40 Days of Chant, Psalm 7 and Coltrane Changes

As I read Psalm 7 this morning, John Coltranes Giant Steps came to mind.  I have loved his composition for a long time because it is both beautiful and has an edge at the same time.  It's like an Imperial Stout that has a deep rich malty flavor with just a hint of alcohol burn.  The chant below is not a direct quote of Giant Steps by any means.  However, it is inspired by the chromatic mediant relationships that Coltrane used.  It's probably the hardest one to sing that I have written so far, but I think it catches the beauty and edge of this psalm.

1 O Lord my God, I take refuge in you; *

     save and deliver me from all who pursue me;

2 Lest like a lion they tear me in pieces *

     and snatch me away with none to deliver me.

3 O Lord my God, if I have done these things: *

     if there is any wickedness in my hands,

4 If I have repaid my friend with evil, *

     or plundered him who without cause is my enemy;

5 Then let my enemy pursue and overtake me, *

     trample my life into the ground,

     and lay my honor in the dust.

6 Stand up, O Lord, in your wrath; *

     rise up against the fury of my enemies.

7 Awake, O my God, decree justice; *

     let the assembly of the peoples gather round you.

8 Be seated on your lofty throne, O Most High; *

     O Lord, judge the nations.

9 Give judgment for me according to my righteousness, O Lord, *

     and according to my innocence, O Most High.

10 Let the malice of the wicked come to an end,

     but establish the righteous; *

     for you test the mind and heart,

     O righteous God.

11 God is my shield and defense; *

     he is the savior of the true in heart.

12 God is a righteous judge; *

     God sits in judgment every day.

13 If they will not repent, God will whet his sword; *

     he will bend his bow and make it ready.

14 He has prepared his weapons of death; *

     he makes his arrows shafts of fire.

15 Look at those who are in labor with wickedness, *

     who conceive evil, and give birth to a lie.

16 They dig a pit and make it deep *

     and fall into the hole that they have made.

17 Their malice turns back upon their own head; *

     their violence falls on their own scalp.

18 I will bear witness that the Lord is righteous; *

     I will praise the Name of the Lord Most High