He That Ruleth Over Men Must Be Just

I LOVE THE INTERNET!!

When I was in college (Temple University, home of the majestic Owls and several crackheads), I had some strange jobs to support my education habit. One of them was Alto section lead at a church downtown. We sang all sorts of stuff, all of it sacred, of course. The choir director was a very tempermental organist, but man, he was a good musician. I honestly felt bad for him, because dealing with musicians is never easy. Dealing with a group of divas is downright impossible. I knew that, because I was a science major who hung out with musicians.

Anyway.

One of the pieces we did back then was this piece that had the above quote in it: "He That Ruleth Over Men Must Be Just". I remember the organ line behind it. I remember singing that line and a few lines after it... but they didn't seem to make any sense! I figured I had mixed up two pieces that had similar tunes, or some such nonsense. Put aside the fact that, twenty-plus years later, I can still sing the pieces I learned in middle school chorus. (Much to John's chagrin.) Music is usually like that, for me. But maybe this time, my mind has screwed up. Maybe I'm getting senile. It runs in the family, you know...

Google to the rescue.

The piece is "The Last Words of David" by Randall Thompson. Who, by the way, is a great choral composer. (Amazon eventually found me a CD to purchase. Again, the internet to the rescue!)

One of the webpages I found had an mp3 of the piece. So, I listened. Sure enough, the words make NO SENSE!! If you're interested, here's what Dave had to say, according to King James's theologians and translators:

"He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of
God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a
morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear
shining after rain. "

Say, what?

I thought my words were incoherent! I thought I jumbled different passages or something! But this is the real deal. The KJV words just don't ring with me, though I got the jist from the music. So I turn to the good news edition (this time, though, it's an old fashioned hard copy)...

"The king who rules with justice, who rules with reverence for God,
is like the sun shining on a cloudless dawn, the sun that makes the grass
sparkle after rain."

Now that, I understand. But it wouldn't fit with Thompson's notes. His music fits the words as King James has them. If you're into choral music, give it a listen.

(I'm sure there's some commentary that one could make on GWB here, but that's not my arena!)
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