As we gear up for the COS 2011 New Psalm Contest, we continue to use songs submitted to last year’s contest. On July 31, we sang David Lee’s setting of Psalm 17, “Hear, Lord, My Cry for Justice.” This responsive Psalm is a great example of how the Psalms can be enlivened when sung.

Psalm 17 is full of sentiments that are difficult on first reading. David (the Psalmist, not the composer) sets up his own innocence (“if you test me, you will find no wickedness in me”) against his persecutors’ deceit (“with their mouths they speak arrogantly”; “The track me down…like a young lion lurking in ambush”), then calls on God for vengeance (“Rise up, O Lord…by your sword deliver my life from the wicked.”). Not easy for the modern reader.

But David (the composer, not the Psalmist) helps us dig into the text with his musical setting. He draws on a jazz ballad style to create a sense of tension and pleading. That allows us to hear this Psalm as a prayer of desperation rather than a self-righteous defense. Suddenly, we can put ourselves in the Psalmist’s sandals, remembering the times we have been wronged or praying this Psalm on behalf of the persecuted innocents around the world.

Hear for yourself: MP3