Deliver me, a contemporary adaptation of Psalms 140 by Rabbi Brant Rosen (2019) • the Open Siddur Project

Tags: 21st century C.E., 58th century A.M., English vernacular prayer, paraliturgical Psalms 140, Psalms 140, United States, תחינות teḥinot

Excerpt: Psalms 140 decries the injustice tolerated, supported, and rallied around within the community of Israel. This contemporary adaptation does the same. . . .

Content:

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	oh lord deliver me from my people who wield their weapons with impunity whose armies rain bombs on the imprisoned whose apologists equate oppressor and oppressed who punish resistance without mercy.
	keep me from those who speak so easily of two sides of dual narratives of complexities and coexistence those who call submission peace and lawless laws justice who never tire of intoning never again even as they commit crimes again and again who have forsaken every lesson they’ve learned from their own history and their own sacred heritage.
	like jacob i have dreamed fearful dreams i have struggled in the night i have limped pitifully across the river and now like jacob in my last dying breath i have nothing left but to curse my own whose tools are tools of lawlessness who maim refugees who dare dream of return and send bombs upon the desperate for the crime of fighting back.
	so send me away from this people this tortured fallen assembly keep me far from their council count me not among their ranks i can abide them no longer.

Rabbi Brant Rosen’s contemporary adaptation of Psalms 140, “psalm 140: deliver me,” was first published on his blog on 5 May 2019.

Featured Image:

Title: Gaza bombardment 29 July 2014
Caption: Gaza bombardment 29 July 2014 (EPA via BBC News)