My Lord Is With Me
“Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! Many are saying of me. “God will not deliver him.”[b] But you, Lord, are a shield around me,my glory, the One who lifts my head high.I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.” - Psalm 3: 1-4 New International Version
The composition or liturgical song O Panginoon Ko by Lucrecia Kasilag was taken from Psalm 3.
It is an example of a Motet style of music. It’s texture is homophonic, and from the sample I got, it was sung by the Philippine Madrigal Singers. In my personal opinion, the sample that I listened to had the texture of liturgical music back in the renaissance period. The melody was dark and ominous.
The song’s message is about a person that is hearing voices telling him that God is not there for him, and he is alone. The person in return convinces himself that he is not and will not be abandoned by God. He tells himself that God is there for him, and He is his source of strength and fortitude. The lyrics goes as “O Panginoon ko kay raming kaaway sa abang likod mo ay kumakalaban. Ang palagi nilang pinaguusapan, ako raw o Diyos hindi mo matutuungan. Ngunit ang totoo sa lahat ng oras iningatan mo at inililigtas sa akiy tagumpay ang iginawad. Mahinang kong loob ay pinalalakas kaya ikaw Yahweh ang aking tawagan, sinagot mo ako sa bundok na banal.”
Since the song O Panginoon Ko was taken from Psalm 3 which is from the bible theoretically it has numerous translations in different language, the song of Lucrecia Kasilag has an english translation
Thou O Lord, was arranged by Carol Joy Cymbala, and words and music by Lisa Ireland. According to an online article “Carol Cymbala, wife of Pastor Jim Cymbala, was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a pastor’s daughter, she was one of six children, and very early on displayed a special gift for music.”
For Carol Joy Cymbala and Lisa Ireland”s version of the song which was taken from Psalm 3, has a homophonic texture, and from the sample that I listened to, had a lighter tone compared to Lucrecia Kasilag’s. It was still sang by a choir, IBSA AllState Youth Choir to be exact. One thing in common is that, both versions had the same harmony and melody in terms of range. It also had similarities in pitches and octaves. For O Panginoon Ko, the song had a deeper rhythm compared to Thou O Lord, but it is still identical and distinct.
The lyrics of the english version on a word per word basis is not accurate with the one in filipino, however, the message and the underlying idea is still presented, and honestly in my opinion, the english version has more emphasis on the message of the song compared to it’s counterpart. “Many are they increased that troubled me. Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul. There is no help for him in God. Thou O Lord are a shield for me my glory the lifter of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice and he heard me out of His holy hill.”
Psalm 3 is attributed to David who in the Hebrew Bible is described as the second king of the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah. David was chased by his bastard son Absalom and was also fled by his people. Even with great adversary, David still found fortitude and strength to trust God. “ But you, Lord, are a shield around me,my glory, the One who lifts my head high.I call out to the Lord…”
Both versions of the song used the bible verse beautifully and was able to tackle and emphasize the power of God to a person who is struggling. The genre of the music might not be appealing to the majority because we are now in a different era where music has evolved and has now been modernized and commercialized. Personally for me, even though I felt uneasy with the dark and ominous rhythm of O Panginoon Ko, I was able to appreciate it dueto the message of the song; the message is powerful and this must always be taken into account, and this alone is enough to make any type or genre of music beautiful and glorious.
References:
“BibleGateway.” Leviticus 19:11 NIV - - Bible Gateway, Bible Gateway Blog, www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 3&version=NIV.
Scores:
http://pfwbc.weebly.com/uploads/8/0/0/8/8008294/thou_o_lord.pdf (Thou O Lord) file:///C:/Users/ic3/Downloads/O-Panginoon-Ko-Kasilag-SATB-orig%20(1).pdf (O Panginoon Ko) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V6GYs699iM (O Panginoon Ko) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvgTBqqCEoM (Thou O Lord)