A David Psalm, When He Fought Against Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah and Joab Killed Twelve Thousand Edomites at the Valley of Salt

1–2  60 God! you walked off and left us,

kicked our defenses to bits

And stalked 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.

A David Psalm

1–2  61 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.

A David Psalm

1–2  62 God, the one and only—

I’ll wait as long as he says.

Everything I need comes from him,

so why not?

He’s solid rock under my feet,

breathing room for my soul,

An impregnable castle:

I’m set for life.

3–4  How long will you gang up on me?

How long will you run with the bullies?

There’s nothing to you, any of you—

rotten floorboards, worm-eaten rafters,

Anthills plotting to bring down mountains,

far gone in make-believe.

You talk a good line,

but every “blessing” breathes a curse.

5–6  God, the one and only—

I’ll wait as long as he says.

Everything I hope for comes from him,

so why not?

He’s solid rock under my feet,

breathing room for my soul,

An impregnable castle:

I’m set for life.

7–8  My help and glory are in God

—granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—

So trust him absolutely, people;

lay your lives on the line for him.

God is a safe place to be.

9  Man as such is smoke,

woman as such, a mirage.

Put them together, they’re nothing;

two times nothing is nothing.

10  And a windfall, if it comes—

don’t make too much of it.

11  God said this once and for all;

how many times

Have I heard it repeated?

“Strength comes

Straight from God.”

12  Love to you, Lord God!

You pay a fair wage for a good day’s work!