I’ve sounded Google every few months for the answer to a question that has nagged at me for more than twenty years, and now I’m going to turn it around and leave the question on my blog to see if it turns up in the search results of someone else who knows the answer.
Back when Margaret and I lived in New Haven in the 80s, I listened to a gospel radio show on a community station (maybe “Gospel Express,” I’m not sure). One of the songs I heard that made a big impression on me was a mass-choir performance of a song whose refrain mashed up Psalm 34 with Hebrews 11:25. As best I recall the lyrics, they went something like
I’ve decided I’m gonna live holy
I’ve decided I’m gonna live right
I’ve counted the cost, made up my mind
I’m gonna live for Christ
Now living holy in this world means suffering
But that’s all, that’s all right
’Cause I’d rather suffer
I’d rather suffer the pains and afflictions
Than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season
I’d rather suffer the pains and afflictions of the righteous
If someone recognises this, I’d be tickled if you could point me to the source. Obviously the lyrics draw heavily on precedents from the Bible and earlier gospel figures, but I appreciated the choir’s performance, the tempo, the intensity of the lead singer, and overall effect of the scriptural/musical confection.