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(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,[a] when Joab came back and killed twelve thousand Edomites[b] in Salt Valley.)

You Can Depend on God

(A) You, God, are angry with us!
We are rejected and crushed.
    Make us strong again!
You made the earth shake
    and split wide open;
now heal its wounds
    and stop its trembling.
You brought hard times
    on your people,
and you gave us wine
    that made us stagger.

You gave a signal to those
    who worship you,
so they could escape
    from enemy arrows.[c]
Answer our prayers, God!
Use your powerful arm
    and give us victory.
Then the people you love
    will be safe.

Our God, you solemnly promised,
“I would gladly divide up
    the city of Shechem
and give away Succoth Valley
    piece by piece.
The lands of Gilead
    and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is my war helmet,
and Judah is the symbol
    of my royal power.
Moab is merely my washbasin.
    Edom belongs to me,
and I shout in triumph
    over the Philistines.”

Our God, who will bring me
to the fortress,
    or lead me to Edom?
10 Have you rejected us
    and deserted our armies?
11 Help us defeat our enemies!
    No one else can rescue us.
12 You will give us victory
    and crush our enemies.

(A psalm by David for the music leader. Use with stringed instruments.)

Under the Protection of God

Please listen, God,
    and answer my prayer!
I feel hopeless,
and I cry out to you
    from a faraway land.

Lead me to the mighty rock[d]
    high above me.
You are a strong tower,
where I am safe
    from my enemies.

Let me live with you forever
and find protection
    under your wings, my God.
You heard my promises,
    and you have blessed me,
just as you bless everyone
    who worships you.

Let the king have a long
    and healthy life.
May he always rule
    with you, God, at his side;
may your love and loyalty
    watch over him.

I will sing your praises
forever, God, and will always
    keep my promises.

(A psalm by David for Jeduthun, the music leader.)

God Is Powerful and Kind

Only God can save me,
    and I calmly wait for[e] him.
God alone is the mighty rock[f]
    that keeps me safe
and the fortress
    where I am secure.

I feel like a shaky fence
    or a sagging wall.
How long will all of you
    attack and assault me?
You want to bring me down
    from my place of honor.
You love to tell lies,
and when your words are kind,
    hatred hides in your heart.

Only God gives inward peace,
    and I depend on him.
God alone is the mighty rock
    that keeps me safe,
and he is the fortress
    where I feel secure.
God saves me and honors me.
He is that mighty rock
    where I find safety.

Trust God, my friends,
    and always tell him
each of your concerns.
    God is our place of safety.

We humans are only a breath;
    none of us are truly great.
All of us together weigh less
    than a puff of air.
10 Don't trust in violence
or depend on dishonesty
    or rely on great wealth.

11 I heard God say two things:
“I am powerful,
12     (B) and I am very kind.”
The Lord rewards each of us
    according to what we do.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 60 wars … Syria: See 2 Samuel 8.3-8; 10.16-18; 1 Chronicles 18.3-11; 19.6-19.
  2. Psalm 60 killed … Edomites: See 2 Samuel 8.13; 1 Chronicles 18.12.
  3. 60.4 so … arrows: Some ancient translations and one possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
  4. 61.2 mighty rock: See the note at 18.2.
  5. 62.1 calmly wait for: Or “am at peace with.”
  6. 62.2 mighty rock: See the note at 18.2.

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