They scream. We hear our voices raised
as in the singing of a Psalm: The Lord of Glory,
who is he? Ev’n that same Lord that great in might
and strong in battle is. 1 So the Scottish psalter says.
Men’s voices take deep descant on repeat,
And strong in battle is. A boast like Lamech’s: 2
I saw a child, I took him down; one shot
was enough. So shall you deal with Amalek.
Prayers For Others: someone in the church
prays with embarrassment for ‘places where
… people face difficulties’. A forced march
through the killing fields, Rafah to Jabalia.
How after this to sing the songs of Zion; 3
to listen to the faithful pray, Kyrie eleison.
1 Psalm 24 in the Scottish Metrical Psalter.
2 Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
wives of Lamech, hear my words.
I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for injuring me.
If Cain is avenged seven times,
then Lamech seventy-seven times.”
Genesis 4, vv 23,24.
3 From Psalm 137. It ends with:
Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.
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