The hymn New Songs of Celebration Render was composed by Erik (or Eric) Routley and is based on Psalms 98. Below is an expert of Psalms 98.
Psalm 98:1- “A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.”
Here is the YOUTUBE VIDEO
The lyricist for “New Songs of Celebration Render,” Erik (or Eric) Routley (1917-1982) was inspired by the second of two 16th Century Calvinist hymns set to this music. The first setting (1551) was inspired by Psalm 118. Verse 22 of this Psalm is, in KJV parlance- “The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” Very interesting! The second setting (1562) was based on Psalm 98. The elusive lyricist Mr. Routley (Hymnary.org has no biographical data on him) was similarly faithful to the Genevan Psalter prototype. Hymnary.org could have easily consulted Wikipedia to learn the following about Erik Routley…
“Erik (or Eric) Routley (/ˈraʊtli/; 31 October 1917 – 8 October 1982) was an English Congregational minister, composer and musicologist. He was educated at Lancing College and Magdalen and Mansfield Colleges in Oxford. He was chaplain of Mansfield from 1948 to 1959 and then held appointments as minister in Edinburgh and Newcastle before becoming Professor of Church Music at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey in 1975.”
Any Englishmen who was born in 1917 was foreordained to serve in WWII. You can find out more about Routley HERE, but his wartime record remains a mystery. As a Congregationalist, he may, or may not have been a pacifist. “To each his own” could serve as the motto for this denomination, one based on the ideas of theologian and English separatist Robert Browne. The Mayflower was lousy with Brownists.
Data from Hymnary.org regarding the composer of the tune (one designated “Rendez a Dieu”) utilized for this hymn- “Loys ‘Louis’ Bourgeois (1510 – 1559) was a French composer and music theorist of the Renaissance. He is most famous as one of the main compilers of Calvinist hymn tunes in the middle of the 16th century. One of the most famous melodies in all of Christendom, the Protestant doxology known as the Old 100th, is commonly attributed to him.” Ubiquitous Old 100th is the 694th and 695th entries in the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal.
References
https://homemadegospel.org