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Psalm 60:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 60:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 60[a]
Prayer To End Wars
1 For the director.[b] According to “The Lily of. . . .” A miktam of David (for teaching), 2 when he fought against Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah; and when Joab, coming back, slew twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
3 O God, you have turned away from us
and left us defenseless.
Although your anger was aroused,
now come to our aid.
Footnotes
- Psalm 60:1 God responds to the supplication of the nation of Israel, which is suffering because it has neglected the covenant. The cry of a holy war sounds forth. God mobilizes Israel from one end to the other (vv. 8-9) to wreak judgment on enemy territory—one feels as if carried back to the time of the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan. After the Exile, this psalm could have been chanted during a penitential liturgy. Verses 7-14 are also found in Ps 108 as verses 7-14.
The military casualties and temporal disasters of ancient Israel typify the spiritual disasters that the Church, the new Israel, sometimes suffers. In union with Christ, her risen Head, the Church directs this supplication to the Father in critical moments of her history. - Psalm 60:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation. According to “The Lily of . . .”: its meaning is unknown. Miktam: see note on Ps 16:1. The superscription refers to events that are found in 2 Sam 8:1; 1 Chr 18. However, the accounts make no mention of Edom or of the fact that David’s forces met stiff resistance (vv. 3-5) and even a temporary defeat (v. 11f). The Valley of Salt is unknown (see 2 Sam 8:13).
