Word Street: The Sixtieth Psalm – A Contemplative Reading.
Sixtieth Psalm – A Reflection – Audio
Monsignor Joji Vadakara, Vatican City
The Sixtieth Psalm is an exhortation written by David to the tune of Testimony to the Choirmaster, titled David’s battle with the Arameans of Mesopotamia and Zobah and Joab’s slaying of twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt on the way back. This is a lament. In the first part of the eighteenth chapter of Chronicles, where David’s wars are dealt with, we read of David’s defeat of the king of Zober (1 Chron. 18, 3), and of the slaying of eighteen thousand Edomites in the valley of salt (1 Chron. 18, 12). In the first chapter of 2 Samuel 10 we also see Joab fighting for David (2 Samuel 10). To understand that war was not always a place of quick victory. Therefore, in this psalm, David laments before God in a frenzy, recalling the damage caused in the war and the suffering of any natural disaster experienced by the people at that time. Even though they have to suffer punishments, the people of Israel are convinced that they are God’s people and that He cannot not love them or forsake them. He is the true helper of His people and the faithful covenant partner. The 60th Psalm makes it clear that defeats from other nations are not eternal, and that God is sovereign over all lands. David comes to the final part of the psalm with a declaration that they will fight with God and that he will trample their enemies, albeit in the style of a lament.
Failure and prayer
In the first three verses of the psalm we see the people of Israel thinking that the defeats and tragedies they suffered were due to God’s anger against them: “You have forsaken us, O God, and broken down our defenses; He was angry; Watch us! He shook the earth, He split it asunder. Fill up its cracks! It’s falling apart. You made your own people suffer; He has made us drink the wine of confusion” (Ps. 60, 1-3). As we saw in the introduction, David may have written these verses in front of the horrors of the wars he and his companions fought and the miseries they had to experience, at least temporarily. The psalmist prays, “Look upon us” when he feels that God’s wrath has risen against them (Ps. 60). , 1). David writes these verses with the conviction that, if God were with them, no one could defeat them, and that the enemy could only strike at them if he permitted it. Rather than defeat, it must have been the wrath of God that wounded David and the people. The defeat of the people shook them like an earthquake. This is the reason why he asks God to make up for the experience.
In verses four and five of the Psalm we find David pleading for victory, assured that God will not forsake them: “He hath lifted up a standard for a sign to his faithful ones to flee from the bow. Hear our prayer and save us with your right hand! Let your beloved be delivered!” (Ps. 60, 4-5). David writes these verses with the conviction that even when God takes them through the experience of suffering, He does not completely abandon them. The flag indicating the place of safety is also proof that God sent them to fight and that they are a people led by God. In the face of adversity, Israel has not lost the conviction that they are still God’s beloved. God is His people’s true hero, sure helper, and faithful partner.
God is the real ruler of the earth
Although God is the ruler of the entire earth, we can see God’s special concern for the land of Israel in verses six through nine of the Psalm. David writes like this because he saw the lands that David defeated and acquired, his great empire, and the neighboring lands as God’s own and the lands that God gave Israel as an inheritance. In these verses, David indicates that Shechem, the valley of Succoth, Gilead and Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah, Moab, Edom, and Philistia belong to God. God says that he is the true king of Israel through the expressions Ephraim is my helmet and Judah is my scepter (Ps. 60, 7). Moab is located near the Dead Sea. That’s why David writes that God says “Moab is my laver” (Ps. 60, 8). The phrase “I will loose my sandal in Edom” has to do with an ancient legal act. It referred to owning a territory. There are those who believe that these verses may have been added at a later date, given the difference in content and language from the rest of this psalm.
Mourning and taking refuge in God
In the tenth and eleventh verses of the Psalm, we find Israel describing their isolation to God and asking for God’s help in their battles against the enemy: “God, have you not forsaken us? You are not with our army. Help us against the enemy! The help of man is in vain” (Ps. 60, 10-11). The people mourn before God again with the attitude seen in the first part of the psalm. Israel and David, who have seen warriors who defeated powerful enemies, are convinced that God is the true helper and support. That is why they pray to God, who is the only refuge they can trust and rely on more than anyone else. Not mighty warriors, nor alliances with human powers, but God’s blessing and presence are the real help that God’s people need. It is in this conviction that David makes the declaration of faith in the last verse of the psalm: “With God we will fight valiantly; He is the one who tramples down our enemies.” Here the people of Israel realize their responsibility to fight alongside God and not to be passive and wait for God to fight for them and win the victory.
Psalm in life
Summing up the 60th Psalm meditation, the Psalm invites us not to spend our lives despairing and apathetic in the face of failures and sufferings, but to ask for the help of God, the true Helper, King and Hero, and to win our battles of life with Him. David is sharing before us a thought and conviction that everything and everyone is under the authority of the Lord, the God of Israel. We need to see failures and defeats as an opportunity to analyze our relationship with God, our values and our faith life, and to correct the shortcomings in them. At the same time, we can strive to recognize successes and achievements as part of God’s blessings, rather than due to our own abilities, and turn them into opportunities to thank Him and testify about Him. Let failures, failures, defeats, not sorrow and pain, but more trust in God, strength and firm faith in God. He is an accompanying God who leads His people, each of us, by the hand with love and mercy.
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2024-02-13 14:03:41
