Psalm Chapter 60 - To the chief Musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand

Psalm 60: When the Ground Shakes

This is a psalm for after the battle has gone badly. The armies have returned, some of them without half their number, and David writes not to complain but to plead. "Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh." It is one of the few psalms where the ground itself becomes a character — an old, cracked thing needing repair. And then, halfway through, the tone shifts. God speaks. And when he speaks, he does not soothe; he claims. Shechem. Succoth. Gilead. Manasseh. Ephraim. Judah. Moab. Edom. He counts the territories like a man listing his tools. The defeat, we begin to see, has not canceled the covenant. And David lands where every honest soldier eventually lands: "Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man." The ground shakes. The enemies advance. And still — and here is the astonishment — "through God we shall do valiantly."

00:00 Thou Hast Cast Us Off
00:20 The Earth Made to Tremble
00:40 The Wine of Astonishment
01:00 A Banner for Those Who Fear Thee
01:20 Shechem and Succoth, Gilead and Judah
01:40 Moab Is My Washpot
02:00 Through God We Shall Do Valiantly