A Rewriting of Psalm 10

This week is where many have wanted to #burnitalldown.

1 Where the fuck are you, God,
hiding yourself in these days?
2 The mediocre white men grin from the bench,
taunting everyone who is in pain.
Let them get caught
in the very same mess they’ve created.

3 Those mediocre white men brag about their conquests;
they are hungry for power, and they’ve turned you into an
idol.
4 In their fits of yelling and grandstanding,
they’re not looking for God:
There is no God — that’s what they are always thinking.

5 Their ways are messed up.
They twist, manipulate, and break your teachings.
They think they can violate us again and again.
6 They think to themselves,
We have the “power”, and
“It will always be this way.”

7 Their faces are twisted
with rage, self-pity, and hate.
They scream and shout about
how they’re the victim and how they’ve been destroyed.

8 They want to wield all of the power;
saying they’re nice people, they’re friends with women
yet they’re the ones who destroy innocent people;
they prey on the unsuspecting and then laugh at their
expense.

9 They’re preparing, those mediocre white men
from their offices, their chambers,
ready lash out.
They’ve played nice and charming
so they can find the “right” victims.
Then they attacked,
dragging their victims up the stairs, into stalls, into alleys.
10 Their victims are devastated;
wondering, “Who can I tell, who can help me, will I ever be
okay?”

11 The attackers think to themselves:
God has forgotten.
God’s not even here.
No one will ever know!
12 Wake the fuck up, God!
Wake everyone the fuck up, God!
Don’t forget us!

13 These people on the bench are playing God?
They are fooling themselves
thinking that you won’t really know?
14 But you do know!
You do see our tears and our testimonies,
and you do something about it!
We’re telling our stories, God.
You’re amplifying our voices.

15 Take those smug looks
off their faces.
Let them lose
their precious votes.
16 We know who our God is
and it sure as hell isn’t based in patriotism.

17 God, you’re hearing our testimonies
ones we’ve said out loud and to ourselves.
You give us strength when our voices tremble;
we will be heard.
18 You are a God of justice
for those putting their lives and bodies back together,
so that we won’t continue to live
in perpetual fear.