LHC Midday Word: PSALM Sixty

Friday, 19 December 2025

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.

1
You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
    you have been angry – now restore us!
2
You have shaken the land and torn it open;
    mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3
You have shown your people desperate times;
    you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4
But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
    to be unfurled against the bow.
5
Save us and help us with your right hand,
    that those you love may be delivered.
6
God has spoken from his sanctuary:
    ‘In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
7
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah is my sceptre.
8
Moab is my washbasin,
    on Edom I toss my sandal;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.’
9
Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
10
Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
    and no longer go out with our armies?
11
Give us aid against the enemy,
    for human help is worthless.
12
With God we shall gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies.