#Psalmtweet #Psalter 27:4

 A keyword is repeated in the last verse of this psalm: wait.

one thing

אַחַ֤ת ׀ שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵֽאֵת־יְהוָה֮ אוֹתָ֪הּ אֲבַ֫קֵּ֥שׁ שִׁבְתִּ֣י בְּבֵית־יְ֭הוָה כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיַּ֑י לַחֲז֥וֹת בְּנֹֽעַם־יְ֝הוָ֗ה וּלְבַקֵּ֥ר בְּהֵיכָלֽוֹ		4 One thing I have asked from Yahweh. That thing I will seek, that I may sit in the house of Yahweh all the days of my life, to gaze on the pleasantness of Yahweh and to reflect in his temple.
d akt walti mat-ihvh aoth abqw wbti bbit-ihvh cl-imi kii lkzot bnoym-ihvh ulbqr bhiclo	14 11 15	ak\t wal\ti m/at ihvh avt\h a/bqw wb\ti b/bit ihvh cl im\i ki\i l/kz\vt b/nym ihvh vl/bqr b/hicl\v

I think of each Biblical phrase as composed of 1 to 3 phrases. I hear a phrase end in three ways

1. at the ole-veyored (this accent sequence occurs in the 3 poetry books only) - the above verse provides an example from the second note of bar 5 to the first note of bar 6. Put a breath mark after this combination of notes.
2. at the atnah (the note A in my renderings). Here my software has marked the pause with // in bar 10.
3. at the silluq when the verse finally returns to the tonic e. Bar 14 on -lo in this verse.

The music gives us an easy way to compare phrases throughout the Bible. This particular musical phrase occurs only once. The third phrase, however, occurs 7 times, all in the Psalms: 22:2, 27:1, 27:4, 52:10, 71:24, 101:8, 104:28. The first phrase to bar 6 occurs twice only: Psalms 27:4 and 43:2. The middle phrase occurs 735 times. The combination of phrases 1 and 2 is unique.

Sometimes, we can hear deliberate imitation in the phrasing. E.g. Job 1:1 playfully imitates Genesis 1:1! Think about that.

I challenge anyone -- in the world -- over the last 1000 years to tell me about these accents in such a simple fashion. I challenge them equally to name all the verses with such and such a sequence and their frequency and to sing them with such simplicity. No one will take me up on this.

It is Suzanne Haïk-Vantoura's deciphering key that allows the explanation of the notation. It allows us to see in to the mind of the designer of these marks of taste. Who they were is not known, but their work has been deciphered. I suspect this notation emerged about 2500 years ago. It is a set of encoded hand-signals arising from the earliest music applied to these words.

This one thing was given to me in 2010 at Oxford through the work of Susan Gillingham, convener of the conference on the psalms, and David Mitchell, Director of Music in Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral, Brussels. As soon as I heard the music and the theoretical basis for it, as a musician, as a student of the Bible, and as a person with experience in systems and design, I knew that I must pursue this and make the whole structure available to the public. That's what I have been doing these past 13 years, sitting in the soundscape of the house of Yahweh and gazing on the pleasantness of the music of the house, and reflecting... All the Bible is available on this blog through links to pdf files and recordings and explanations such as I have been able to do in my posts and books. But all this information is not of value until we stop and listen. Take the time. Here is a possible starting point.

To listen, we must be still - and wait.

Here is a performance of the whole psalm. You can follow along with SHV's score here.