Psalm 69 reimagined

David gave this psalm to the Choir Director to be arranged for singing to the tune called “Lilies”.

I am drowning, Creator – please rescue me.
The water is getting deeper and the mud is getting thicker. My feet cannot get a grip and it’s tough to catch a breath.
I am at my wit’s end and the stress has drained me. I have pleaded so much, I am all cried out. I need you to help me, Creator.
The number of people who despise me keeps increasing – the animosity is overwhelming. The things they accuse me of are unbelievable. They insist that I right wrongs which I did not commit.

My Creator, you know me – my stupidity and my faults.
Please ensure that your followers are not embarrassed by my behaviour, you who are the Boss and command all creation’s forces. May I not make them feel deflated, our Creator.
I am experiencing ongoing ridicule because I follow you and everyone can see my loss of face.
Even my closest family avoid contact with me, ignoring our history together.

I am completely preoccupied with being in your presence and I am offended by the way you are ridiculed.
They taunt me because I grieve over the hurt that I have caused you.
I am teased for my self-doubts and for the tears I shed when I fail you.
I am the butt of all the local tittle-tattle and even the drunks parody me.

I implore you Lord to show me your kindness. You love me with an inexhaustible love, Creator – please come and rescue me. Give me your liberation.
Put me on a firm foundation so that I do not continue to sink deeper. Free me from my opponents and lift me out of those torrents.
Don’t let me be submerged by the incoming tide or swamped by the floods. Remove the threat of death.

Please hear my requests and respond, Lord remembering your amazing and inexhaustible love. Your compassion runs deep, so please come to my aid.
Don’t be distant from your committed follower but respond to me because my hardships are overwhelming.
Liberate me from my opponents.

My adversaries are doing all they can to ridicule me. I am humiliated and held in contempt.
I am a shadow of my former self and have lost all hope. Can’t a single friend come alongside me and show me some compassion?
They pretend to offer help, but I am given food from the bins and wine that has gone off.

My opponents see a turnaround in their fortunes – may their hospitality become a noose around their necks and their riches, a rod for their own backs.
May they lose their sense of direction and may their hate weaken their bodies.
Show them the anger of your justice; let your frustration eat away at their drive.
May they lose their popularity and be ostracised by those who were their friends.
They bullied those who you were already disciplining, and they dished out abuse to those already humiliated.
List down the charges against them and give them a just sentence.
May they not be listed amongst those who follow you or be remembered as being good and fair.

I am weighed down by adversity and am in distress. In your own strength, liberate me my Creator.

I will chant out the Creator’s name when he rescues me, and I will declare my gratitude to him.
The Lord will be more delighted with this than if I give away most of my income and offer my time for acts of kindness.
The self-effacing will watch their Creator set people free and be thrilled. May those who desire his / her assistance be inspired.
The Lord pays attention to the pleas of the disadvantaged and he / she responds to his / her enslaved followers.

Sing his / her praises, all that he / she has made, both the things that are visible and those that are invisible. May the praise start with the oceans and all that lives in them.
Our Creator will liberate and restore his / her church. His / her followers will settle where he / she calls them to be.
Future generations of his / her faithful followers will know his / her calling too and those who love him / her will live under his / her protection.