinity Psalter Hymnal). You'll hopefully recognize the bouncy, Renaissance tune—we sang it just last week to the more familiar Christmas text, Comfort, Comfort Ye My People. Psalm 42 also provided inspiration for Marty Nystrom's 1980s classic As the Deer, which was a favorite of my childhood non-denominational evangelical church. Lastly, we'll introduce a new setting of Psalm 46 to an americana-style tune called PILOT KNOB, which we'll be learning over the next few weeks of this summer psalms series. —Henry C. Haffner