We can be rejected in so many ways. We can fail at a job interview, a marriage, or a sporting event. Rejection is painful. However, what if we were rejected by a hospital, policeman, or a fireman? What if those whose reason to exist is to help us rejected us? What if despite being compassionate and faithful, God failed to show up? That is how the psalmist feels in Psalm 60. Not only has the savior of Israel not turned up, he has acted as an adversary to Israel. Yet, still the psalmist comes to God. How does he manage that?
Psalm 60
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A miktam[b] of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim[c] and Aram Zobah,[d] and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
1 You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry—now restore us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3 You have shown your people desperate times;
you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
to be unfurled against the bow.[e]
5 Save us and help us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
“In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,
Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin,
on Edom I toss my sandal;
over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
and no longer go out with our armies?
11 Give us aid against the enemy,
for human help is worthless.
12 With God we will gain the victory,
and he will trample down our enemies
Questions
- What is the relationship between God and the psalmist?
- What does the psalmist want?
- How might David’s original piece have been adapted for an exiled audience?
- How are people rejected in life?
- How have you been rejected? How has it ever felt that way with God?
Going Deeper
I was due to write about this yesterday, but a 1.5 year old was placed with us by Safe Families. He is very cute but his mother and grandmother keep rejecting him. The grandmother hates his father and therefore hates him. The mother can’t get her life together and her efforts to look after him fluctuate between mild acceptance to outright rejection. How might such a child grow up feeling rejected by God. How does this psalm inform a a way forward?
Plymothian 