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Psalms 60

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Lament and Plea for Restoration 1–5

1
To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand. O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again. ​
2
Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. ​
3
Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
4
Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. ​
5
That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.

The Oracle of God's Sovereignty 6–8

6
God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. ​
7
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; ​
8
Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me. ​

A Renewed Petition for Victory 9–12

9
Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? ​
10
Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?
11
Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
12
Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalm 60

Verse 1

O God, thou hast cast us off — The title sets the psalm among David’s wars with ‘Aramnaharaim’ and ‘Aramzobah’ and the slaughter of Edom ‘in the valley of salt’ (2 Sam 8:3, 13–14; 1 Chr 18:12, 19:6). The verb shub, to return, is used twice: of Joab who ‘returned’ and in the prayer ‘turn thyself to us again’.

Verse 2

heal the breaches — Three verbs set the scene: ‘tremble’ (ra’ash), ‘broken’ (patsam, used only here) and ‘heal’ (rapha). ‘Breaches’ is sheber, a break. The one who has broken the land is asked to mend it, as in ‘he hath torn, and he will heal us’ (Hos 6:1).

Verse 4

a banner to them that fear thee — Nes is a standard lifted up as a gathering point, and the same word is the ‘pole’ on which Moses set the brass serpent (Num 21:8–9). ‘Truth’ here is qosht, found elsewhere only in Prov 22:21, ‘the certainty of the words of truth’.

Verse 6

God hath spoken in his holiness — The answer is a spoken word, and God lays his own claim on the land: Shechem on the west of the Jordan and Succoth on the east, the two places where Jacob settled on coming home from Padanaram (Gen 33:17–18). ‘Divide’ and ‘mete out’ are the language of allotting land, as when Joshua ‘divided the land unto the children of Israel’ (Josh 18:10).

Verse 7

Ephraim also is the strength of mine head — Gilead and half of Manasseh lay east of the Jordan (Josh 13:31). ‘Strength’ is ma’oz, a stronghold. Judah is the ‘lawgiver’ (chaqaq), the word of Jacob’s blessing, ‘nor a lawgiver from between his feet’ (Gen 49:10).

Verse 8

Moab is my washpot — The washpot is a household basin, a low use for a neighbouring people. A shoe handed over ‘to confirm all things’ in Israel (Ruth 4:7) makes the shoe cast over Edom a claim of ownership. It recalls ‘Edom shall be a possession’ (Num 24:18) and David’s garrisons there (2 Sam 8:14).

Verse 9

Who will bring me into the strong city? — ‘Strong’ is matsor, fortified, and the city lies in Edom. ‘Lead’ is nachah, the verb of ‘he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness’ (Ps 23:3) and ‘thou leddest thy people like a flock’ (Ps 77:20). The question stands until v.12 names who does it.

Verse 12

Through God we shall do valiantly — ‘Valiantly’ is chayil, strength. ‘Do valiantly’ is the promise Balaam gave concerning Edom: ‘Israel shall do valiantly’ (Num 24:18). ‘Tread down’ is bus, to trample, as in Ps 44:5. Ps 108:13 repeats the verse word for word.