Psalm 25: Ad te, Domine, levavi

Channel    / @chantandpoetry   Playlist    • St. Dunstan's Plainsong Psalter      • Psalm 25: Ad te, Domine, levavi   Psalm 25 chanted in the Sarum Use by Sarah James. Theme: The Psalmist, in great distress, calls upon God frequently; prays for pardon with the strong confidence of being heard; shows the blessedness of the righteous; again earnestly implores the Divine mercy; and prays for the restoration of Israel. This Psalm seems to refer to the case of the captives in Babylon, who complain of oppression from their enemies, and earnestly beg the help and mercy of God. It is the first of “Acrostic Psalm” (where each line begins with a Hebrew letter in alphabetical order. There are seven acrostic psalms: 25, 34, 37, 111:1-10, 112: 1-10, 119, and 145. (Adam Clarke’s commentary, public domain) In Judaism: The psalm is recited as part of tachanun (afternoon prayer) in the Sephardic rite. Verse 4 is recited responsively during the repetition of the Amidah (main prayer of the Jewish liturgy on Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). Verse 6 is the third verse of V'hu Rachum (morning prayer), part of the opening paragraph of the Tachanun (afternoon prayer) recited on Mondays and Thursdays. (Wikipedia) In Christianity: This psalm is characterized by confidence of David, the penitent king. That is why, from the sixth century, the Church begins the first Sunday of Advent (penitential season before Christmas) with the first verses sung of it, namely the Introit in Old Roman and Gregorian, pending the Nativity. A survey of organists in the Dutch Reformed denomination (from May 2000 to May 2001) revealed that Psalm 25 is the third most sung Psalm in Reformed worship services. Only Psalm 119 and Psalm 89 sung more frequently. (Wikipedia) Nine hundred years ago, the Cathedral of Salisbury, England developed a unique form of chant and liturgy known as the “Use of Salisbury,” or “Sarum Use.” Differences from the Roman rite are both melodic (more florid in the Sarum) and textual (Elizabethan English rather than Latin). The best repository of Sarum Use tones is the St. Dunstan's Plainsong Psalter, from which Sarah has sung this psalm. Additional resources on Sarum Use plainsong at https://canticasacra.org. “Bismarck Lake Trail” is a photograph (2025) by Deborah Lee Soltesz that is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication at: https://creativecommons.org/publicdom.... The Bismarck trail is located on the western flank of the San Francisco Peaks, Bismarck Lake Trail is an easy one mile trail ascending a gentle grade up through a beautiful forest of aspen, fir, and pine to a large meadow. The meadow offers stunning, unobstructed views of the San Francisco Peaks. The trail splits, the left for a short spur leading to a small, frequently dry tank named Bismarck Lake. The right fork heads up a quarter of a mile further to meet the Arizona Trail, offering opportunities for longer outings southeast through Hart Prairie and up to the Arizona Snowbowl, or north towards Little Tank and beyond. #psalm25 #plainsong #psalms #psalter #gregorianchant #saintdunstan #bible