Wherewith shall I come?

Introduction

John Michael Murray was one of my chess pupils. At the age of 15 he died in an accident at his home. He was a member of a very special family, as testified by this obituary in The Times Educational Supplement (Scotland).

One of the readings at his funeral was the much‐loved text of Micah 6:6–8. In the days after the funeral I composed a short anthem in his memory on the words of that reading. It was graciously received by his family.

Audio

This is a synthesized rendering of the anthem.

Words

Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?
Wherewith shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the high God?
(Repeat)

Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves of a year old?
Will the Lord be pleasèd with thousands of rams,
or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my first‐born for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good;
And what doth the Lord require of thee,
But to do justly,
And to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with thy God?

Printed score

The musical score is openly licensed via CC BY‐NC‐ND 4.0. Broadly that means you are welcome, free of charge, to download, print and perform the score, and to share it unadapted (as pdf, or as a paper copy), for non‐commercial purposes. If you perform it in public, please mention that it was written in John Michael’s memory.