For God alone my soul does wait

For God alone my soul does wait

In silence and in solitude;

My safety is in God alone;

My soul is sheltered and renewed.

God is my sole foundation strong,

And my salvation sure and true;

My fortress firm in which I trust,

And which no foe can still undo.

For God alone my soul does wait

In silence and in solitude;

My hope lives only in the Lord,

My soul is sheltered and renewed.

Deliverance and honor true

Come only from my God on high;

My mighty rock is only God,

My refuge when I mourn and cry.

O trust our God in all your ways;

O peoples, trust your Lord above!

Pour out your heart, cry out your prayers

To God our refuge and our love.

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, March 2020, after Psalm 62:1-2, 5, 7-8

MUSIC: Suggested tune CONDITOR ALME SIDERUM, Sarum plainsong, 9^th cent. (LM)

The ongoing isolation, I suppose, was inevitably going to drive me to the Psalms, where a number of texts seemingly attuned to the current situation live. The first line of the psalm itself ("For God alone my soul waits in silence") was particularly arresting; I almost hated to paraphrase it. I was deliberately selective about which verses to set, which I suppose disqualifies this hymn from ever appearning in a true psalter, but oh well. It didn't immediately strike me, but setting the text to a chant tune, ideally sung a cappella, also seems appropriate to the time.