The songs by John Bell and his colleagues at WGRG really lift this collection, because, apart from their quality, there are very different to the rest. On the other hand they are rarely easily mastered with BIAB, as you can tell from the snippet at AOV.
It is a setting of Ps147 and is as well as being in AOV Vol 2, you can buy it in “Psalms of Patience, Protest and Praise”. In that Bell notes that the psalm “deals with the graciousness of God in caring for exiles and broken people, as well as the generosity of God in providing sustenance for the earth.” It appears Bell adapted a tune called “Glendon”.
If you get a chance to see John Bell’s DVD “Singing the Unsung” he devotes a session to singing the psalms.
Antiphon
Sing to God with joy and gladness,
hymns and psalms of gratitude;
with the voice of praise discover
that to worship God is good.
Verse 1
God unites his scattered people,
gathers those who wandered far,
heals the hurt and broken spirits,
tending every wound and scar.
Antiphon
Verse 2
Such is God’s great power and wisdom
none can calculate or tell;
keen is God to ground the wicked
and with humble folk to dwell.
Antiphon
Verse 3
God, with clouds, the sky has curtained,
thus ensuring rain shall fall;
earth, responding, grows to order
food for creatures great and small.
Antiphon
Verse 4
God’s discernment never favours
strength or speed to lift or move;
God delights in those who fear him,
trusting in his steadfast love.
Antiphon
© WGRG, Iona Community, 1993.
http://www.iona.org.uk/wgrg_home.php
Really like the lightness of the rhythm of this song. Should be easy to pick up.