Psalm 59-61

The Message

^3-4 Desperadoes have ganged up on me,
    they’re hiding in ambush for me.
I did nothing to deserve this, God,
    crossed no one, wronged no one.
All the same, they’re after me,
    determined to get me.

^4-5 Wake up and see for yourself! You’re God,
    God-of-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God!
Get on the job and take care of these pagans,
    don’t be soft on these hard cases.

^6-7     They return when the sun goes down,
    They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.
    Then suddenly they’re all at the gate,
    Snarling invective, drawn daggers in their teeth.
    They think they’ll never get caught.

^8-10 But you, God, break out laughing;
    you treat the godless nations like jokes.
Strong God, I’m watching you do it,
    I can always count on you.
God in dependable love shows up on time,
    shows me my enemies in ruin.

^11-13 Don’t make quick work of them, God,
    lest my people forget.
Bring them down in slow motion,
    take them apart piece by piece.
Let all their mean-mouthed arrogance
    catch up with them,
Catch them out and bring them down
    —every muttered curse
    —every barefaced lie.
Finish them off in fine style!
    Finish them off for good!
Then all the world will see
    that God rules well in Jacob,
    everywhere that God’s in charge.

^14-15     They return when the sun goes down,
    They howl like coyotes, ringing the city.
    They scavenge for bones,
    And bite the hand that feeds them.

^16-17 And me? I’m singing your prowess,
    shouting at dawn your largesse,
For you’ve been a safe place for me,
    a good place to hide.
Strong God, I’m watching you do it,
    I can always count on you—
    God, my dependable love.
60 ^1-2 God! you walked off and left us,
    kicked our defenses to bits
And stomped off angry.
    Come back. Oh please, come back!

You shook earth to the foundations,
    ripped open huge crevasses.
Heal the breaks! Everything’s
    coming apart at the seams.

^3-5 You made your people look doom in the face,
    then gave us cheap wine to drown our troubles.
Then you planted a flag to rally your people,
    an unfurled flag to look to for courage.
Now do something quickly, answer right now,
    so the one you love best is saved.

^6-8 That’s when God spoke in holy splendor,
    “Bursting with joy,
I make a present of Shechem,
    I hand out Succoth Valley as a gift.
Gilead’s in my pocket,
    to say nothing of Manasseh.
Ephraim’s my hard hat,
    Judah my hammer;
Moab’s a scrub bucket,
    I mop the floor with Moab,
Spit on Edom,
    rain fireworks all over Philistia.”

^9-10 Who will take me to the thick of the fight?
    Who’ll show me the road to Edom?
You aren’t giving up on us, are you, God?
    refusing to go out with our troops?

^11-12 Give us help for the hard task;
    human help is worthless.
In God we’ll do our very best;
    he’ll flatten the opposition for good.
61 ^1-2 God, listen to me shout,
    bend an ear to my prayer.
When I’m far from anywhere,
    down to my last gasp,
I call out, “Guide me
    up High Rock Mountain!”

^3-5 You’ve always given me breathing room,
    a place to get away from it all,
A lifetime pass to your safe-house,
    an open invitation as your guest.
You’ve always taken me seriously, God,
    made me welcome among those who know and love you.

^6-8 Let the days of the king add up
    to years and years of good rule.
Set his throne in the full light of God;
    post Steady Love and Good Faith as lookouts,
And I’ll be the poet who sings your glory—
    and live what I sing every day.