For the director of music. To the tune of ‘The Lily of the Covenant’. A miktam of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, 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.

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 sceptre.
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 shall gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies.