Lily Of The Covenant Series

To the Director: A special Davidic psalm to the tune of “Lily of The Covenant,” for teaching about his battle with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, when Joab returned and attacked 12,000 Edomites in the Salt Valley.

“God, you have cast us off;

you have breached our defenses

and you have become enraged.

Return to us!

You made the earth quake;

you broke it open.

Repair its fractures,

because it has shifted.

You made your people go through hard times;

you had us drink wine that makes us stagger.

“But you have given a banner to those who fear you,

so they may display it in honor of truth.

Interlude

“So your loved ones may be delivered,

save us by your power

and answer us quickly!

“Then God spoke in his holiness,

‘I will rejoice—

I will divide Shechem;

I will portion out the Succoth Valley.

Gilead belongs to me,

and Manasseh is mine.

Ephraim is my helmet,

and Judah my scepter.

Moab is my wash basin;

over Edom I will throw my shoes;

over Philistia I will celebrate my triumph.’

“Who will lead me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

Aren’t you the one, God, who has cast us off?

Didn’t you refuse, God, to accompany our armies?

“Help us in our distress,

for human help is worthless.

Through God we will fight valiantly;

and it is he who will crush our enemies.” [1]

PSALM 60:1-12 ISV

“Lily of the Covenant” is the “melody” associated with this final study of the Songs of Lament that David, the King of Israel, penned. Other Bibles have addressed the Hebrew title as “The Lily of Testimony” [CSB], or simply transliterating the Hebrew, reading, “Sushan Eduth” [ESV; NET BIBLE]. As you no doubt expect, this is yet another of the Miktams included in the Psalter. There exists no controversy as to the instruction David has given for the presentation of this Psalm, the choirmaster is instructed to present the Psalm according to “Lily of the Covenant.” Unfortunately, as is true of the other five Miktams, no one today knows the melody for this Psalm since the tune, the instrumentation, and the rhythm have been lost somewhere in the dim reaches of time. It is as though the LORD is telling us that what He has caused to be written is essential, though what musical accompaniment was used is secondary at best. In other words, the LORD is teaching us that methods must always be secondary to the message. Ensure that the message is correct and the method will care for itself.

In a contemporary Christian setting, the loss of the melody while preserving the words to the hymn might indicate that worship wars in which congregations fought and squabbled during recent years were foolish. Whether a congregation uses stately organ music to accompany songs of praise, or whether an assembly uses guitars and drums to accompany the praises of God’s people is immaterial. What actually matters is whether the words express worship offered to the Lord that comes from the heart and whether those expressions bring us into the presence of the Risen Saviour. In short, is God glorified and are His people instructed through the music that is employed in worship?

Despite not knowing the melody to this Psalm, we do have the Psalm itself. We do know what was in David’s heart at the time of writing this Psalm, we know because he has written it down for us—we have the Psalm. The event that precipitated David writing this particular Psalm is also known to us because that information has been included for us in the introduction to the Psalm. Additionally, we can see the purpose behind what David wrote since he has identified the events which drove him to write this paean of praise to the Living God. That information will prove a blessing to us even in this day.

The details included with this Psalm inform us that David wrote this Psalm following a series of conflicts with powerful nations. Joab, the Field Marshall of the armies of Israel, conquered Edom in a decisive battle, and this was a Psalm of Thanksgiving for God’s deliverance. Yet, what was written is for our benefit to this day.

BEHIND THE WRITING OF THE PSALM — The state of Israel has been under attack as long as I can remember. Modern Israel dates the creation of the nation to May 14, 1948. Therefore, the modern nation we know as Israel is only slightly younger than me. The modern state of Israel was born out of intense conflict as the surrounding nations were determined to drive the Jewish people into the sea. From earliest days, many of the great powers opposed the idea of a Jewish state. Nothing much has changed in this day. The European powers still side with those intent on extirpating the Jewish nation.