Setting the Psalms to music appropriate to the age has been one of the church’s great goals throughout the centuries of the New Testament. In ancient times chanting was common, but this method of singing has proved too difficult for modern congregations. At the time of the Reformation John Calvin began the work of setting the psalms to metrical tunes that could be sung by ordinary people of God with little or no training in music, and that tradition has continued down to the present.
The problem with metrical settings is that they make it impossible to preserve the precise words of a faithful translation. Some paraphrasing is necessary, either to shorten or extend lines to adapt to the strict regularity of metrical tunes. Many have made the effort in the four hundred years since the time of the Reformation, but most have felt it necessary to rhyme the text as well as conform to standard meters. The versifications below are unrhymed and therefore adhere more closely than most metrical settings to the actual words of Scripture. Faithfulness to the text of the Scriptures has been the watchword.
None of the text or music is under copyright, so anything found below may be printed without charge or attribution.
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Psalm 17:1-6, Psalm 17:7-12, Psalm 17:13-15
Psalm 18:1-8, Psalm 18:9-17, Psalm 18:18-24, Psalm 18:25-34, Psalm 18:35-42, Psalm 18:43-50
Psalm 22:1-13, Psalm 22:14-22, Psalm 22:23-31
Psalm 37:1-11, Psalm 37:12-19, Psalm 37:20-26, Psalm 37:27-33, Psalm 37:34-40
Psalm 68:1-18, Psalm 68:18b-36
Psalm 69:1-5, Psalm 69:6-11, Psalm 69:12-16, Psalm 69:17-23, Psalm 69:24-28, Psalm 69:29-36
Psalm 78:1-17, Psalm 78:18-37, Psalm 78:38-55, Psalm 78:56-72
Psalm 89:1-12, Psalm 89:13-25, Psalm 89:26-40, Psalm 89:41-52
Psalm 102:1-14, Psalm 102:15-28
Psalm 104:1-19, Psalm 104:20-35
Psalm 105:1-12, Psalm 105:13-24, Psalm 105:25-36, Psalm 105:37-45
Psalm 106:1-8, Psalm 106:9-18, Psalm 106:19-27, Psalm 106:28-38, Psalm 106:39-48
Psalm 107:1-9, Psalm 107:10-16, Psalm 107:17-22, Psalm 107:23-32, Psalm 107:33-43
Psalm 109:1-10, Psalm 109:11-16, Psalm 109:17-23, Psalm 109:24-31
Psalm 116:1-11, Psalm 116:12-19
Psalm 118:1-9, Psalm 118:10-19, Psalm 118:20-29
Psalm 119:1-8, Psalm 119:9-16, Psalm 119:17-24, Psalm 119:25-32, Psalm 119:33-40
Psalm 119:41-48, Psalm 119:49-56, Psalm 119:57-64, Psalm 119:65-72, Psalm 119:73-80
Psalm 119:81-88, Psalm 119:89-96, Psalm 119:97-104, Psalm 119:105-112, Psalm 119:113-120
Psalm 119:121-128, Psalm 119:129-136, Psalm 119:137-144, Psalm 119:145-152