Read
(For the music leader. To the tune “Lily of the Promise.” A special psalm by David for teaching. He wrote it during his wars with the Arameans of northern Syria, when Joab came back and killed twelve thousand Edomites in Salt Valley.)
You Can Depend on God
1 You, God, are angry with us!
We are rejected and crushed.
Make us strong again!
2You made the earth shake
and split wide open;
now heal its wounds
and stop its trembling.
3You brought hard times
on your people,
and you gave us wine
that made us stagger.
4You gave a signal to those
who worship you,
so they could escape
from enemy arrows.
5Answer our prayers, God!
Use your powerful arm
and give us victory.
Then the people you love
will be safe.
6Our God, you solemnly promised,
“I would gladly divide up
the city of Shechem
and give away Succoth Valley
piece by piece.
7The lands of Gilead
and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is my war helmet,
and Judah is the symbol
of my royal power.
8Moab is merely my washbasin.
Edom belongs to me,
and I shout in triumph
over the Philistines.”
9Our God, who will bring me
to the fortress,
or lead me to Edom?
10Have you rejected us
and deserted our armies?
11Help us defeat our enemies!
No one else can rescue us.
12You will give us victory
and crush our enemies.
Reflect
Have you ever given everything to fighting a battle, only to be ambushed by an unexpected attack from a different source?
Scholars link Psalm 60 to a series of military campaigns described in 2 Samuel 8. But where the Samuel passage has a victorious tone, Psalm 60 seems to have been written at a particularly desperate moment. Israel’s focus on a battle with Aram to the north has made her vulnerable to her enemies in the south, and Edom has launched a surprise attack on Judah.
The Israelites are bewildered. They’ve been sure God was with them, and now he’s nowhere to be seen. In The Message translation by Eugene Peterson, verse 10 reads, “You’re not giving up on us, are you, God?”
It’s significant that such a deeply ambivalent psalm was used repeatedly as a national prayer of lament in the confusion of battle. (The introduction notes that it is a “A special psalm by David for teaching,” and verses 5-12 are echoed again in Psalm 108:6-13). Evidently a syndrome of victory in one area followed by ambush in another was all too familiar.
This is a pattern to which we spiritual descendants of Israel can relate. We give our all to managing a crisis to the north, only to have an unrelated relationship go south. Or we successfully overcome an addiction in one area and discover we’ve developed a new vice in another. Blindsided, crashing from the high of victory to the despair of defeat, we wonder where God has gone.
In times of bewilderment, Psalm 60 can help us voice the confusion and, in due course, to arrive at a place of dependence on God even – especially – when we don’t understand what he’s up to. “Give us help with the hard task,” we can pray, “human help is worthless” (v.11, The Message).
Respond
Almighty God. When things are going well, it’s easy to take your help for granted, or to trick myself into thinking it’s really me that has things under control. But when things go south, I am reminded again that all my own efforts really are worthless without you. Help me to trust you even when I don’t understand what’s going on. I ask for your victory in my life, on your terms and in your time. Please give me courage as I wait. Amen.
Carolyn Arends
Carolyn Arends (MA, Theological Studies, Regent College), has released 12 award-winning albums and 3 critically-acclaimed books. Her prose has been recognized by The Word Guild, The Evangelical Press Association, and the Canadian Church Press. Carolyn is currently the Director of Education for Renovaré, a far-reaching organization that encourages and nurtures spiritual renewal. She continues to be available on a select basis for speaking, retreat facilitation, concerts, worship leading and songwriting and performance seminars. She lives in Surrey, BC with her husband Mark and their two children. Book Releases 2012 Theology in Aisle 7 (CTE Books) 2008 Wrestling With Angels (Harvest House/ConversantLife)* Album Releases 2014 Christmas: The Story of Stories (2B Records), 2009 Love Was Here First (2B Records/Signpost Music).