How We Use the Portland Psalter

Because many people find their way to this page by seeking on “Portland Psalter” it seems worthwhile to write about how we are using it at Saint David’s. Since February, 2008 we have been using psalm refrains from Robert Hawthorne’s Portland Psalter, Books 1 and 2, available from Church Publishing. As a congregation we strongly value participation in music, and we found that chanting the psalms was leaving too many people out. We are reading the psalm text together, stopping now and then to sing the refrain. Below you’ll find a sample of how we set this up.

The Portland Psalter books have full piano score for each refrain and for chanting the psalm verses. The melody line for each refrain is downloadable from Church Publishing. Rather than singing the refrain by some numerical scheme – say, after even-numbered verses – we sing the refrain at natural break points in the psalm.
Here’s how it looks in the Sunday bulletin:

PSALM 139: 1-11, 22-23
This Psalm may also be found in the Book of Common Prayer on page 794.
The Psalm refrain is sung by all.
[Downloaded and cropped JPG of the psalm refrain is inserted here]
The words to the Psalm are spoken by all.
1 LORD, you have searched me out and known me;
you know my sitting down and my rising up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
2 You trace my journeys and my resting-places
and are acquainted with all my ways.
3 Indeed, there is not a word on my lips,
but you, O LORD, know it altogether.
4 You press upon me behind and before
and lay your hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is so high that I cannot attain to it.
The Psalm refrain is sung by all.
6 Where can I go then from your Spirit?
where can I flee from your presence?
7 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I make the grave my bed, you are there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there your hand will lead me
and your right hand hold me fast.
The Psalm refrain is sung by all.
10 If I say, “Surely the darkness will cover me,
and the light around me turn to night,”
11 Darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day;
darkness and light to you are both alike.
22 Search me out, O God, and know my heart;
try me and know my restless thoughts.
23 Look well whether there be any wickedness in me
and lead me in the way that is everlasting.
The Psalm refrain is sung by all.

The Psalm Refrain is from The Portland Psalter, Book One © 2002 Robert A. Hawthorne. Published by Church Publishing Incorporated. All rights reserved. Used today at Saint David’s with permission.