For the choir director: A psalm of David useful for teaching, regarding the time David fought Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and killed 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. To be sung to the tune “Lily of the Testimony.”

¹You have rejected us, O God, and broken our defenses.

You have been angry with us; now restore us to your favor.

²You have shaken our land and split it open.

Seal the cracks, for the land trembles.

³You have been very hard on us,

making us drink wine that sent us reeling.

⁴But you have raised a banner for those who fear you—

a rallying point in the face of attack.

Interlude

⁵Now rescue your beloved people.

Answer and save us by your power.

⁶God has promised this by his holiness:

“I will divide up Shechem with joy.

I will measure out the valley of Succoth.

⁷Gilead is mine,

and Manasseh, too.

Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors,

and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.

⁸But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant,

and I will wipe my feet on Edom

and shout in triumph over Philistia.”

⁹Who will bring me into the fortified city?

Who will bring me victory over Edom?

¹⁰Have you rejected us, O God?

Will you no longer march with our armies?

¹¹Oh, please help us against our enemies,

for all human help is useless.

¹²With God’s help we will do mighty things,

for he will trample down our foes.

Psalm 61

For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by stringed instruments.

¹O God, listen to my cry!

Hear my prayer!

²From the ends of the earth,

I cry to you for help

when my heart is overwhelmed.

Lead me to the towering rock of safety,

³for you are my safe refuge,

a fortress where my enemies cannot reach me.

⁴Let me live forever in your sanctuary,

safe beneath the shelter of your wings!

Interlude

⁵For you have heard my vows, O God.

You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name.

⁶Add many years to the life of the king!

May his years span the generations!

⁷May he reign under God’s protection forever.

May your unfailing love and faithfulness watch over him.

⁸Then I will sing praises to your name forever

as I fulfill my vows each day.

Psalm 62

For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of David.

¹I wait quietly before God,

for my victory comes from him.

²He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress where I will never be shaken.

³So many enemies against one man—

all of them trying to kill me.

To them I’m just a broken-down wall

or a tottering fence.

⁴They plan to topple me from my high position.

They delight in telling lies about me.

They praise me to my face

but curse me in their hearts.

Interlude

⁵Let all that I am wait quietly before God,

for my hope is in him.

⁶He alone is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress where I will not be shaken.

⁷My victory and honor come from God alone.

He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

⁸O my people, trust in him at all times.

Pour out your heart to him,

for God is our refuge.

Interlude

⁹Common people are as worthless as a puff of wind,

and the powerful are not what they appear to be.

If you weigh them on the scales,

together they are lighter than a breath of air.

¹⁰Don’t make your living by extortion

or put your hope in stealing.

And if your wealth increases,

don’t make it the center of your life.

¹¹God has spoken plainly,

and I have heard it many times:

Power, O God, belongs to you;

¹²unfailing love, O Lord, is yours.

Surely you repay all people

according to what they have done.

Read in Logos