Cyber-Psalm 4.0 is an evening prayer I composed a couple months ago to the Celtic air “Mary, Young and Fair.”

Here’s a midi version of “Mary Young and Fair.” Although the melody is slightly different from what I’m used to. Eventually I’d like to put recordings up for all the sung Cyber-Psalms. The vocal range is quite challenging!

When we were living in the village, nightfall was quite dramatic in the sense that our entire valley became very dark. We had solar panels and batteries to provide lights but everywhere else the only lights were fires, the stars and during part of the month the moon. We often felt vulnerable at night. This psalm reflects some of that vulnerability and the desire to have God protect us in the night. Living in the modern age it is hard to imagine that there are people in the world who fear things lurking in the dark outside their homes. But I imagine that is probably true for many people. I know that when we could hear drums beating in the distance and the shouts of people involved in invocations to dead ancestors, we would sometimes feel uneasy in the night. Thus the part of the prayer that says “surround us with your angels” is a sincere desire for spiritual protection from malignant forces. The coming of day is a relief from these fears and a good time for a morning prayer of thanks for protection as well as dedication of our lives in the Lord’s service.

I wonder if those of living in the developed world are unaffected by the insecurity of darkness at night or whether our homes provide us a sense of protection.