In the churches I serve, we have a tradition of singing the Psalms during Sunday worship. For this I use a resource called The Psalter for Christian Worship, by Michael Morgan, published by Witherspoon Press. Michael Morgan's goal was to versify the psalter for ease of congregational singing, and so each psalm can be sung to a common hymn tune, instead of using traditional psalm tones. Suggestions for each psalm are provided, as well as the meter, so that more than one tune can easily be applied.
In preparing the service bulletin for the coming Sunday, I was looking over the Psalm for the Third Sunday of Easter, Psalm 4, and began to think, oh, what a mournful song for such a happy time as Easter. However, Psalm 4 is a song of lament, which is mournful, but sings about a faith in God which cannot be broken by long-suffering.
It is sung to the tune Slane(Be Thou My Vision):
God of all righteousness, hear when I pray,
In my distress be my hope and my stay;
Long have I suffered revilement and shame,
Great God of mercy, I call on your name.
Angry, yet silent, I know there will be
Justice according to holy decree;
Never to answer corruption in kind,
But in Your promise true peace will I find.
When those around me my faith would confound,
May I rejoice in Your gifts that abound;
Peace and assurance all discord withstand,
Safely I rest in the palm of your hand.
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