Praise the Lord

Having begun in repentance, turning from the twisted ways of the world which do nothing but drain us dry, and deepening in remembrance and recognition of the Lord who has ever been with us from the beginning, revealing himself to us in unexpected ways, we come finally to that for which we have always been longing: The Holy City of God, the New Jerusalem, where Christ the Lamb is the Light, and whose gates are never shut. We have come home, our true home. It is joyful reunion, and we are glad.

Friends, the true journey we are on finally moves beyond our time bound experiences into dimensions that are eternal and limitless. Let not our thoughts remain constrained by the days and months and years. Let our eyes behold journey’s end, where all are gathered together from every time and place, saints and angels, joining the eternal song of praise, the Alleluia being sung by all creation. Blessed be God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and blessed be His kingdom, now and forever. Amen.

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
lead us all into the eternal bliss
of Your divine fellowship.
Amen.

Praise the Lord
(Psalm 134)

Praise the Lord,
All you servants of the Lord
Who serve Him in the night
Lift your hands
In the house of the Lord
And praise with all your might

May the Lord
Maker of heaven
Maker of earth
Bless you from Zion
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes. 

Travel Together

Traveling together, we discover a unity that is deeper and more ancient than we can comprehend. It is eternal. The journey is bigger than us. It draws us together and encompasses us — not just those of us who are presently on the way, but all who have ever been on it and all who are yet to come. Everyone and everything. For God makes known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, to bring all in heaven and on earth to unity, all summed up in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:9-10). In this unity and this journey is found great blessing, the glory of God.

Travel Together
(Psalm 133)

Travel together
This journey makes us one
And the oil of blessing flows down
Fresh as the dew upon the ground

When we learn to recognize
We are pilgrims on the road
Through the mountains of Zion
To the city of our God
Where is His glory found?

Isn’t this heaven
Aren’t we the people of God
Hasn’t the Father made us one
Blessed with the Spirit and the Son?

May we learn to recognize
We are pilgrims on the road
Through the mountains of Zion
To the city of our God
Where is His glory found?

Travel together
This journey makes us one
And the oil of blessing flows down
Fresh as the dew upon the ground
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

We Remember David

There is an ancient memory of the glory of the Lord, and that memory runs deep within us. Humility revives it, brings it to the fore. It is bracing, stabilizing. Drawing upon it helps us persevere, ever pressing on toward the Promise. King David remembered, and by humility saw the return of the Ark of the Covenant to the Holy City. And he rejoiced, dancing with wild abandon. Yet that was not enough. He longed for the Ark of the Glory to be fully established in the hearts and minds of his people — that the Lord might have his resting place forever among us. But as grand as David’s dream was, the Lord had something infinitely greater in mind. David wanted to build a house for God, but God would build a house for David, one that would endure forever. God would always be with us, in us, and our home would ever be in Him. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the promise fulfilled and our life is now hid with him in God (Colossians 3:3). And so we remember, and dance with David.

We Remember David
(Psalm 132)

David we remember yet
All the hardship he endure
His servant heart would not forget
But made a promise to the Lord
“I will not rest, I will not rest,
Nor will I find my peace
Until I make a place for Thee”

We have heard in Ephratah
And in the fields of Jaar
Of the glory of the Lord
And the blessing that was there
Let us worship at His feet,
Let us seek His face
May we find His dwelling place

We remember David
Made a promise to the Lord
He danced so hard,
He danced so high
So may the saints of God
Go singing in their joy
We remember David

David was your servant, Lord
And on the day he entered in
You heard the promise that he swore
You made a promise back to him
“If your children keep my ways,
I will be with them
They will have a king forever”

“You are the ones that I’ve desired
And the people of My choice
All your needs I’ll satisfy
And you will listen to my voice
When your enemies assail,
I will be with you
I’ll be the light upon your way”

Lord, remember David
Gained a promise from You, Lord
He danced so hard,
He danced so high
So may the saints of God
Go singing in their joy
We remember David
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

My Heart is Not Proud

The journey has been long, and there is yet more to go. We have been to the bottom, cried out from the depths, learned humility, and there experienced the mercy of God. It does not answer all — or perhaps any — of our questions but it changes us. We have begun to realize that answers are not really what we are longing for. And now we are ready to move forward, not in pride of soul but in humility of heart. For in humility, there is hope.

My Heart Is Not Proud
(Psalm 131)

My heart is not proud
And neither my eyes
And I do not seek
To understand why
But I have stilled
And quieted my heart
And so have I placed
My hope in my God
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Out of the Depths

Now we come to a turning point in the journey. We began from far away in a land with no peace, and awakened to the joyful prospect of coming again to our heart’s true home in God. We have remembered how the Lord has delivered us in the past, how He has protected and provided, how He surrounds us on our journey and gives us rest. We have rejoiced in the Lord, the Righteous One, for He has been faithful to us.

But as we draw ever closer, we become more and more aware of something that has been going on inside us from the beginning, a calling out from the depths of our being. It is a deepening awareness of our many faults and failures, in the light of God’s faithfulness. And we realize our helplessness in the face of it. We are like Isaiah who, in his vision of the unfathomable glory of the Lord, experienced the profound sense of his own “unclean lips,” his own lack of righteousness (see Isaiah 6). Yet the Lord was faithful to cleanse and heal him, and we cry out to God for that same cleansing and healing. It is Christ and the Cross that we need, and with that assurance we can move forward and meet our God in the Holy Place.

Out of the Depths
(Psalm 130)

Out of the depths I cry
To You, O Lord
Now let Your ears hear my voice

If you should count my faults
Lord, who could stand?
In awe, we find that You forgive

How my soul waits for You
I wait for You
More than the watchman waits for dawn

Now let us trust in His unfailing love
He will redeem us from our sins
Himself redeem us from our sins
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The Righteous Lord

They had been greatly oppressed, harnessed to the plow and run over time and again. But the Lord cut the straps that held them, the cords that bound them, and set them free. The testimony of Israel is that the Lord brought them up out of the land of bondage and into the Land of Promise. That is our testimony, too, for it is the same Lord Jesus who sets us free, and the same Cross by which we are redeemed. The Lord had been faithful to keep the covenant he made with their ancestors, with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and would continue that faithfulness to them. That assurance enabled their perseverance so that they, too, would arrive safely at journey’s end.

The Righteous Lord
(Psalm 129)

From the days of my youth
All my enemies assailed
From the days of my youth
But they never did prevail
And the plowman plowed my back
And they made the furrows long
And the plowman plowed my back
And they made the furrows long

But the righteous Lord
Has cut me free
And the righteous Lord
Is keeping me moving on

They were grass on the roof
Where the grass will not grow
They were grass on the roof
Where the grass will not grow
And they turn from the Lord
He will turn them away
And they turn from the Lord
He will turn them away

But the righteous Lord
Has cut me free
And the righteous Lord
Is keeping me moving on
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

You Shall Be Happy

In the middle of the journey, the psalm writer speaks quite unabashedly about the blessing, the joy — the happiness — that attends those who honor the Lord and walk in His ways. Yes, there are dangers and difficulties encountered along the way, but there is also the protection and provision of God, the fellowship of friends and family, and the warmth of hearth and home. And in all things, the Lord reveals Himself to us in unexpected ways. Glory to God for all things.

You Shall Be Happy
(Psalm 128)

Blessed are you
Who worship the Lord
And all those who honor His name
Blessed are you
Who listen to His voice
And all those who walk in His ways
You shall be happy
It shall be well with you

Blessed be your household
It shall multiply
Many the ones at your table
Joy for your sorrow
Comfort for your tears
All that you need from your labors
You shall be happy
It shall be well with you

For so are the ones who are blessed by the Lord
So may the peace of the Lord be with you
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The Lord’s Gonna Give You Rest

This pilgrim journey is one of giving up the vain notion that everything — or anything — depends upon us, and coming to the place of humility, realizing how great is our helplessness. It is a joyful realization, for it means that we can cast all our cares, all our distracting thoughts, over onto the Lord, who loves us deeply and will take care of us always. Lord Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry” (Matthew 11:28-30).

The Lord’s Gonna Give You Rest
(Psalm 127)

Build a house, build a wall, build a city
That’s a mighty fine work,
But ain’t it a pity
It’s all gonna fail the test
Take some time, take some thought, take a minute
Did you ever ask yourself
If the Lord was in it?
As humble men will confess
Only the Lord’s gonna give you rest

You get up early and you’re staying up late
And you work like a mule to put food on your plate
You know, you settle for less
You keep depending on what you can do
And you’re forgetting all the love He has for you
He wants to give your His best
Only the Lord’s gonna give you rest

You don’t have to be afraid to grow older
I know they told you but it’s just not true
You don’t have to take the world on your shoulders
Just be faithful to the way He works in you

The road we’re traveling is straight and its narrow
But He’ll direct you like the bow directs the arrow
And He will give you success
And if you doubt that the Lord is a giver
Just remember all the children in your quiver
Then you will know you’ve been blessed
Only the Lord’s gonna give you rest
Only the Lord’s gonna give you rest
Only the Lord’s gonna give you rest
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The Lord Will Redeem All Our Years

Our journey well under way, singing the goodness of the Lord, we are glad, full of joy. But all the while, we are mindful that there are others who are yet far away, and we hold them in our heart. For they are part of us, and we are not complete without them. So, as we travel this pilgrim way, we pray, sowing our tears in hope of joyful reunion at journey’s end.

The Lord Will Redeem All Our Years
(Psalm 126)

When the Lord brought us back to our homeland
We were like people who dream
We had begun to believe that
It was something we never would see
And our hearts were all filled up with laughter
And our laughter was filled up with joy
And the joy inside us was singing
Of the things that were done by the Lord
Things that were done by the Lord

As the rain swells the streams of the desert
And the water brings life to the land
May the Lord look upon us from heaven
To bring life to His people again
For we’ve sown many seeds in our sorrow
And we’ve sown many seeds in our tears
But we wait for the joy of the harvest
When the Lord will redeem all our years
And the Lord will redeem all our years
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The Lord Surrounds His People

The world is a danger, but we do not travel alone — and never have. Lord Jesus has walked the road himself, on the journey he calls us to travel with him. He encircles us as the mountains encircle Jerusalem. He protects us and ensures our way. The Sons of Korah understood this very well:

Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Weeping,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion.
    (Psalm 84:5-7)

The wicked will not last. They will not withstand the Judgment of Christ and the Cross. He will not put up with them forever; the Consuming Fire of God’s Love will complete its work in them until each one appears before God in Zion, whose gates are never shut.

The Lord Surrounds His People
(Psalm 125)

The world is a danger, the timid overtaken
Cry out like children in the night when they awaken
Those trusting in the Lord will not be shaken
But we’ll be standing when the Lord surrounds His people

Wicked men come with evil infection
And try to lead us in the wrong direction
The Lord will keep us in His circle of protection
And none will harm us when the Lord surrounds His people

Some will slip away and think they’re being clever
And be surprised He won’t put up with them forever
But every true believer He will treasure
And we’ll continue as the Lord surrounds His people
© 2001 by Jeff Doles 

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

If The Lord Was Not With Us

Sometimes it is the anger and pride of others who would entangle us in their arrogance, foolishness and deceit. Sometimes it is our own anger and pride that would trip us up and enslave us to the passions we have so easily learned to accommodate. But the Lord is faithful, and with us to deliver us, and so we learn to abide, even amid all the dangers and snares we may encounter on our journey.

If The Lord Was Not With Us
(Psalm 124)

Now when men rose against us
In their fury and pride
We would surely be swallowed alive
If the Lord was not with us
Standing right by our side
In the name of the Maker
Of heaven and earth we’ll abide

O their anger was rising
Rising up on that day
And the raging flood would have washed us away
If the Lord was not with us
Standing right by our side
In the name of the Maker
Of heaven and earth we’ll abide

And the fowler was waiting
And preparing his snare
Thanks be given to God, Who was there
For the trap has been broken
It held us in vain
In the name of the Maker
Of heaven and earth we’ll remain
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Our Eyes Look Up To You

With repentance, hope, and the prospect of returning to the heart of  God — the fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit — and so be properly aligned with everyone and everything, and at peace within ourselves, it is renewal we now seek. We learn to offer up our ways and our days, that they may be filled with God. For we have had enough of the twisted ways of the world, which drain our days dry. We long to be free of their grip.

Our Eyes Look Up To You
(Psalm 123)

We are servants of the Lord
Our eyes look up to You
Send forth Your word once more
The people of Your covenant renew

O Maker of our days
We make our life Your home
We offer up our ways
And lift our eyes to You upon the throne

Have mercy on us, Lord
And conquer every part
Of everything that seeks
To rule within our hearts
Our eyes look up to You

We are servants of the Lord
And waiting at Your hand
We pray that we might see
The glory of Your name throughout our land

Have mercy on us, Lord
And conquer every part
Of everything that seeks
To rule within our hearts
Our eyes look up to You
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The House of the Lord

Having begun in repentance, and with our eyes lifted up in hope, there is now joy at the invitation to go up to the true home of the heart, the House of the Lord. We have been here before. We were born for it. It is inherent to our being. Though we may have often departed from it, it has never departed from us. It has remained in us as our longing — and our belonging. And now we remember, and now we rejoice. For the House of the Lord is not only our dwelling place in God; it is God dwelling us — in the fellowship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The House of the Lord
(Psalm 122)

I was so glad when they said,
“Let us go up to the House of the Lord”
I was so glad when they said,
“Let us go up to the house of the Lord”
You and I are the House of the Lord
He shall dwell in our praise
He shall dwell in our praise
And see His love displayed

Well, I looked down and I saw my feet
Within the walls of the House of the Lord
I looked down and I saw my feet
Within the walls of the House of the Lord
Let us give thanks to the Lord
He shall dwell in our praise
He shall dwell in our praise
And see His love displayed

Pray, pray, pray
Pray for the peace of the House of the Lord
Pray, pray, pray
Pray for the peace of the House of the Lord

You and I are the House of the Lord
He shall dwell in our praise
He shall dwell in our praise
And see His love displayed
He’ll see His love displayed
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms project is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

My Help Comes From the Lord

Having begun in repentance (see Too Long Living In A Land With No Peace), the journey of The Pilgrim Psalms proceeds to having hope, the lifting up of the head. Looking to the source of our help. Looking to our heart’s true home, which is in God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Feels a little bit Reggae to me.

My Help Comes from the Lord
(Psalm 121)

I lift my eyes to the hills
Where does my help come from
My help comes from the Lord
Not from the idols on the hills
They cannot save themselves
My help comes from the Lord

He don’t sleep, He don’t slumber
I know that He won’t let me go under
He is the maker of lightning and thunder
I lift my eyes to the Lord

He will keep me on the way
And He will not let them harm me
My help comes from the Lord
In the night and in the day
My comings and my goings
My help comes from the Lord

He don’t sleep, He don’t slumber
I know that He won’t let me go under
He is the maker of lightning and thunder
I lift my eyes to the Lord

And in a world that is filled with upheaval
I know that He will keep me from evil
He is the watcher over His people
I lift my eyes to the Lord
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Too Long Living in a Land with No Peace

As we enter the season of Lent, it is very like the journey of The Pilgrim Psalms. It begins in repentance, an awareness that we have for too long been living in a land with no peace, among a people and a culture that offers no peace. It is a recognition of the distance the heart has come from its true home, and a longing to return once again.

Too Long (Psalm 120)

Too long, too long
I've been living in a land with no peace
Too long, too long
Living in a land with no peace
I cried out to the Lord to rescue me
It’s been too long

Too long, too long
I've been living with these lying tongues
Too long, too long
Living with my own lying tongue
I cried out to the Lord to rescue me
It’s been too long

They think I’m crazy
And they look at me oddly
When I turn and walk away
Maybe I am crazy
But I just want to be godly
And I can't stay another day

It’s been too long, too long
Living in a land with no peace
Too long, too long
You’re looking at a man with no peace
I cried out to the Lord to rescue me
It’s been too long
© 2001 by Jeff Doles

The Pilgrim Psalms is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

The Pilgrim Psalms Project

This is a project that has been a long time coming. I began writing it over 30 years ago, and it has been in studio production over the past two years. And now, thanks to my brother, Greg Doles, who prodded and poked and cajoled me into bringing to completion what I had begun so long ago, and to his amazing skills and instincts as a record producer and soundsmith, as well as being a musician and songwriter himself, and thanks to the generosity and artistic genius of so many musicians and vocalist friends and family — fine players all — I am delighted to announce that it is now complete.

The Pilgrim Psalms is a collection of 15 songs based on Psalms 120-134, the “Songs of Ascent.” It was first inspired not only by the psalms themselves, but also by Eugene Peterson’s book on them, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. These psalms describe a pilgrimage. They are thought to have been sung by Israelites making their way up to Jerusalem for the three great festivals: Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The journey begins from far away, in homesickness and repentance. It ends in Jerusalem, at the Holy Temple, with all worshiping the Lord together, one in heart and mind. For these “road songs,” the psalms they have sung along the way, have brought them together, refocusing their hearts toward the Lord and each other. And it is for us today, as the people of Christ, as we learn to travel together, becoming of one mind and heart with our Lord Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so shall we find ourselves standing within the New Jerusalem, the Holy City, and heavenly, whose gates are never shut. Come join the journey!

The Pilgrim Psalms is now streaming at Amazon Music, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Spotify, and wherever you enjoy music. It is also available for download at Amazon and iTunes.

Many thanks to the singers and musicians, whose fine talents and generous spirit have added so greatly to the whole project, lifting it above and beyond what I had dared to hope when I first began. So, in addition to my own vocals and acoustic guitar are:

• Backing Vocals by Greg Doles, Jon Doles, Heather Doles, Kwando Lynch, Christina Chang, Latora Desue and Stephanie Robinson
• Keyboards by Gary Ripple and Tracy Collins
  
• Drums by Max Billingsly and David Lynch
• Bass by Doug Matthews and Dave Murphy
• Electric Guitar by Hart Hogan and Jeff Jackson
• Cello by Mark Ford

 Thank you all very much!