One alternative to both raw SQL and and ORM is a query builder, a procedural library for constructing database queries. Query builders typically don’t have the object/relational “impedance mismatch” of ORMs; they don’t encourage you to pretend that records in the database are the same as objects in your code. But they give you a syntax that looks more like your programming language, and automatically handles escaping (and thus, resistance to injection attacks).

However, query builders often don’t expose all the power of your database. If you’re using PostgreSQL, you’ve got one hell of a powerful set of tools in there. It’s often worth spending the time to master them just so you don’t end up reinventing the stone-age wheel on top of a warp-speed hovercraft.