Psalm 126 (7')

SATB with optional dumbek (Middle Eastern Drum

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Although the 126th  Psalm is usually translated in the past tense, the original Biblical Hebrew can be translated equally accurately in the future tense.  Thus this translation and its setting of the 126th Psalm is a jubilant expression of individual and collective ecstasy as well as a Messianic vision of peace.

The voices rush and tumble over one another in an exultant dance, sometimes recalling rainfall, rivulets and streams, gushing rivers or hill upon hill of desert sand.   The optional Middle Eastern percussion patterns, based on Arabic rhythmic modes, fuse harmoniously with the traditional Hebraic melodic formulas and create a palpable and exciting vision of hope, joy, peace and reconciliation.

(Wallach also has composed, Shir Hamaalot,  a simple, one-part setting of Psalm 126 in Hebrew, suitable for communal singing of the final verses of the traditional Grace After Meals.)

When the Lord delivers us from exile,
It will all seem like a dream.

Our mouths will fill with laughter,
And our hearts with glorious song.

Rain down your grace upon us, Lord,
Renew us as a stream renews the arid soil;
Surge through us like a river as it swells the desert sands.

Deliver us, deliver us, Lord,
So that they who sow in tears may reap in joy,
And those who went forth weeping, carrying sacks of seed
Will return home singing, carrying sheaves of wheat.