LHC Midday Word: PSALM Sixty

For the director of music.

To the tune of ‘The Lily of the Covenant’.

A miktam of David. For teaching.

When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah,

and when Joab returned

and struck down twelve thousand Edomites

in the Valley of Salt.

You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;

you have been angry – now restore us!

You have shaken the land and torn it open;

mend its fractures, for it is quaking.

You have shown your people desperate times;

you have given us wine that makes us stagger.

But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner

to be unfurled against the bow.

Save us and help us with your right hand,

that those you love may be delivered.

God has spoken from his sanctuary:

‘In triumph I will parcel out Shechem

and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.

Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim is my helmet,

Judah is my sceptre.

Moab is my washbasin,

on Edom I toss my sandal;

over Philistia I shout in triumph.’

Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us

and no longer go out with our armies?

Give us aid against the enemy,

for human help is worthless.

With God we shall gain the victory,

and he will trample down our enemies.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 60 : “fractures” (v.2)

God’s people at times act badly, as if drunk (see v.3). Twice David admits they have been “rejected” (vv.1 & 10), but from the very outset of this Psalm he pleads with the Lord, “now restore us!” (v.1). Graphic phrases reveal his awareness of the “desperate times” (v.3) that Israel is going through.

The situation is compared to the ravages of an earthquake : “you have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking” (v.2).

There’s a saying ‘no need to fix what’s not broken’. When upheavals occur and gaping cracks appear, however, we know who can “mend” such failure. Jesus!

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READING

Psalm Sixty

Read by David Suchet