Psalm 60 is a powerful declaration, sung from out of the total oppression borne of one because of an incurable wound, an unhealed scar. Don't pass this one by ... read it to understand; read it to reach deep into your refusal to let go of the horror and embarrassment of the moment that your soul was plundered. Let's strip away the big words and hard to pronounce names, and Devotionally let the words of the Spirit conquer the shattering, trembling world within us. Tear away the torn rags of our fading covering, and unleash the abundant life found in the liberty of love that Jesus provides for us.
{Background laid out in the first half of Psalm 60:1} The Musician must write this intensive musical composition. It must be written to ride its melody upon the former lilies, the former beauty of the Beloved... which are now indelibly stained. It is to be written so the listener can hear, understand, and learn: The Beloved, was in the midst of a battle that he should have won. The battle turns, and now the focus of the Beloved is to get away before he is totally decimated and ruined. The Battle was with emotional underground raging streams and exalted prideful displays in the midst of the conflict … the Beloved's Battle was with himself. So devastating was the moment that “Jehovah is Father” was caused to turn around and slay 11-19,000 “red”, human lives in the Valley of Salt (a place of former horrific judgment)”.
Hear the prayer of the tortured soul as written by the musician at the end of verse 1:
“ O God, Thou hast cast us off..” … we are the stench, we are the totally banished castaways! “Thou hast scattered us...” ...we are broken into, down, and through; we are forever ruined!
“Thou hast been displeased...” ...all we hear is Your hard, dis-pleasurable breathing … no comfort! “O turn Thyself to us again.”…though it feels so final, return to us again: return, return, return for us!
We all try to handle our embarrassing failings, our obvious faults, our overt shortcomings, our hindering handicaps, our viral sicknesses, our shameful sins, our indelible stains, our putrefying sores, and our distasteful scars... with some sort of self righteous cover up; while deep from within our souls there is shout against our covering lie. This is the hopeless and inaudible cry of the totally abandoned. Any violations of our dignity via another cruel human perpetrator adds even more validation to our hopeless self-depreciation that feeds into this unavoidable cry.
We pretend we are “OK” until the unseen, underground streams of spiritual antagonism churn “the Past” until these streams topple all our attempts to win the “I'm Somebody” battle. This battle stance is maintained with even more rigger when we find ourselves trying to find acceptance within the community of purported faith. Faith doesn't have to fake self righteousness, faith trusts the totally adequate covering of God's Righteousness through Christ. A community that pressures it's followers to pretend perfection is failing in its example of the Love of God. His righteousness, that exceeds all others: is freely given without regret, is superimposed upon the life that has trusted the Song of the Saviour, and allows enough room for human failing and open forgiveness. His righteousness is all that is needed for acceptance in the gatherings of the True Beloved.
Psalm 60:9 - “Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom?” Who will lead me to face me … who will bring me to face my scars? Can you answer without hesitation --- “JESUS”?
Psalm 60:11, 12 -“Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for He is is that shall tread down our enemies.”
The end of me is the beginning of You...Your Love Conquers All!
Thank you Jesus, my Love, my Victory!
HLFA,
Jeff