Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 60:1

To the chief Musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, 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.

1. thou hast cast us off ] Cp. Psa 60:10; Psa 44:9; Psa 44:23; Psa 74:1; Psa 77:7; Psa 89:38.

thou hast scattered us ] Better as R.V., thou hast broken us down, a word applied to defeat (2Sa 5:20), or any great calamity (Jdg 21:15; Job 16:14). It is a metaphor from the destruction of a wall or a building (2Ki 14:13; Isa 5:5).

thou hast been displeased ] R.V. rightly, thou hast been angry, as A.V. elsewhere (Psa 2:12; Psa 79:5; 1Ki 8:46; &c.). Israel’s neighbours used exactly the same language. Mesha in the inscription known as the Moabite Stone says that Omri the king of Israel oppressed Moab many days, “because Chemosh was angry with his land” (Psa 50:5).

O turn thyself to us again ] Better, O grant us restoration.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

1 4. Grave disasters have befallen Israel through God’s displeasure.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

O God, thou hast cast us off – The word used here means properly to be foul, rancid, offensive; and then, to treat anything as if it were foul or rancid; to repel, to spurn, to cast away. See the notes at Psa 43:2. It is strong language, meaning that God had seemed to treat them as if they were loathsome or offensive to him. The allusion, according to the view taken in the introduction to the psalm, is to some defeat or disaster which had occurred after the conquests in the East, or during the absence of the armies of David in the East 2 Sam. 8; 1 Chr. 18; probably to the fact that the Edomites had taken occasion to invade the southern part of Palestine, and that the forces employed to expel them had been unsuccessful.

Thou hast scattered us – Margin, broken. So the Hebrew. The word is applied to the forces of war which are broken and scattered by defeat, 2Sa 5:20.

Thou hast been displeased – The word used here means to breathe; to breathe hard; and then, to be angry. See the notes at Psa 2:12. God had treated them as if he was displeased or angry. He had suffered them to be defeated.

O turn thyself to us again – Return to our armies, and give us success. This might be rendered, Thou wilt turn to us; that is, thou wilt favor us – expressing a confident belief that God would do this, as in Psa 60:12. It is more in accordance, however, with the usual structure of the Psalms to regard this as a prayer. Many of the psalms begin with a prayer, and end with the expression of a confident assurance that the prayer has been, or would certainly be heard.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Psa 60:1-12

O God, Thou hast cast us off; Thou hast scattered us.

A psalm of defeat

In our own language we possess many fine songs of patriotism. It would be impossible to overestimate the value of such a song as Scots wha hae as a means of keeping alive patriotic sentiments in the breasts of the people. What a treasure it would be if we had a dozen other incidents from the great epochs of our history embalmed in equally immortal verse and sung at every fireside. The Hebrews had their history thus set to music; and the poetical commentary on their national fortunes reaches down to the very bottom of their meaning, for it reads them in the light of eternal truth.

I. A patriots depression (Psa 60:1-5). The enemy had invaded the country, and there was sufficient force to withstand them. So great was the panic that the inhabitants were like drunken men, unable to comprehend the extent of their calamity and unable to stand up against it (Psa 60:3). But the worst was that it was a triumph of the heathen over the people of the true God, to whom a banner had been given to display because of the truth (Psa 60:4). The humblest Christian has received a banner to display because of the truth. We are working for a cause which is old as eternity and lofty as heaven. Our personal success or defeat is nothing; but the victory of the truth is everything. This great verse was given out by Ebenezer Erskine beneath the castle walls of Stirling when he and his congregation were turned out of the Church of Scotland; and it has been connected with other great historical scenes in the history of the Church.

II. The promise recalled (Psa 60:6-8). At this point a change comes over the spirit of the writer. Prayer has brought him to himself. We are either to suppose that, in reply to an inquiry addressed to God, perhaps through the Urim and Thummim, he receives an oracle on the situation, or that, his memory being quickened by a sudden inspiration, he recalls an ancient oracle, given in some similar crisis, in which God promises to His anointed king the complete possession of the Holy Land and also the subjection of the neighbouring peoples. The oracle is quoted after the psalmist has expressed his joy at recalling it. God promises to divide Shechem, as at the Conquest under Joshua He divided the different parts of the land to the various tribes, and to mete out the valley of Succoth. Why these two places are specially mentioned, it is impossible now to say. They may have been strongholds of the enemy. Then (verse 7) Gilead and Manasseh, which stand for the part of the country beyond the Jordan, are claimed by God as His. And of Ephraim and Judah, which represent the division west of the Jordan, it is said that the one shall be His helmet (the strength of mine head) and the other His sceptre (not lawgiver). As the Holy Land is represented by these well-known parts, the hostile nations, which are to be subjugated, are represented by Israels three well-known foes–Moab, Edom, and Philistia. And, as the positions which Ephraim and Judah were to occupy are depicted by saying that they are to fulfil the honourable offices of helmet and sceptre to God, the fate of the hostile nations is similarly depicted by representing them as fulfilling to Him the basest offices (verse 8). Moab is to be the vessel in which He washes His feet when coming home from a journey, and Edom the slave to whom, in so doing, He flings the dusty sandals which He has taken off; while Philistia is to grace his triumph. In this way the psalmist rallied his spirit in an hour of disaster. And, in fighting the Lords battles, we can similarly fall back on the promise recorded in the second psalm, that the heathen shall be given to Christ and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession. The humblest Christian can fall back on the promise that none shall pluck him out of Christs hand, and that the good work which God has begun shall be perfected.

III. The return of hope (verses 9-12). At verse 9 he turns to face the crisis which in the first part of the psalm he had bewailed. He sees the difficulty of the situation. Edom is a strong enemy, and its capital, Petra, a strong city. The entrance to it, says a traveller, is by a narrow gorge lined by lofty precipices, nearly two miles in length. At some places the overhanging rocks approach so near to each other that only two horsemen can proceed abreast. Who, asks the psalmist, is to bring me thither? And the answer is, None but God. For a time He had deserted them, perhaps because they had been trusting to themselves or to their past victories. They needed to be humbled and to learn the lesson that vain is the help of man (verse 11). But defeat had taught them this lesson; and now they are trusting only in their God. When Gods servants have reached this state of mind, nothing can stand before them. And so this psalm, which began in panic and tears, ends with the trumpet note of hope (verse 12). (J. Stalker.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

PSALM LX

The psalmist complains of the desolation which had fallen on

the land; prays for deliverance, 1-5;

and promises himself victory over Shechem, Succoth, Gilead,

Ephraim, Moab, Idumea, and the Philistines, by the special

help and assistance of God, 6-12.

NOTES ON PSALM LX

The title, “To the chief Musician upon the hexachord, or lily of the testimony, a golden Psalm of David, for instruction; when he strove with Aram Naharaim, Syria of the two rivers (Mesopotamia) and Aram-Zobah, Syria of the watchmen, (Coelosyria,) when Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.” I have only to remark here that there is nothing in the contents of this Psalm that bears any relation to this title. According to the title it should be a song of victory and triumph; instead of which the first part of it is a tissue of complaints of disaster and defeat, caused by the Divine desertion. Besides, it was not Joab that slew twelve thousand men in the Valley of Salt; it was Abishai, the brother of Joab; and the number twelve thousand here is not correct; for there were eighteen thousand slain in that battle, as we learn from 1Ch 18:12. The valley of salt or salt pits is in Idumea. To reconcile the difference between the numbers, various expedients have been hit on; but still the insuperable objection remains; the contents of this Psalm and this title are in opposition to each other. That the Psalm deplores a defeat, is evident from the three first and two last verses. And the Targumist seems to have viewed it in this light, perhaps the proper one, by expressing the title thus: “To give praise for the ancient testimony, ( sahadutha,) of the sons of Jacob and Laban, (see Ge 31:47,) an exemplar by the hand of David, to give instruction when he gathered together the people, and passed by the heap of testimony, ( ayegar sahadutha,) and set the battle in array against Aram, which is by the Euphrates; and against Aram, which is by Izobah. And after this Joab returned and smote the Idumeans in the Valley of Salt; and of the armies of David and Joab there fell twelve thousand men.” The Psalm, therefore, seems to deplore this disastrous event; for although they had the victory at last, twelve thousand of the troops of Israel were justly considered too great a sacrifice for such a conquest, and a proof that God had not afforded them that succour which they had long been in the habit of receiving. The latter part of the Psalm seems to be intended to put God in remembrance of his ancient promise of putting Israel in possession of the whole land by driving out the ancient iniquitous inhabitants. Others consider the Psalm as descriptive of the distracted state of the land after the fatal battle of Gilboa, till David was anointed king of the whole at Hebron.

This is the last of the six Psalms to which michtam is prefixed; the others are Psa 16, Ps 56, Ps 57, Ps 58, and Ps 59. I have said something relative to this word in the introduction to Ps 16:1, but some observations of Mr. Harmer lead me to consider the subject more at large. It is well known that there were seven most eminent Arabic poets who flourished before and at the commencement of the career of Mohammed: their names were Amriolkais, Amru, Hareth, Tharafah, Zohair, Lebeid, and Antarah. These poets produced each a poem, which because of its excellence was deemed worthy to be suspended on the walls of the temple of Mecca; and hence the collection of the seven poems was termed Al Moallakat, The Suspended; and Al Modhahebat, The Gilded or Golden, because they were written in letters of gold upon the Egyptian papyrus. The six michtams of David might have this title for the same reason; they might have been written in letters of gold, or on gilded vellum, or the Egyptian papyrus; for the word michtam is generally supposed to signify golden, and kethem is used to signify gold, probably stamped or engraven with figures or letters. That the Moallakat were written in this way, there can be no question; and that the works of men of great eminence in Asiatic countries are still thus written, my own library affords ample evidence. Copies of the following works are written on paper all powdered with gold, with gold borders, and highly illuminated anwans or titles: The MISNAVI of Jelaluddeen Raumy; The DEEVAN of Zuheer Faryabi; The HADIKATUSANI, or Garden of Praise; The SUHBET AL ABRAR; The DEEVAN of Hafiz; GULISTAN of Saady; DEEVAN of Shahy, with many more, all works of eminent authors, written in the finest manner, ruled with gold borders, c.

Copies of the Koran are often done in the same manner: one in 12mo., so thickly powdered over with gold that the ground on which the text is written appears to be almost totally gilded another large octavo, all powdered with gold, and golden flowers down every margin; another small octavo, that might be almost called the Codex Aureus, with rich golden borders on every page. And, lastly, one in large folio, which besides superbly illuminated anwans, has three gold lines to every page; one at the top, one in the middle, and one at the bottom. To the above may be added a small folio, that opens out about eleven feet, every page of which is like a plate of solid gold, with the characters engraven on it. It is a collection of elegant extracts. Another of the same kind, large folio, opens out sixty-two feet, on which every page is finished in the same manner, with a vast variety of borders, sprigs, and flowers. And to close the whole, a copy of the Borda, supposed to be the most elegant MS. in Europe, entirely covered with gold flowers and lines, the writing the most perfect I ever saw; so that of this MS. it might be truly said, splendid as it is, materiam superabit opus.

As Mr. Harmer has alluded to accounts which he has collected from other writers in order to illustrate the michtams of David, I have above produced a number of evidences to bear witness to the fact that such is and such was the custom in the east, to write the works of the most eminent authors in letters of gold, or on a page highly ornamented with the utmost profusion of golden lines, figures, flowers, c. In this way these Psalms might have been written, and from this circumstance they may have derived their name. I may just add, that I think these titles were made long after the Psalms were composed.

Verse 1. O God, thou hast cast us off] Instead of being our general in the battle, thou hast left us to ourselves and then there was only the arm of flesh against the arm of flesh, numbers and physical power were left to decide the contest. We have been scattered, our ranks have been broken before the enemy, and thou hast caused the whole land to tremble at our bad success; the people are become divided and seditious. “Thou hast made the land to tremble, even the breaches of it, for it shaketh, it is all in commotion,” Ps 60:2.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Aram-naharaim; or, the Syrians (so called from Aram, the son of Shem, Gen 10:22) of the two rivers, or of Mesopotamia, the country between those two great and famous rivers, Tigris and Euphrates. Aram-zobah, or, the Syrians of Zobah, part of Syria so called, 2Sa 8:5,12.

This report seems not to agree with the histories to which this Psalm is supposed to relate, 2Sa 8:13; 1Ch 18:12, neither in the persons slain, who are Edomites 1Ch 18:12, but Syrians here, and 2Sa 8:13; nor in their numbers, which are here only twelve thousand, and there eighteen thousand; nor in the persons to whom this victory is ascribed, who is Joab here, David 2Sa 8:13, and Abishai 1Ch 18:12. But these difficulties may easily be resolved by these considerations:

1. That David being king, and Joab lord-general of all his forces, and Abishai his lieutenant-general as to a considerable part of his army, the same victory may well be ascribed to any or every one of them; as it is usually done in like cases in the Roman and Grecian histories.

2. That the Edomites and Syrians were united in this war.

3. That twelve thousand might be slain in the pitched battle, and the rest by the pursuers in their flight.

4. That these several places may speak of several fights. See more of this business See Poole “2Sa 8:13“.

The psalmist, complaining of former sad judgments, Psa 60:1-3, acknowledgeth Gods present mercy, Psa 60:4. Comforting himself in the promises, he prayeth for help, and therein trusteth, Psa 60:5-12.

Cast us off; or, rejected or forsaken us, as to thy gracious and powerful presence, not only in the time of the judges, but also during Sauls reign.

Scattered us, Heb. broken us; partly by that dreadful overthrow by the Philistines, 1Sa 31, and partly by the civil war in our own bowels, between me and Ishbosheth.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

1-3. allude to disasters.

cast . . . offin scorn(Psa 43:2; Psa 44:9).

scatteredbroken ourstrength (compare 2Sa 5:20).

Oh, turn thyselfor,”restore to us” (prosperity). The figures of physical,denote great civil, commotions (Psa 46:2;Psa 46:3).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

O God, thou hast cast us off,…. What is said in this verse, and Ps 60:2, are by some applied to times past; to the distress of the people Israel by their neighbours in the times of the judges; to their being smitten by the Philistines, in the times of Eli and Samuel; and to the victory they obtained over them, when Saul and his sons were slain; and to the civil wars between the house of Saul and David; but rather the whole belongs to future times, which David, by a prophetic spirit, was led to on the occasion of the victory obtained, when before this the nation had been in bad circumstances. This refers to the casting off of the Jews as a church and nation, when they had rejected the Messiah and killed him, persecuted his apostles, and despised his Gospel; of which see Ro 11:15;

thou hast scattered us; as they were by the Romans among the various nations of the world, and among whom they are dispersed to this day; or “thou hast broken us” k, as in Ps 80:12; not only the walls of their city were broken by the battering rams of the Romans, but their commonwealth, their civil state, were broke to pieces by them. Jarchi applies this to the Romans; his note is this;

“when Edom fell by his hand (David’s), he foresaw, by the Holy Ghost, that the Romans would rule over Israel, and decree hard decrees concerning them;”

thou hast been displeased; not only with their immorality and profaneness, with their hypocrisy and insincerity, with their will worship and superstition, and the observance of the traditions of their elders; but also with their rejection of the Messiah, and contempt of his Gospel and ordinances;

O turn thyself to us again; which prayer will be made by them, when they shall become sensible of their sins, and of their state and condition, and shall turn unto the Lord; and when he will turn himself to them, and turn away iniquity from them, and all Israel shall be saved, Ro 11:25; or “thou wilt return unto us” l; who before were cast off, broken, and he was displeased with; or others to us.

k “rupisti nos”, Montanus, Michaelis; “disrupisti”, Gejerus; so Ainsworth. l “reverteris ad nos”, Pagninus, Montanus; “reduces ad nos”, Gussetius, p. 836.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

This first strophe contains complaint and prayer; and establishes the prayer by the greatness of the need and Israel’s relationship to God. The sense in which is intended becomes clear from 2Sa 5:20, where David uses this word of the defeat of the Philistines, and explains it figuratively. The word signifies to break through what has hitherto been a compact mass, to burst, blast, scatter, disperse. The prayer is first of all timidly uttered in in the form of a wish; then in ( Psa 60:4) and ( Psa 60:7) it waxes more and more eloquent. here signifies to grant restoration (like , to give rest; Psa 23:3; Isa 58:12). The word also signifies to make a turn, to turn one’s self away, in which sense, however, it cannot be construed with . On Dunash has already compared Arab. fsm , rumpere , scindere , and Mose ha-Darshan the Targumic = , Jer 22:14. The deep wounds which the Edomites had inflicted upon the country, are after all a wrathful visitation of God Himself – reeling or intoxicating wine, or as (not ), properly conceived of, is: wine which is sheer intoxication (an apposition instead of the genitive attraction, vid., on Isa 30:20), is reached out by Him to His people. The figure of the intoxicating cup has passed over from the Psalms of David and of Asaph to the prophets (e.g., Isa 51:17, Isa 51:21). A kindred thought is expressed in the proverb: Quem Deus perdere vult, eum dementat . All the preterites as far as ( Psa 60:5) glance back plaintively at that which has been suffered.

But Psa 60:6 cannot be thus intended; for to explain with Ewald and Hitzig, following the lxx, “Thou hast set up a banner for those who reverence Thee, not for victory, but for flight,” is inadmissible, notwithstanding the fact that nuwc is a customary phrase and the inscribed is favourable to the mention of the bow. For (1) The words, beginning with , do not sound like an utterance of something worthy of complaint – in this case it ought at least to have been expressed by (only for flight, not for victory); (2) it is more than improbable that the bow, instead of being called (feminine of the Arabic masculine kaus), is here, according to an incorrect Aramaic form of writing, called , whereas this word in its primary form (Pro 22:21) corresponds to the Aramaic not in the signification “a bow,” but (as it is also intended in the Targum of our passage) in the signification “truth” (Arabic kist of strict unswerving justice, root , to be hard, strong, firm; just as, vice versa, the word sidk , coming from a synonymous root, is equivalent to “truth”). We therefore take the perfect predication, like Psa 60:4, as the foundation of the prayer which follows: Thou hast given those who fear Thee a banner to muster themselves ( sich aufpanieren), i.e., to raise themselves as around a standard or like a standard, on account of the truth – help then, in order that Thy beloved ones may be delivered, with Thy right hand, and answer me. This rendering, in accordance with which Psa 60:6 expresses the good cause of Israel in opposition to its enemies, is also favoured by the heightened effect of the music, which comes in here, as Sela prescribes. The reflexive here therefore signifies not, as Hithpal. of , “to betake one’s self to flight,” but “to raise one’s self” – a signification on behalf of which we cannot appeal to Zec 9:16, where is apparently equivalent to “sparkling,” but which here results from the juxtaposition with (cf. , Psa 4:7), inasmuch as itself, like Arab. nassun , is so called from , Arab. nass , to set up, raise, whether it be that the Hithpo. falls back upon the Kal of the verb or that it is intended as a denominative (to raise one’s self as a banner, sich aufpanieren).

(Note: This expression wel illustrates the power of the German language in coining words, so that the language critically dealt with may be exactly reproduced to the German mind. The meaning will at once be clear when we inform our readers that Panier is a banner of standard; the reflexive denominative, therefore, in imitation of the Hebrew, sich aufpanieren signifies to “up-standard one’s self,” to raise one’s self up after the manner of a standard, which being “done into English” may mean to rally (as around a standard). We have done our best above faithfully to convey the meaning of the German text, and we leave our readers to infer from this illustration the difficulties with which translators have not unfrequently to contend. – Tr.])

It is undeniable that not merely in later (e.g., Neh 5:15), but also even in older Hebrew, denotes the reason and motive (e.g., Deu 28:20). Moreover Ps 44 is like a commentary on this , in which the consciousness of the people of the covenant revelation briefly and comprehensively expresses itself concerning their vocation in the world. Israel looks upon its battle against the heathen, as now against Edom, as a rising for the truth in accordance with its mission. By reason of the fact and of the consciousness which are expressed in Psa 60:6, arises the prayer in Psa 60:7, that Jahve would interpose to help and to rescue His own people from the power of the enemy. is instrumental (vid., on Psa 3:5). It is to be read according to the Ker, as in Psa 108:7, instead of ; so that here the king of Israel is speaking, who, as he prays, stands in the place of his people.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

David’s Complaints and Petitions.

To the chief musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach,

when he strove with Aram-naharaim, and with Aramzobah, when

Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt 12,000.

      1 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 showed 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 title gives us an account, 1. Of the general design of the psalm. It is Michtam–David’s jewel, and it is to teach. The Levites must teach it to the people, and by it teach them both to trust in God and to triumph in him; we must, in it, teach ourselves and one another. In a day of public rejoicing we have need to be taught to direct our joy to God and to terminate it in him, to give none of that praise to the instruments of our deliverance which is due to him only, and to encourage our hopes with our joys. 2. Of the particular occasion of it. It was at a time, (1.) When he was at war with the Syrians, and still had a conflict with them, both those of Mesopotamia and those of Zobah. (2.) When he had gained a great victory over the Edomites, by his forces, under the command of Joab, who had left 12,000 of the enemy dead upon the spot. David has an eye to both these concerns in this psalm: he is in care about his strife with the Assyrians, and in reference to that he prays; he is rejoicing in his success against the Edomites, and in reference to that he triumphs with a holy confidence in God that he would complete the victory. We have our cares at the same time that we have our joys, and they may serve for a balance to each other, that neither may exceed. They may likewise furnish us with matter both for prayer and praise, for both must be laid before God with suitable affections and emotions. If one point be gained, yet in another we are still striving: the Edomites are vanquished, but the Syrians are not; therefore let not him that girds on the harness boast as if he had put it off.

      In these verses, which begin the psalm, we have,

      I. A melancholy memorial of the many disgraces and disappointments which God had, for some years past, put the people under. During the reign of Saul, especially in the latter end of it, and during David’s struggle with the house of Saul, while he reigned over Judah only, the affairs of the kingdom were much perplexed, and the neighbouring nations were vexatious to them. 1. He complains of hard things which they had seen (that is, which they had suffered), while the Philistines and other ill-disposed neighbours took all advantages against them, v. 3. God sometimes shows even his own people hard things in this world, that they may not take up their rest in it, but may dwell at ease in him only. 2. He owns God’s displeasure to be the cause of all the hardships they had undergone: “Thou hast been displeased by us, displeased against us (v. 1), and in thy displeasure hast cast us off and scattered us, hast put us out of thy protection, else our enemies could not have prevailed thus against us. They would never have picked us up and made a prey of us if thou hadst not broken the staff of bands (Zech. xi. 14) by which we were united, and so scattered us.” Whatever our trouble is, and whoever are the instruments of it, we must own the hand of God, his righteous hand, in it. 3. He laments the ill effects and consequences of the miscarriages of the late years. The whole nation was in a convulsion: Thou hast made the earth (or the land) to tremble, v. 2. The generality of the people had dreadful apprehensions of the issue of these things. The good people themselves were in a consternation: “Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment (v. 3); we were like men intoxicated, and at our wits’ end, not knowing how to reconcile these dispensations with God’s promises and his relation to his people; we are amazed, can do nothing, nor know we what to do.” Now this is mentioned here to teach, that is, for the instruction of the people. When God is turning his hand in our favour, it is good to remember our former calamities, (1.) That we may retain the good impressions they made upon us, and may have them revived. Our souls must still have the affliction and the misery in remembrance, that they may be humbled within us,Lam 3:19; Lam 3:20. (2.) That God’s goodness to us, in relieving us and raising us up, may be more magnified; for it is as life from the dead, so strange, so refreshing. Our calamities serve as foils to our joys. (3.) That we may not be secure, but may always rejoice with trembling, as those that know not how soon we may be returned into the furnace again, which we were lately taken out of as the silver is when it is not thoroughly refined.

      II. A thankful notice of the encouragement God had given them to hope that, though things had been long bad, they would now begin to mend (v. 4): “Thou hast given a banner to those that fear thee (for, as bad as the times are, there is a remnant among us that desire to fear thy name, for whom thou hast a tender concern), that it may be displayed by thee, because of the truth of thy promise which thou wilt perform, and to be displayed by them, in defense of truth and equity,” Ps. xlv. 4. This banner was David’s government, the establishment and enlargement of it over all Israel. The pious Israelites, who feared God and had a regard to the divine designation of David to the throne, took his elevation as a token for good, and like the lifting up of a banner to them, 1. It united them, as soldiers are gathered together to their colours. Those that were scattered (v. 1), divided among themselves, and so weakened and exposed, coalesced in him when he was fixed upon the throne. 2. It animated them, and put life and courage into them, as the soldiers are animated by the sight of their banner. 3. It struck a terror upon their enemies, to whom they could now hang out a flag of defiance. Christ, the Son of David, is given for an ensign of the people (Isa. xi. 10), for a banner to those that fear God; in him, as the centre of their unity, they are gathered together in one; to him they seek, in him they glory and take courage. His love is the banner over them; in his name and strength they wage war with the powers of darkness, and under him the church becomes terrible as an army with banners.

      III. A humble petition for seasonable mercy. 1. That God would be reconciled to them, though he had been displeased with them. In his displeasure their calamities began, and therefore in his favour their prosperity must begin: O turn thyself to us again! (v. 1) smile upon us, and take part with us; be at peace with us, and in that peace we shall have peace. Tranquillus Deus tranquillat omnia–A God at peace with us spreads peace over all the scene. 2. That they might be reconciled to one another, though they had been broken and wretchedly divided among themselves: “Heal the breaches of our land (v. 2), not only the breaches made upon us by our enemies, but the breaches made among ourselves by our unhappy divisions.” Those are breaches which the folly and corruption of man makes, and which nothing but the wisdom and grace of God can make up and repair, by pouring out a spirit of love and peace, by which only a shaken shattered kingdom is set to rights and saved from ruin. 3. That thus they might be preserved out of the hands of their enemies (v. 5): “That thy beloved may be delivered, and not made a prey of, save with thy right hand, with thy own power and by such instruments as thou art pleased to make the men of thy right hand, and hear me.” Those that fear God are his beloved; they are dear to him as the apple of his eye. They are often in distress, but they shall be delivered. God’s own right hand shall save them; for those that have his heart have his hand. Save them, and hear me. Note, God’s praying people may take the general deliverances of the church as answers to their prayers in particular. If we improve what interest we have at the throne of grace for blessings for the public, and those blessings be bestowed, besides the share we have with others in the benefit of them we may each of us say, with peculiar satisfaction, “God has therein heard me, and answered me.”

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Psalms 60

Victory With God’s Presence

Scripture v. 1-12:

Verses 1, 2 plead with God who had cast them off, scattered His people, made a breach in them (all Israel), Psa 43:2; Psa 33:9. See also Jdg 21:15; Job 16:14. He asked that God turn (favorably) to them, in mercy and compassion again; He added that the Lord had caused the earth to tremble, had broken it, referring to Israel’s political convulsion or upheaval. He appealed further “Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.”

Verse 3 confesses “Thou hast showed thy self hard things, made us to drink the wine of astonishment.” He had sent judgments, upon them that made them as stupefied and inebriated as wine intoxicates the brain, Jer 13:12-13; 1Ki 22:27. The terms “bread of affliction and water of affliction” refer to a state of helpless misery and humiliation, Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22; See also Psa 71:20; Jer 25:15.

Verse 4 witnesses “thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth,” adding, “Selah,” meaning find nourishment in this truth! Psa 19:9; Psa 20:5; Rom 15:8. So long as the soldiers see their banner (flag) held high they rally round its cause with confidence. But when it is prostrate their hopes fade and their countenance falls. The banner is a pledge safety and rallying point to all who fight under it, 2Ti 3:16-17; Eph 6:11-18. Fight on soldiers of truth! Fight on, holding the banner high! Mat 24:35, O soldiers of the cross!

Verse 5 adds “that thy beloved (Israel) may be delivered, save with thy right hand,” (thy hand of power) and hear me,” Deu 7:7, e; Psa 108:6; Mat 3:17; Mat 17:5.

Verse 6 asserts that “God has spoken in His holiness,” that His people should possess Cannan, Genesis 49; Deu 33:17-18; And vanquish, drive out, or subdue their foes, Num 24:17-19; Num 23:19. David resolved to rejoice in His promises, to divide or parcel out the land of Shechem, and Succoth, Gen 12:16.

Verse 7 adds that God has claimed Gilead and Manasseh as His possession, and as the strength of His head, with Judah as His lawgiver, as recounted Deu 33:17; Gen 49:10, in a definitive manner.

Verse 8 continues “Moab is my washpot,” 2Sa 8:2. His servant “over Edom” (Esau’s land) “will I cast out my shoe,” the Lord God added, 2Sa 8:14; Psa 108:9. Then He called “Philistia triumph thou because of me,” because your fall out for your good, through Israel’s God; rejoice in it; 2Sa 8:1. As Moab was to become God’s washtub servant and Edom was to have God’s shoe cast out to her, as the servant washed the master’s feet, so the slave was to clean his sandals, Mat 3:11; Act 13:25.

Verses 9, 10 Inquire just who will bring Israel into the strong city, the stronghold city, of strength, 2Sa 11:1, the city of Petra in Edom? David adds that the sustaining God did not leave when the armies went out, when God cast Israel off. David asks, “wilt not thou, O God?” He will, Psa 31:21. Petra is yet a retreat for the people of God, Rev 12:14.

Verse 11 entreats “Give us help from trouble for vain (empty) deceptive, disappointing is the help of man,” apart from God, Psa 118:8; Psa 146:3.

Verse 12 rejoices “through God we shall do valiantly,” as an army in triumph, Num 24:18; 1Co 15:56-58; Rom 8:37. “For He (God) shall tread down our enemies,” even to our last one, Heb 2:14-15; Rev 1:18; Rom 8:11.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

1. O God! thou hast cast us off. With the view of exciting both himself and others to a more serious consideration of the goodness of God, which they presently experienced, he begins the psalm with prayer; and a comparison is instituted, designed to show that the government of Saul had been under the divine reprobation. He complains of the sad confusions into which the nation had been thrown, and prays that God would return to it in mercy, and re-establish its affairs. Some have thought that David here adverts to his own distressed condition: this is not probable. I grant that, before coming to the throne, he underwent severe afflictions; but in this place he evidently speaks of the whole people as well as himself. The calamities which he describes are such as extended to the whole kingdom; and I have not the least doubt, therefore, that he is to be considered as drawing a comparison which might illustrate the favor of God, as it had been shown so remarkably, from the first, to his own government. With this view, he deplores the long-continued and heavy disasters which had fallen upon the people of God under Saul’s administration. It is particularly noticeable, that though he had found his own countrymen his worst and bitterest foes, now that he sat upon the throne, he forgets all the injuries which they had done him, and, mindful only of the situation which he occupied, associates himself with the rest of them in his addresses to God. The scattered condition of the nation is what he insists upon as the main calamity. In consequence of the dispersion of Saul’s forces, the country lay completely exposed to the incursions of enemies; not a man was safe in his own house, and no relief remained but in flight or banishment. He next describes the confusions which reigned by a metaphor, representing the country as opened, or cleft asunder; not that there had been a literal earthquake, but that the kingdom, in its rent and shattered condition, presented that calamitous aspect which generally follows upon an earthquake. The affairs of Saul ceased to prosper from the time that he forsook God; and when he perished at last, he left the nation in a state little short of ruin. The greatest apprehension must have been felt throughout it; it was become the scorn of its enemies, and was ready to submit to any yoke, however degrading, which promised tolerable conditions. Such is the manner in which David intimates that the divine favor had been alienated by Saul, pointing, when he says that God was displeased, at the radical source of all the evils which prevailed; and he prays that the same physician who had broken would heal.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

CONFESSION AND RECOVERY FROM SIN

Psalms 51-60

IN continuing the study of this second Book in the Psalter Pentateuch we come now to the question of the centuries, the sin question. This is not the first time that we have had to face it. From Gen 3:6, it has been the ever-present and never-solved problem.

This study is marvelously near the middle of our Book Divine; and the same question that has rung through the pages, already turned, will present itself in some form on practically every page of the Book till we come to Rev 22:21.

There are certain manifest suggestions in these ten chapters; but in a large way they are directly associated with the confession of sin, contrition for sin, and recovery from sin.

THE CONFESSION OF SIN Chapter 51

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy loving kindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.

Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive five.

Behold, Thou desirest truth in the inward parts; and in the hidden part Thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.

Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

Create in me a clean heart, O God: and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.

Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.

O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.

For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion: build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.

Here we have the acknowledgment of a personal transgression. We believe absolutely with those who hold that David was thinking upon his own past and reflecting with grief upon the Bathsheba incident, involving as it did, a practical combination of murder and lust.

As is usual with sin, the horror of it is only felt after the deed is effected; and for every prayer, such as our Lord taught us to say, Lead us not into temptation, a prayer that looks to avoiding the iniquitous, there are a hundred petitions of the sort here recorded

Have mercy upon me, O God, according unto Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest.

Too few of our prayers anticipate danger; too many of them confess damnable acts already done.

There are those who see in this acknowledgment a corporate, rather than an individual confession. They think that this is the prophetic language of Israel when at last she realizes the iniquity of her rejection of Jesus. But such an interpretation, if it be at all possible, can only be accepted as an inference from David the type. The simple truth is that every word in this fifty-first Psalm fits exactly the spiritual experience of the speaker. The whole history of David shows him a man of tender conscience, unusually affectionate, and with a keen discernment of right and wrong. We are not in the least surprised, therefore, to hear from his lips this pathetic plea. It is a proof of conscious wrong on the part of a conscientious believer. It is the saints abhorrence of his own sin; and incidently, it introduces some of the most natural features of soul-experience. Take, for instance, the sentence, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight: that Thou mightest be justified when Thou speakest, and be clear when Thou judgest (Psa 51:4).

Grant, in The Numerical Bible argues that such a confession, in Davids lips, would not have been true, even, since he had sinned against Uriah, against himself, and against Bathsheba; and so Grant sees in this, an application to repentant Israel.

But the argument is poorly based and far-fetched. The simple fact is, and millions of saved men would bear testimony to it, when the soul is convicted of sin that conviction seldom takes the form of conscious wrong to individual victims, or even that of willful transgression of the Law. The truth is as Delitzsch argues, Every relation in which man stands to his fellow-men, and to created things in general, is but the manifest form of his fundamental relationship to God; and as even Grant himself admits, At every point at which we touch His creatures, we touch God Himself; every blow struck at them is struck at Him.* * The guilt of every sin is fundamentally the same, revolt against God. This is, in a true sense, the only sin.

We knew a man well; in fact, we preached to him the truths that effected his salvation, and with our hands we laid him beneath the baptismal wave, who before his confession was a highway man, a gambler, a drunkard, an adulterer, and at the last, a would-be murderer. But his confession, following his salvation, was to this effect, When on that morning, the very day I had fixed upon for the destruction of my wife and children, and suicide, the Spirit of God came upon me with overwhelming conviction; and, as I walked out from my home, to fall on the grass of the back yard, face down, to cry for mercy, I had no sense of wrong concerning my past indolence, my past gambling, my past drunkenness, my past lusts; not even was I painfully sensible of the intention of murder and suicide. One great, overwhelming thought surged through my brain as loud as the sirens whistle, Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight.

It is interesting also to study the psychology of the sentence that follows, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity: and in sin did my mother conceive me This was not intended by the Psalmist in self-defense. He had passed that point and had admitted that God would be justified when He spake, and clearly defensible when He judged. It was said, rather, in explanation; it was an admission, I have always been wrong! I came from my mothers womb with a frightful twist in my moral nature and from the days when my steps toddled in uncertain paths I have been nothing but a sinner!

The phrases that follow indicate further Your eyes have searched my inward parts in vain. No truth is in them. You have looked for wisdom but it was not mine by nature; and if I am ever cleansed you must accomplish it; and if my soul is ever white, the cleansing must come from above! And then, as if to appeal if possible to the tenderness of God, he cries, Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice. And that he may escape just judgment, he adds,

Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

And he pleads,

Create in me a. clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

Rather,

Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free Spirit.

Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.

Alas, as if such a thought was too good to be true, he breathes and begins again, Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvationremember against me no more Uriahs death; free my conscience from that whole subject by speaking my absolution. And then, My tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.

It looks now as if he had reached a higher table land; as if his heart would not sink again nor his feet mire; and he concludes the Psalm with these words,

Oh Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.

For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it; Thou delightest not in burnt-offering.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.

Do good in Thy good pleasure unto Zion; build Thou the walls of Jerusalem.

Then shalt Thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt-offering and whole burnt-offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon Thine altar.

Sweeping aside that whole school of interpreters who see in this Israels confession, we stand absolutely with those who believe it to be the utterance of a believers heart, broken with the sense of sin, conscious of just condemnation, and yet daring to hope in a merciful God. The verses 18 and 19 do not militate against that view. Few saints ever deplore their own sins, and forget the sanctuary. They grieve personal sin, lest it hinder the general cause, and so David prays for Zion, for Jerusalem, and for cleansing and consecration as symbolized in the temple ceremonies.

We now go to the study of another chapter, chapter fifty-two, and here we are tracing the history that led David into disappointment and difficulty.

Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man! The lovingkindness of God endureth continually;

Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness, like a sharp razor, working deceitfully;

Thou lovest evil more than good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness.

Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.

God will likewise destroy thee for ever: He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living.

The righteous also shall see it, and fear, and shall laugh at him,

Saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.

But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever.

I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it; and I will hope in Thy Name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints. (Psa 52:1-9).

Here again, there are those who see in this Psalm a prophetic picture of the man of sin, the Anti-Christ to come. This view they rest in the phraseology of the Psalm. The boastful one if spoken of as mighty man, and the circumstance that he is a lying, deceitful man, is supposed to point to the great deceiver of prophetic Scriptures.

In our judgment such an interpretation is farfetched, and Psalms 52 is a natural sequence of Psalms 51. The whole setting of the Psalm is accounted for and explained in the incident of David meeting Doeg, the Edomite, the servant of Saul, when he visited Ahimelech, the priest, as recorded in 1 Samuel 21:l-9. It will be remembered that this information led to a fearful massacre, in which Doeg was a leader, and in which boastfulness and lying deceit played conspicuous part. Doeg was a mighty man, the chief of the herdmen. His arrogance is as great as his eventual ruin was eternal. When contemplating upon the former, David clearly prophesied the latter. God will likewise destroy thee for ever, He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent, and root thee out of the land of the living (Psa 52:5, A. S. V.).

Then he moralizes: The righteous also shall see it, and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying, Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness (Psa 52:6-7, A. S. V.). The record of that destruction is written into 1Sa 22:17-19. There are those who profess astonishment at Davids language. They are shocked by what they call gloating over the evil end of an enemy. But let it not be forgotten that true righteousness always rejoices in the overthrow, of the sinful, and the truly humble are, of necessity, glad to see the boastfully proud brought low.

What men call the imprecatory Psalms are not, as they imagine, merely curses of the self-confident, the malignant prayers of the man who imagines himself above and beyond his fellows; they are, instead, a legitimate expression of a heart that delights in good and hates evil. It is doubtful if there is ever a case in history in which the iniquitous are overthrown, but the righteous justly rejoice. As some one has said, The cross as the hope and refuge of repentant sinners, is Gods chief witness against sin.

The conclusion of this chapter I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever. I will give Thee thanks for ever, because Thou hast done it; and I will hope in Thy Name, for it is good, in the presence of Thy saints (Psa 52:8-9, A. S. V.) is not a mere expression of Phariseeism. On the contrary, it is the voice of gratitude that one has been kept, and of decision, concerning continued trust, together with that natural burst of praise that breaks from the lips of him, who rightly pleads and rightly interprets Gods acts in dealing with men.

From this review of the end of the evil man and this personal appreciation of Divine favor it is easy for the Psalmist to pass to the

FRUITFULNESS OF FOLLY

Psalms 5354 deal with that subject.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.

God looked down from Heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up My people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.

There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.

Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God bringeth back the captivity of His people Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.

Save me, O God, by Thy Name, and judge me by Thy strength.

Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth;

For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah.

Behold, God is mine helper; the Lord is with them that uphold my soul.

He shall reward evil unto mine enemies; cut them off in Thy truth.

I will freely sacrifice unto Thee. I will praise Thy Name, O Lord, for it is good.

For He hath delivered me out of all trouble; and mine eye hath seen his desire upon mine enemies (Psalms 53-54).

There are those who would imagine that the Psalmist forgot himself, and on occasions did what the average preacher does, palmed off an old sermon. If you make a comparison between this fifty-third Psalm and Psalm fourteen, you will discover more than resemblance. There is practical identity, clear repetition; but the fifty-fourth Psalm presents entirely new material; and its pathetic plea for salvation, follows logically from the evident effects of infidelity. The man who sees others swelled with skepticism, begs to be saved from a kindred experience. The man who sees others plunging into corruption, and consuming even saints in their mad course of immorality, longs for deliverance from all such danger. God and God alone is his help, and God and God alone is his adequate defense. The grace of the past is his ground of hope for the future; and as he reflects upon the multitude of times that he himself has been delivered out of trouble, he can but praise the Name of the Lord.

Beyond all question, this chapter voices a memory of dark days for David. It is supposed to have been written about the time of Absaloms rebellion, when a conspiracy was formed against him, and to have involved the participation in that rebellion of his most familiar and trusted friend, Ahithophel. Those unhappy incidents of life explain many of the pathetic expressionsthe voice of the enemy, the oppression of the wicked, the betrayal of a friend, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance, one with whom he had taken sweet counsel and with whom he had walked to the house of God. The whole setting fits the circumstance of Absaloms rebellion and Ahithophels betrayal.

Few men ever occupy positions of importance without suffering after a kindred manner. The oppression of natural enemies is comparatively easy to be borne; but the betrayal of friends, that, indeed, is a grief that takes the heart out of one and tends to shake his confidence in humanity itself; tempts one to say, No man can be trusted, and to doubt the reality of unselfish and untarnished affection.

Such an experience, however, leads the truly intelligent to fall back on God and God alone. Thats what the Psalmist does. Listen to his language and learn well the lesson. The words fall hard, upon disappointment, deception, betrayal.

As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me (Psa 55:16).

Evening and morning and at noon will I pray, and cry aloud; and He shall hear my voice.

He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.

God shall hear and afflict them. * *

Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

But Thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in Thee (Psa 55:17-23).

After all, its a good conclusion! The man who can take his eyes off the perfidy of his fellows and turn them to the faithfulness of his Heavenly Father, will never be fully discouraged.

From the old Baptist Hymnal, we used to sing,

Zion stands with hills surrounded,

Zion, kept by power Divine;

All her foes shall be confounded,

Though the world in arms combine;

Happy Zion,

What a favored lot is thine!

Every human tie may perish;

Friend to friend unfaithful prove;

Mothers cease their own to cherish;

Heaven and earth at last remove;

But no changes

Can attend Jehovahs love.

In the furnace God may prove thee,

Thence to bring thee forth more bright,

But can never cease to love thee;

Thou art precious in His sight;

God is with thee,

God, thine everlasting light.

This leads to a pledge of further praise (Psalms 56-57). Each of these opens with a prayer for mercy, but each of them moves to a burst of praise.

Be merciful unto me, O God; for man would swallow me up (Psa 56:1).

About a moment later

In God I have put my trust; I will not fear; what flesh can do unto me (Psa 56:4).

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; for my soul trusteth in Thee; yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge.

Until these; calamities be overpast (Psa 57:1).

My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise.

Awake up, my glory; awake, psaltery and harp; I myself will awake early.

I will praise Thee, O Lord, among the people; I will sing unto Thee among the nations (Psa 57:7-9).

H. M. Lischer was thinking along kindred lines with the Psalmist, when he wrote:

Upward I lift mine eyes;

From God is all my aid;

The God who built the skies,

And earth and nature made;

God is the tower to which I fly;

His grace is nigh in every hour.

My feet shall never slide

And fall in fatal snares,

Since God, my guard and guide,

Defends me from my fears;

Those wakeful eyes that never sleep

Shall Israel keep when dangers rise.

Hast Thou not given Thy Word

To save my soul from death?

And I can trust Thee, Lord,

To keep my mortal breath;

Ill go and come, nor fear to die,

Till from on high Thou call me home.

RECOVERY FROM SIN

Psalms 56, 59, 60 of this Book present the solemn phases of sin, but the grace and justice of God in saving His own not alone from sin but from the sinful.

In Psalms 58 Gods judgment rejoices the righteous. From Psa 58:2 to Psa 58:9 there is a picture of the wicked and of their wickedness; and a prayer that God will bring them to judgment. In Psa 58:10 and Psa 58:11 the Psalmist anticipates the question and declares the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily He is a God that judgest in the earth.

This figure may seem revolting to a people who are living at peace with their fellows, but it comes to have its meaning in the day when the violent seem about to capture the earth, and the wicked smite with the poison of the serpent.

Under all ordinary circumstances we grieve when a man is slain and his blood stains the earth but when such conditions arise as exist in Chicago now, when gangsters will line up men against the wall, seven in number, and shoot them dead as they stand huddled in fear and obedient to the command of a bandit, who will grieve if those men are overtaken and sent to the gallows; or even if the righteousness of the law obtain and they fall before the officers bullets? Gentleness, compassion and tears, these are for times of peace; but justice is essential when the violent threaten society and the wicked work their will against the same.

Gods judgment avenges the righteous. Hear Psalms 59:

Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me.

Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men.

For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord.

They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold.

Thou therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.

They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth heart

But Thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them; Thou shalt have all the heathen in derision.

Because of his strength will I wait upon Thee: for God is my defense.

The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.

Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by Thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield.

For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.

Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah.

And at evening let them return, and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city.

Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.

But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Unto Thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defense, and the God of my mercy.

Here again the exercise of Divine power in judgment in behalf of the righteous is not only defensible, but is essential to the justification of Deity itself. The God who permits wickedness to stalk the land without speaking its rebuke, or smiting its head, would be a questionable God. There are instances in history that tend to show that God is the same yesterday, and to day and for ever. Narcissus was Bishop of Jerusalem, a man of faultless life, so John Foster tells us, faithful in rebuking vice of every kind, but was falsely accused. His first accuser, in closing his testimony on one occasion said, If these things are not so, may I be consumed by fire. A second accuser said, If these things are not so, may I be overtaken by some horrible disease. A third said, If these things are not so, may God smite me blind. And Foster continues, The day came when the house of the first was consumed by fire and he and his family perished in flames, and yet another day when the second was smitten and suffered long under a loathsome disease; and the third seeing the terrible end of his companions confessed his iniquity and wept over his crimes until his sight was utterly gone.

Finally, Gods power shall bring victory to the righteous.

O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast been displeased; O turn Thyself to us again.

Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.

Thou hast shewed Thy people hard things: Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

That Thy beloved may be delivered; save with Thy right hand, and hear me.

God hath spoken in His holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Suecoth.

Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the strength of Mine head; Judah is My lawgiver.

Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe; Philistia, triumph thou because of Me.

Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?

Wilt not Thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and Thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?

Give us help from trouble; for vain is the help of man.

Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies (Psa 60:1-12).

It is a glorious conclusion! Through God we shall be victorious; for it is He that shall tread down our enemies. In all the conflicts of life, the one thing that men need beyond all things else is the favor of God. If conquest is to be ours, if we are to come through victorious against them that would persecute and hurt us, if we are to triumph against trouble, vain is the help of man, he will fail us, but our God, never! If we are to have a victory against that impersonal enemy, and yet that most terrible of all, sin, He alone can give it to us.

God of our strength, enthroned above,The source of life, the fount of love;O let devotions sacred flame,Our souls awake to praise Thy Name

To Thee we lift our joyful eyes,To Thee on wings of faith we rise;Come Thou, and let Thy courts on earth Ring out Thy praise in holy mirth.

God of our strength from day to day,Direct our thoughts and guide our way;O may our hearts united be,In sweet communion, Lord, with Thee.

God of our strength, on Thee we call;God of our hope, our light, our all, Thy Name we praise, Thy love adore,Our Rock, our Shield for evermore.

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

INTRODUCTION

Superscription.To the Chief Musician. See Introduction to Psalms 57. Upon Shushaneduth, is probably a musical direction to the leader of the choir. In the superscription to Psalms 45, 69, , 80, we have Shoahannim, the plural of Shushan. See Introduction to Psalms 45. Shushan-eduth signifies the lily of testimony, and, possibly, contains the first words of some psalm to the melody of which this psalm was to be sung. Michtam of David. See Introduction to Psalms 56. To teach. Moll: As for the expression to teach, there is nothing to decide whether it designates the psalm as designed for the instruction of posterity, or whether it refers particularly to the design of bringing the unmanageable tribes to recognise the Divine choice of David by teaching them that his government was pleasing to God, or whether it states directly its purpose of being committed to memory by the people on account of its national significance, as Deu. 31:19, or whether it is to be explained by 2Sa. 1:18, and, accordingly, is to be regarded as a song of military exercise, which was to be sung in connection with shooting with the bow. When he strove with Aram-naharaim, &c. Aram-naharaim, or Aram of the two rivers, is a name sometimes applied to Syria or Mesopotamia. Aram-Zobah is the name of a portion of Syria, which at this time formed a separate kingdom. Its exact position and limits cannot now he determined. The valley of salt, says Robinson, can be nothing else than the district adjoining the Salt-Mountain, to the south of the Dead Sea, which, in reality, formed the boundary between the ancient territories of Judah and Edom. The events referred to in the superscription are recorded in 2 Samuel 8, and 1 Chronicles 18. This victory is here said to have been achieved by Joab; but in 2Sa. 8:13, it is attributed to David; and, in 2Ch. 18:12, Abishai is mentioned as the conqueror. The explanation of Michaelis is admirable: David, as king, Joab, as commander-in-chief, and Abishai, as sent by his brother on this particular expedition, defeated the enemy. There is a difference in the number mentioned as slain. Here, it is said to be twelve thousand; but in 2Sa. 8:13, and 1Ch. 18:12, it is said to be eighteen thousand. The discrepancy may indicate that both numbers are mere estimates, or it may have arisen from a mistake of a copyist, or, as seems to us most probable, it is accounted for in this way, that here the reference is to one engagement, while the history refers to the entire campaign.

COMPLAINT, PRAYER, AND ENCOURAGEMENT

(Psa. 60:1-4.)

It is probable that the, lamentation and petitions of Psa. 60:1-3 are a record of past experiences, not the utterance of present feelings, because the psalm refers to a time when a considerable measure of prosperity had been granted to Israel. The Poet speaks in the psalm not as an individual, but as the mouthpiece of the whole people. In this first strophe we have three homiletic points

I. Complaint. (Psa. 60:1-3).

1. Great calamities are here complained of. Thou hast broken us; Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it; It shaketh; Thou hast showed Thy people hard things; Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. The reference is to the severe injuries and losses which Israel had formerly sustained in the war against the Syrians, and especially through the irruption of the Edomites. The figures employed by the Psalmistthe trembling and rent land, the people broken, and prostrate as though drunk with strong wineindicate the greatness of the calamities, and the deep sense of them realised by the people. The Church of God upon earth is sometimes visited with sore trials, and is called to pass through fiery persecutions, which cause bitter lamentation, &c.

2. These calamities are regarded as signs of the Divine displeasure. O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast been displeased. It seemed to them in their distresses that God treated them as though they were loathsome and offensive to Him, and as though He were angry with them. Their miseries and calamities are viewed as coming from Him. When His people grievously sin against Him, God withdraws from them the shield of His protection, and allows their enemies to triumph over them.

3. The Divine displeasure is always the result of human sin. Perowne: When men will drink presumptuously of the cup of their wickedness, God forces it, as it were, into their hands, till they have drained the very dregs as the cup of His wrath. He never casts off man until man has first cast off Him. Never forsakes a church until that church has first forsaken Him.

II. Prayer. The Psalmist prays

1. For the restoration of the Divine favour. O turn Thyself to us again; i.e., be gracious to us again, restore to us the signs of Thy favour and friendship. When the favour of God is restored to His people, their prosperity and triumph will not be long delayed. In Thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

2. For the repair of their calamities. Heal the breaches thereof. Repair the disasters which have befallen Thy people. Grant unto them their former prosperity and power. Such is the meaning of the petition. Moll: Wars are for nations what earthquakes are for their lands; God sometimes visits men with both, and then likewise strikes the congregation with hard blows and shakes them; but He heals again the breaches and rents which arise thereby. The Church, in times of distress, should always seek God in prayer. Prayer imparts patience under trial, power to grapple with difficulty, deliverance from distress and calamity.

III. Encouragement. Thou hast given a banner, &c. From an examination of the context, we conclude that the banner is the promise of salvation which God has given to Israel, and the truth is the faithfulness and trustworthiness of the promise. The following are the chief points in this verse as related to the main scope of the Psalm.

1. God has given to His people most glorious promises. What rich and splendid promises He gave to ancient Israel! Victory over their enemies, salvation from calamities, undisturbed possession of Canaan, &c. What exceeding great and precious promises He has given to His spiritual Israel!

2. These promises are thoroughly reliable. Displayed because of the truth. God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?

3. Being so glorious and so reliable, these promises should be conspicuously exhibited, that men may trust in them. The banner must be displayed. These promises of salvation are compared to a highly exalted banner, which serves as a signal to one lying prostrate in his misery, to rise up. To the people of God in depression and distress, let us exhibit the promises which He has given to them.

4. The precious and faithful promises of God should inspire His people with hope and courage in the time of trial. This we take to be the chief idea in this verse. The promises encouraged Israel in their distresses and calamities. And in the present, to the people of God in time of trial, they should impart hope, and, in their prayers for relief, they should strengthen their faith.

CONCLUSION.

1. Let the people of God beware of sin, for it is the parent of darkness, distress, &c.

2. Let the distressed seek Him in penitence and prayer, &c.

3. Let them be encouraged in doing so by the exceeding great and precious promises which He has given to them.

THE GLORIOUS CONFLICT

(Psa. 60:4.)

We have given above what we regard as the meaning of this verse in its relation to the context. We purpose regarding it at present, as setting forth certain features of the great conflict with evil in which the people of God are engaged. Notice

I. The object of the conflict. Many wars have been waged for mean, selfish, ambitious, wicked objects. But here is a banner given for a most worthy object, that it might be displayed because of the truth. The people of God fight for the banishment of ignorance and the promotion of knowledge; for the overthrow of error and the enthronement of truth; for the destruction of evil and the diffusion of goodness; for the utter defeat of the father of lies, and the complete, universal, and perpetual triumph of the King of truth. Here is a holy wara war against all injustice, falsehood, error, oppression, evil; and in favour of righteousness, truth, kindness, holiness.

II. The character of the soldiers. Them that fear Thee. They reverence God; they obey Him, &c. Notice

1. The expulsive power of this fear. It expels all other fear. He who fears God much will fear neither men nor devils at all.

2. The impulsive power of this fear. It inspires enthusiasm in the holy causeimparts courage in the conflict, &c. Cromwells Ironsides were men who feared God, and acted as ever in His presence. Their time before going to battle was spent in prayer, and they went into the fight singing psalms. Their wathchword was, The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. They were never defeated. The men to do the work and fight the battles of the Lord must be godly menmen who fear Him.

III. The authority of the Commander. Thou hast given a banner. God has given to His people the standard as of an army, that they might go forth and fight His battles. He has commissioned His people for this war, and He commands them in it. In this we have a guarantee of

1. The rectitude of the conflict. He would not send us forth in an unrighteous cause, or with unrighteous weapons, or in an unworthy manner. The object, the weapons, and the methods of this war are all righteous and honourable.

2. Support in the conflict. To every soldier fighting beneath His banner, He says, Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. He supports the workman in the vineyard, and the warrior on the battle-plain.

3. Victory in the conflict. The battle may be long and arduous, but the issue is certain victory to those who fight in the cause of God. He who has given us our banner will also give us the palm of the victor.

CONCLUSION.

1. Under whose banner are you fighting? Who is on the Lords side?

2. Who will enlist under the banner of the Cross? Christ, our Leader, will receive loyal recruits.

3. Courage, ye soldiers of Christ, for you shall gain the victory. Teacher, preacher, &c., go on; for you shall surely win the well-fought day.

HUMAN PERFECTION

(Psa. 60:5-12.)

In these verses David rejoices in the victories already achieved by Israel, and in the possession of the promised land so far as they had attained it, and relying on the promises of God, he looks forward to complete victory and possession of the entire land. The promises made to ancient Israel illustrate the promises given to the Christian believer. Canaan is a type of the spiritual inheritance of the Christian. In this way we see here an illustration of human perfection.

I. The nature of human perfection. Here are three aspects of it.

1. Salvation from troubles. That Thy beloved may be delivered, save with Thy right hand, and hear me. Give us help from trouble; for vain is the help of man. The troubles of human life upon earth are many and sometimes severe. But God saves His people from them. He does so sometimes

(1) By removing the cause of the trouble. Or

(2) By giving grace to bear the trouble (2Co. 12:9). Or

(3) By revealing the meaning and uses of trouble (2Co. 4:10-18).

(4) By sanctifying trouble to promote the well-being of the troubled (Rom. 8:28). By the grace of God, the Christian rises superior to trouble, makes it minister to his spiritual advancement, and shall soon pass away from it for ever.

2. Victory over enemies. Israel had to contend with Philistia, Moab, and Edom; but, in His holiness, God had promised them complete victory over every enemy. The Christian has to fight against the world, the flesh, and the devilagainst evil in himself, and in society; but he has the promise of more than victory (Rom. 8:37; Rom. 16:20; Eph. 6:10-13).

3. Possession of promised privileges. God had promised to Israel the complete and peaceful possession of Canaan. The Psalmist looked forward to the realisation of that promise. Glorious are the blessings promised to the Christianpardon, peace, holiness, fellowship with God, heaven. Here are some of the promised privileges (Eze. 36:25-27; 2Co. 3:18; 2Pe. 1:4; 1Jn. 1:3; 1Jn. 3:2. Surely in these promises we have the perfection of being. To have Gods Spirit within us, and to walk in His statutes; to be changed into the image of the glory of the Lord; to be partakers of the Divine nature; to have fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ; to be the sons of God, and to look forward to the vision of God and likeness to Himthis is human perfection.

II. The attainment of human perfection. This is here set before us as

1. Promised by God. God hath spoken in His holiness. Moll: It is most appropriate to understand this promise, which refers to the duration of the possession of the promised land, and the supremacy over neighbouring nations, not of a special oracle given through the Urim and Thummim of the high-priest, or the answer just sought, nor to limit it to the promise given to David (2Sa. 7:9 sq.), and, as a figurative reproduction of the same, but to regard it as a free summary of the ancient prophecies, especially those contained in the Pentateuch. God has premised clearly and repeatedly to the believer the perfection of being and blessedness. He hath spoken in His holiness. He has promised as a holy God, One who is infinitely superior to deceit and change, One who is true, and who ever fulfils His word. The Christians hope of perfection rests upon that promise.

2. Promoted by prayer. The Psalmist prays for the fulfilment of the promise. In so doing

(1), he appeals to the Divine strength. Save with Thy right hand. With the right hand man wields the sword, hurls the spear, effects his tasks, &c. God has power to achieve His purposes and fulfil His promises. He is mighty to save. He is able to do exceeding abundantly, &c.

(2). The Psalmist pleads the Divine relationship. Thy beloved. Gods people are dear to Him as the apple of His eye. He has loved them with an everlasting love. This love is one of the most effective pleas which they can urge in their prayers to Him.

(3). The Psalmist pleads the vanity of human help. Give us help from trouble; for vain is the help of man. Man is unreliable because of the limitation of his power, and because of his mutability. In God is our hope. To Him we direct our prayer. Prayer is a condition of blessing.

3. Guaranteed by past triumphs and present possessions. I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, &c. (Psa. 60:6-10). Shechem on the west of Jordan, and Succoth on the east; Gilead (including the territory occupied by the tribes of Gad and Reuben) and Manasseh on the east, and Ephraim and Judah on the west, are mentioned as representing the whole land of Canaan. The powerful tribe of Ephraim is spoken of as the strength of the head, i.e., the great protector of the most vital interests of the nation in time of war. Judah is named as the lawgiver, probably in reference to the ancient prediction, The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, &c. (Gen. 49:10). Ephraim was the helmet, and Judah the sceptre of the chosen people. All the land of Canaan east and west of the Jordan, which the Poet thus brings into view, was subdued. Moab also was conquered. Moab is my washpot, is a phrase denoting that the Moabites were completely reduced to servitude to Israel (2Sa. 8:2). But the victory of Israel was not complete. Edom remained unsubdued. But its subjugation is anticipated. Upon Edom will I cast my shoe. Moab, in the preceding clause, is described as a mean vessel, in which the feet are washed, and now Edom is spoken of as a servant of the lowest grade, to whom the sandals are thrown, to be removed and cleaned. Or the figure of casting the shoe may signify the placing of the foot upon Edom in token of its complete subjection. There is no doubt that the idea is, that Edom should be completely vanquished by and subjected to Israel. Philistia is also described as conquered. During the period of the Judges the Philistines had severely oppressed Israel; but David completely conquered them (2Sa. 8:1). The strong city was the rock-built and fortified city of Petra, the capital of Idumea or Edom, From the victories already achieved, David was encouraged to believe that God would lead him into Petra, and to complete victory over the Idumeans. So in our spiritual history, our past triumphs and present attainments contribute to our assurance of the full realisation of the privileges which God has promised. They do so in two ways.

(1). Our past achievements tend both to encourage and to qualify us for further achievements in the future.

(2). Gods goodness and faithfulness in the past are an assurance of His blessing in the future. Thus every temptation conquered is a prophecy of the full and final victory. Every privilege enjoyed is a pledge of the complete possession of the inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, &c.

4. Demanding strenuous effort. Through God we shall do valiantly. We must do valiantly if we would attain perfection. If we would gain the victory we must fight manfully in the battle. If we would wear the crown we must patiently bear the cross. If we would win the prize we must run the race that is set before us diligently even to the end (Luk. 12:24; 1Co. 9:24-27; Heb. 12:1-2).

5. Ascribed to God. Through God we shall do valiantly; for He shall tread down our enemies. He gives us courage in battle, patience in trial, strength in labour. Our salvation was begun by Him, and He alone can perfect it. To Him be all the praise. Not unto us, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, &c.

God in Christ is the beginning and the end, the commencement and the crown, of human perfection. For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the Head of all principality and power.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Psalms 60

DESCRIPTIVE TITLE

An Outcry of Anguish, Expostulation and Entreaty, under a Severe Reverse.

ANALYSIS

Stanza I., Psa. 60:1-4, Lamentation over a Defeat. Stanza II., Psa. 60:5-8, Prayer for Victory, based on an Ancient Oracle. Stanza III., Psa. 60:9-12, In Order to Victory, Divine Guidance and Presence Besought.

(Lm.) A TabletBy DavidTo instructWhen he waged war with Aramneharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.[647]

[647] Cp. 44, text and Exposition.

1

O God thou hast rejected ushast broken out upon us,

Thou hast been angrywilt thou not take us back?[648]

[648] So O.G. 998b.

2

Thou hast shattered the landhast split it open,

Heal thou the fractures thereoffor it hath tottered.

3

Thou hast sated[649] thy people with hardship,

[649] So Gt.Gn.

hast let them drink reeling as wine.[650]

[650] So O.G. 947.

4

Thou hast given to them who revere thee a signal,

in order to take flight before the bow![651]

[651] As if with the irony of astonishment.

5

That thy beloved ones may be rescued

oh give victory with thy right hand and answer me.[652]

[652] Written us; but read me. Some cod. (w. 4 ear. pr. edns., Aram., Sep., Syr., Vul.), both write and read meGn.

6

God spake in his sanctuary:[653]

[653] Or: holiness.

Let me exult let me apportion Shechem,
And the vale of Succoth will I measure out:

7

Mine is Gilead and mine Manasseh:

But Ephraim is the defence of my head,

Judah is my commanders staff:[654]

[654] Sep.: my king.

8

Moab is my wash-bowl,

Unto Edom will I cast my sandal:[655]

[655] Thus assigning to both Moab and Edom a menial position.

Over Philistia will I[656] raise a shout of triumph.

[656] So Gt.Gn.

9

Who will conduct me to the city entrenched?

who will lead me as far as Edom?

10

Wilt not thou O God (who hast) rejected us?

yea wilt thou not O God go forth in our hosts?

11

Grant to us help out of distress!

since unreal is a victory[657] by man.

[657] Or: deliverance, salvation.

12

In God we shall do valiantly,

he himself therefore shall[658] tread down our adversaries.

[658] A consenting petition: We are willing to accept his terms, and give him the glory. Cp. Exposition on Psa. 51:7-8.

(Lm. To the Chief Musician.
(CMm.) For stinged instruments.

PARAPHRASE

Psalms 60

(Written by David at the time he was at war with Syria, with the outcome still uncertain; this was written when Joab, captain of his forces, slaughtered 12,000 men of Edom in the Valley of Salt.)

O God, You have rejected us and broken our defenses; You have become angry and detested us. Lord, restore us again to Your favor.
2 You have caused this nation to tremble in fear; You have torn it apart. Lord, heal it now, for it is shaken to its depths.
3 You have been very hard on us and made us reel beneath Your blows.
4, 5 But You have given us a banner to rally to; all who love truth[659] will rally to it; then You can deliver Your beloved people. Use Your strong right arm to rescue us!

[659] Literally, that it may be displayed because of the truth.

6, 7 God has promised to help us! He has vowed it by His holiness! No wonder I exult; Shechem, Succoth, Gilead, Manassehstill are Mine! He says. Judah shall continue to produce kings, and Ephraim great warriors.
8 Moab shall become My lowly servant, and Edom My slave. And I will shout in triumph over the Philistines.
9, 10 Who will bring me in triumph into Edoms strong cities! God will! He who cast us off! He who abandoned us to our foes!
11 Yes, Lord, help us against our enemies, for mans help is useless.
12 With Gods help we shall do mighty things, for He will trample down our foes.

EXPOSITION

By reference to Psalms 44, text and notes, it will be recalled that this psalm as well as that was written in the interval of suspense that occurred between the alarming raid of Edomites while the main portion of Davids army was in Syria, and the effective relief obtained by Joabs sanguinary defeat of these their trouble-some neighbours. The exact circumstances have to be inferred from a few known facts; but, notwithstanding the disadvantage under which we thus labour, this psalm offers a few outstanding features, which are not a little impressive and instructive. It is needless to speak of the temporary alarm, almost amounting to panic, which is so often caused in the history of warfare, by reverses which are serious enough at the time, but soon overcome and forgotten. It is not often that their effect is so vividly described as in the opening stanza of this psalm: this raid from the south seemed for the time like the driving home of a wedge splitting open the whole fabric of the nation; like the administering of a poisoned draught stupefying the senses of the people, It is seen at a glance how both weal and woe are ever closely associated with Jehovahs providence over Israel. It is specially observable how the psalmist bases his plea for restored success to his arms on the records of the past. As we have had repeated occasion to remark, Davids wars were first and foremost a resumption and continuance of those of Joshua. Here is an old record, dating from the conquest, from which the inferiority of Edoms assigned relation to Israel is clearly foretold. And is Edom thus to seize a favorurable chance to overrun the whole land? This can never be tolerated: Who will conduct me to the fortified city among the rocks? We cannot say whether Joab, in his terrible slaughter of Edomites, exceeded his commission, or made more than necessary reprisals, but this we can seethat David, at least, desired, from the outset of this southern expedition, to act in unreserved submission to Divine guidance. To the student of prophecy it is enough to say, Watch Edom, for developments not even yet complete! To the humble saint, who cannot well grasp national and world-wide problems, it may suffice to address the watch-words: Who will conduct me? Vain is a victory by Man! In God we shall do valiantly. May no readers of these lines have adversaries other than those whom God himself will tread down!

Shechem at the foot of Mt. Gerizim, the chief gathering-place in the time of Joshua, stands for the country west of the Jordan: cp. Jos. 24:1. The Valley of Succoth, in the valley of the Jordan on the eastern side, near the Jabbok . . . stands for the country east of the Jordan . . . Gilead, as distinguished from Manasseh, must indicate with it the two chief divisions east of the Jordan, as Ephraim and Judah, the two chief divisions on the west. Accordingly Gilead here is for the southern portion assigned to Reuben and Gad, Num. 32:1-29, and Manasseh for the northern portion, or the land of Bashan. . . . Moab was the troublesome neighbour of Israel, occupying the region east of the Dead Sea, He is to be so reduced that he becomes the wash-basin which is carried by a slave to pour water over his masters hands or feet. . . . Edom, the troublesome neighbour of Judah on the south-east, was also so reduced as to become another slave to whom the master kicks off the sandals when he would have them removed to wash his feetBr.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1.

At what possible time did verses one through three apply to the nation of Israel?

2.

From the superscription of this psalm we could assume that David fought against the Syrians in the far north. Read 2Sa. 8:13-14; 1Ki. 11:15-16 and 1Ch. 18:12-13. While David was away from Jerusalem the Edomites took advantage of his absence and invaded Palestine. News came to Davidhe sent Joab to defend the homeland. In the interval David wrote this psalm. What did Joab do? Read verse nine and notice the faith of David. Discuss.

3.

What is the banner given to them that fear thee? Cf. Psa. 60:4.

4.

Moab and Edom were to be treated in a strange wayMoab is my washpot and Upon Edom will I cast my shoe. What is the meaning of these figures of speech?

5.

Has God ever led in war or has He merely used it as a rod of correction after man initiated it?

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(1) Hast scattered us.Literally, hast broken us. A word used of a wall or fence, Psa. 80:12, but in 2Sa. 5:20 applied to the rout of an army, an event which gave its name to the locality, plain of breaches. So in English:

And seeing me, with a great voice he cried,
They are broken, they are broken.

TENNYSON: Elaine.

On the other hand, the two succeeding verses seem to refer to a political convulsion rather than a military defeat, and it has been conjectured that the breach between the two kingdoms is here indicated. (See the use of perez=breach, in Jdg. 21:15.)

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

1. Thou hast cast us off The first three verses are a complaint but feebly relieved by prayer. Sorrow, disappointment, and astonishment prevail.

Faith seems staggered. Compare Psa 44:9-26. The resemblance of Psa 60:1 to Psa 44:9, shows that the latter is borrowed from the former.

Thou hast scattered us Thou hast broken us down. The word denotes a forcible breaking down, or breaking through; a rending of what was trusted in as safe and firm. Hence they were totally baffled and humbled. The language throughout is highly impassioned.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Heading ( Psa 60:1 a).

‘For the Chief Musician; set to Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach, when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand men of Edom in the Valley of Salt.’

This Psalm is dedicated to the Chief Musician to the tune of Shushan Eduth, ‘the Lily of Testimony’. Compare for this the similar tune for Psalms 80 (shushannim eduth – ‘lilies of testimony’). It is a Michtam, a cry for cover and protection, and was for the purpose of teaching. Possibly the aim was that it should be learned by heart.

The background to the Psalm was when David had invaded Syria (Aram) to the north (2Sa 8:3-8), defeating the kings of Zobah and Damascus. Seemingly the Edomites to the south, with the assistance of the Syrians, had taken advantage of the opportunity to invade Southern Judah. It was at this point that the Psalm was written, when Judah was in despair at this sudden and unexpected invasion by their enemies, a despair shared by David as he learned news of what was going on. Subsequently he sent Joab and Abishai to deal with this invasion with the result that a Syrian-Edomite alliance in the South was driven back, inflicting heavy casualties (2Sa 8:13-14).

The opening of the Psalm is explained by this reverse which David initially suffered, of which he received news while he was fighting in the north. It may well be that while he was conducting his successful campaign in the north, the Edomites, encouraged by a contingent of Syrians, had invaded southern Judah. News of this having reached David he penned this Psalm, in which he calls on God, recognising that the reverse that Israel have suffered reveals that God is angry with them (otherwise He would surely have protected them). Declaring His certainty of victory because YHWH has raised His banner on His people’s behalf, he ends the Psalm by calling on God for His assistance.

He would then in practise proceed to deal with the invaders by despatching Joab with a powerful force, and it was Joab’s brother, Abishai, who would spearhead the attack which slaughtered 6,000 Syrians and 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt (1Ch 18:12), and follow it up by subjugating Edom, thus gaining great renown for David (“getting him a name”). Israel were no longer the underdogs in the area as they had been in the past before the rise of David.

Notice the emphasis on the distinctiveness of His people. They are the ones who ‘fear Him’, that is, reverence Him and respond to Him, whilst He is the One Who ‘loves them and sees them as His own (Psa 60:4-5). It is because of this that He raises up His standard on their behalf, and exultantly declares His control over the whole area, over Ephraim (Israel), Judah and the surrounding nations.

The Psalm may be divided into three parts:

1) David’s Distress On Learning Of The Disastrous Invasion Of Southern Judah By The Combined Syrian-Edomite Forces And His Confidence In The Face Of It (Psa 60:1-4).

2) David Calls On God To Save Them By His Mighty Right Hand So That The People Whom He Loves Might Be Delivered, And Declares The Certainty Of YHWH’s Victory Because The Surrounding Nations Are Subject To Him (Psa 60:5-8).

3) David Declares His Assurance That Although God Has Appeared For A While To Have Abandoned His People, He Will Now Arise And Enable Them To Gain The Victory (Psa 60:9-12).

David’s Distress On Learning Of The Disastrous Invasion Of Southern Judah By The Combined Syrian-Edomite Forces And His Confidence In The Face Of It ( Psa 60:1-4 ).

Recognising that the invasion of Judah by the Syrian-Edomite alliance is a sign of God’s displeasure with Israel, he describes what has happened to southern Judah as being like a severe earthquake, which has caused them to tremble and stagger around. But he is nevertheless confident that God has now given them a banner which can be displayed because they are His true people.

Psa 60:1

‘O God you have cast us off, you have broken us down,

You have been angry, oh restore us again.’

He first calls on God for restoration for Israel, recognising that the reason why they have been cast off and broken down is because God has been angry with them. Were it not so He would surely not have allowed this to happen. Thus all he can do is pray for God to forgive them and restore them.

The rise of David to power, and his subsequent victories, may well have made the people of Israel complacent. They may well have settled down and grown cold towards YHWH, and slack in obedience to the covenant requirements. As a consequence moral behaviour may have sunk to a low level, with violence, corrupt business practises and deceit having become prominent. This would then explain why God had allowed them to suffer this reverse in order to wake them up to their failings.

It is a reminder to us that when we suffer reverses it may well be because God is chastening us because of our failings, with a view to our restoration.

Similar language was later used by the Moabite king in the Moabite inscription, when he cried to the Moabite god Chemosh suggesting that the defeat of Moabite cities by Omri, king of Israel, had been “because Chemosh was angry with his land”. But he would not have seen it as signifying that Chemosh was concerned with their moral state. The gods of foreign nations had no such concerns. Rahter he would see it as indicating that Chemosh was angry because he was not receiving the respect that he ‘deserved’.

Psa 60:2

‘You have made the land to tremble, you have torn it in two,

Heal its breaches, for it shakes.’

He pictures the land as having been devastated, almost as though a severe earthquake had struck it (compare Isa 24:18-20). Through the invasion God has made them tremble, and rent them apart, and devastated their towns, and shaken them, and he prays that He will therefore now put right the damage that has been done, and heal the breaches that have been made. He is not just sending Joab to deal with the situation, but calling on God to play His essential part.

We too, when we recognise that God has dealt with us in this way, should also call on God for His forgiveness and healing, looking to Him for restoration.

Psa 60:3

‘You have shown your people hard things,

You have made us drink the wine of staggering.’

But it is not only the land that has been devastated, but also the people. The people have also experienced hard things, and have been made by God to drink strong wine that has made them drunk, in other words, to experience His indignation in a way that has made them stagger. “Drinking the wine of staggering” is a regular picture of the effect on people of God’s revealed anger (Psa 75:8; Jer 25:15 ff.; Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22). When our foundations are being shaken it may well be that God has a purpose in shaking our foundations.

Psa 60:4

‘You have given a banner to those who fear you,

That it may be displayed because of the truth. [Selah.’

But God has not totally deserted His people, for to them, as the people who fear Him, He has ‘given a banner’ (raised His standard), a sign of His approval and support. It is a call for the people to rally behind it. It may be that this was a literal banner proclaiming the Name of YHWH, which Israel bore into battle. Or I could have been a metaphorical one, indicating an assurance of YHWH’s support for His people and guaranteeing victory (see Psa 60:6-8). Its purpose is twofold. Firstly in order to call His people to stand firm for the truth, and secondly in order that it might be displayed or set up as a proof to all the nations, that Israel are truly His people who bring His truth to the world, something evidenced by their victory. Indeed, as we learn elsewhere, YHWH IS their banner (Exo 17:15).

‘Selah.’ At this point there is a pregnant pause in the music in order to draw attention to the wonder of it.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Psalms 60

Psa 60:1 (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.

Psa 60:1 “Michtam of David” Word Study on “Michtam” – Strong says the Hebrew word “michtam” ( ) (H4387) literally means, “an engraving,” and as a technical term, “a poem.” He says this word comes from a Hebrew root word ( ) (H3799), which means “to carve, or engrave.” Therefore, some translations prefer to use a poetic term ( NLT, Rotherham), while others prefer a more literal translation ( DRC, LXX, VgClem).

NLT, “A psalm of David”

Rotherham, “A Precious Psalm of David”

DRC, “The inscription of a title to David himself”

LXX, “ ”

VgClem, “Tituli inscriptio, ipsi David”

Comments – A similar Hebrew word ( ) (3800) means, “something carved out, i.e. ore; hence, gold.” Peter Craigie tells us that some scholars translate the title “A Golden Psalm” from “early rabbinical interpretations.” [83] Therefore, we get a variety of translations that carry the idea of treasure or gold.

[83] Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50, in Word Biblical Commentary: 58 Volumes on CD-Rom, vol. 19, eds. Bruce M. Metzger, David A. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker (Dallas: Word Inc., 2002), in Libronix Digital Library System, v. 2.1c [CD-ROM] (Bellingham, WA: Libronix Corp., 2000-2004), 154.

LITV, YLT, “A Secret Treasure of David”

Luther, “Ein glden Kleinod David”

There are six so called “Michtam Psalms” (16, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60), which open with the phrase “Michtam of David.” A similar title “the writing of Hezekiah” is used as the title for the psalm of Hezekiah in Isa 38:9-20, which uses a similar Hebrew word ( ) (H4385), means “a writing, the characters of something written, or a document such as a letter, a copy, an edict, or a poem.”

Psa 60:6  God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.

Psa 60:6 “God hath spoken in his holiness” – Comments – The phrase “in his holiness” is used in:

Psa 108:7, “God hath spoken in his holiness ; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.”

Amo 4:2, “The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness , that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks.”

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

A Hymn of War and Victory.

To the chief musician upon Shushaneduth, to be chanted in public worship according to the melody “The Lily of Testimony,” this tune indicating also the contents of the psalm as referring to God’s faithfulness in preserving His people and granting the armies of Israel victory, Michtam of David, a poem in epigrammatic form, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim, that is, with Mesopotamia beyond the Euphrates, and with Aram-zobah, the Syria of Zobah, 2 Samuel 10, when Joab returned and smote of Edom, whose armies had invaded Canaan from the south, 2Sa 8:13, in the Valley of Salt, near the southwestern end of the Dead Sea, twelve thousand. David, as king, was commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel, the victory therefore being credited to him, but Joab was the general of the army, and he dispatched his brother Abishai, the commander of this expedition, which, as it seems, slew twelve thousand Edomites in one battle and a total of eighteen thousand in the entire campaign, 2Sa 8:13; 1Ch 18:12.

v. 1. O God, Thou hast cast us off, this being the conclusion David arrived at from the fact of Edom’s invasion; Thou hast scattered us, literally, “broken us,” that is, overwhelmed, overthrown them by this incursion of the enemies; Thou hast been displeased, the visitation having the appearance of an angry punishment on the part of God. O turn Thyself to us again, literally, “Give restoration to us,” giving evidence once more of His grace and favor.

v. 2. Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it, the picture being that of all Canaan upset by an earthquake, to which this visitation was compared. Heal the breaches thereof, the losses caused by the enemy’s inroads, which were like the rents torn by an earthquake; for it shaketh, the entire country resembling a tottering building, in danger of collapse. And still another picture David uses to set forth the plight of stricken Israel.

v. 3. Thou hast showed Thy people hard things, laid a heavy burden upon them; Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment, the wine of His wrath, which is intoxication, said of the commotion, of the internal confusion of spirit and of the bodily weakness, for all this had been brought about by the news of Edom’s advance. At the same time, David did not yield to utter despair; he clung to his confidence in the Lord.

v. 4. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, to which they could flee, around which they could rally, that it may be displayed because of the truth, lifted up to inspire Israel with new courage, so that they would trust in the sustaining power of His almighty hand and rely upon the faithful promises which God had made in His holiness. Selah.

v. 5. That Thy beloved, the children of God’s love, the people of Israel, may be delivered, save with Thy right hand, the symbol of His almighty power, and hear me. The plea having been made, David now continues in a strain of victory, anticipating the joy over the overthrow of the Edomites.

v. 6. God hath spoken in His holiness, by which He upheld Israel’s possession of the Promised Land. I will rejoice, exulting in the possession of the complete victory which was sure to come to Israel; I will divide Shechem, in the center of the country west of Jordan, as representing Canaan proper, and mete out the Valley of Succoth, east of Jordan, his measuring out of the land showing him to be in undisputed possession of it.

v. 7. Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine, representing the northeastern section of the country held by the children of Israel; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head, his helmet, for this tribe had obtained the right of the first-born, Gen 48:5-19; 1Ch 5:1; Judah is my lawgiver, his scepter, for the kings of Judah were of the family of David, the descendant of Judah, and they were the bearers of the Messianic promise, 1Ch 5:2;

v. 8. Moab, here mentioned by way of contrast, is my wash-pot, being obliged to perform the work of a servant in holding a wash-basin for the king; over Edom will I cast out my shoe, to indicate that this country was reduced to the rank of a slave; Philistia, triumph thou because of me, rather, “cry aloud,” as one who has been overcome and is now wailing in anguish and terror. The victory being so certain, the conqueror is eager to start on his victorious march.

v. 9. Who will bring me into the strong city, the capital of the Idumeans, the renowned fortress Petra? Who will lead me into Edom?

v. 10. Wilt not Thou, O God, to whom he here confidently turns, which hadst cast us off, as he had complained in v. 1, and Thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies? by permitting this reversal to strike them.

v. 11. Give us help from trouble, affording them deliverance from the enemy; for vain is the help of man, this conviction being the basis of every trustful prayer.

v. 12. Through God we shall do valiantly, sure of winning the victory; for He it is that shall tread down our enemies. “Israel conquers in God, and God, who is in Israel, will deservedly trample Edom under foot through Israel. ” (Delitzsch. ) That is the nature of a true prayer, that it is certain of the best fulfillment by virtue of God’s favor; for God’s answer to the prayer of believers always accords with their best interests.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Cheth. True Piety the Calling of the Believers.

v. 57. Thou art my Portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Thy words. To realize at all times that God is his Portion, his Inheritance, and that for that reason he intends to observe the words of the Lord, this is the calling of the faithful, in this everyone who is a child of God fulfils his destiny.

v. 58. I entreated Thy favor, literally, “I appealed with supplications to Thy face,” with my whole heart, begging for a manifestation of divine grace; be merciful unto me according to Thy word, the believer once more holding the Lord to His promise.

v. 59. I thought on my ways, carefully examining them from all sides to see whether they were in agreement with God’s Word, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies, deciding quickly in favor of following the Word of God all alone.

v. 60. I made haste, for the Lord delights in quick decisions in His favor, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments, always ready to exercise his piety in good works.

v. 61. The bands of the wicked have robbed me, rather, “the cords of the wicked have surrounded me,” that is, they have laid their snares for him as they do for all children of God who show that their profession of godliness is sincere; but I have not forgotten Thy Law; in fact, the remembrance of the Word of God gives to the believer his wonderful strength.

v. 62. At midnight, as he meditates upon the wonderful manifestations of God’s favor, I will rise to give thanks unto Thee because of Thy righteous judgments, to acknowledge with proper gratitude the judgments of God’s righteousness.

v. 63. I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, whose piety causes them to seek companionship of people of their own way of thinking, and of them that keep Thy precepts. All believers are united by their common faith, in a common cause.

v. 64. The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy, the evidences of His merciful blessings are everywhere to be found; teach me Thy statutes; for only the proper appreciation of the Word of God as the highest treasure given by God will cause one to realize the incomparable greatness of His mercy. All Christians are eager to possess the light, the consolation, and the strength of the Word of God.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

IN the case of this psalm, the “title” is again our best guide, both with respect to the author and to the occasion of the composition. The title is unusually full, and contains such a number of minute particulars, as a later compiler or commentator would scarcely have ventured upon. The history involved in the titlereconcilable on the whole with the accounts in 2 Samuel and 1 Chroniclesis certainly not contained in those accounts. It implies an author, writing from his own knowledge of factsan author who, if not David himself, must have been a contemporary.

The psalm itself has every characteristic of the Davidic styleliveliness, rapid transitions, terse yet comprehensive language, strong metaphors, intense feeling, hopefulness. It belongs to the time when, after his first Syrian campaign (2Sa 8:3-8), David was engaged in a war with Edom of a most sanguinary character (2Sa 8:13; 1Ki 11:15, 1Ki 11:16; 1Ch 18:12)marked by striking vicissitudes, and at least one grievous defeat of the forces of Israel (verses 1-3, 12)but terminating in a glorious victory, and in the subjugation and occupation of the country (2Sa 8:14; 1Ch 18:13). The psalm is written after the great defeat, and before the fortune of war has turned. God is pleaded with (verses 1-5), reminded of the promises which he has made (verses 16-8), exhorted in the strongest terms to give his help (verses 9-11), finally pronounced a sure Helper, through whom Israel is certain to obtain complete victory. (verse 12).

There are three strophes in the psalm
the first of five verses (verses 1-5);
the second of three (verses 6-8); and
the third of four (verses 9-12).

Psa 60:1

O God, thou hast east us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased (comp. Psa 44:9-11). The expressions used imply a signal defeat, which, though not mentioned in the historical books, harmonizes with the account given in 1 Kings of the severe treatment of Edom by Joab. From the fact of the defeat the psalmist infers the ground of itGod’s displeasure. O turn thyself to us again; rather, O restore to us (i.e. make restoration to us) again (see the Revised Version).

Psa 60:2

Thou hast made the earth (rather, the land) to tremble. The blow struck convulsed the whole landi.e. the people in it. It is not really an earthquake, but a panic fear, that is intended. Thou hast broken it; or, rent it. The imagery of an earthquake is kept up. Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. The panic fear still continued.

Psa 60:3

Thou hast showed thy people hard things; literally, a hard thing, or harshness; i.e. severity. Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment; or, of trembling (as in Isa 51:17, Isa 51:22); comp. Psa 75:8; Jer 25:15-17 : Jer 49:12; Eze 23:32-34; Zec 12:2. The outpouring of Divine vengeance is represented under the figure of presenting a cup, which the doomed man is forced to drink.

Psa 60:4

Thou hast given a tanner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. So most commentators. But the ancient rendering, recently revived by Professor Cheyne, is perhaps preferable. According to this, the meaning is, “Thou hast indeed given a banner to them that fear thee (see Exo 17:15), but only that they may flee before the bow” ( , LXX.). On the last occasion that the banner had been lifted, it had seemed to be, not so much a rallying point, as a signal for dispersion.

Psa 60:5

That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me; rather, hear us. From complaint (Psa 60:1-4) the psalmist abruptly turns to prayer, thus closing the first strophe with a gleam of hope.

Psa 60:6-8

Appeal is next made in God’s promises. Some suppose that a Divine oracle had been recently given to David himself, and that he here records the words of it. But, in that case, it is difficult to account for the despondent tone of Psa 60:1-4. Hengstenberg’s explanation seems preferable, that David now encourages himself by a “reference to the general aspect of the assurances given in the Pentateuch in regard to the possession of the land of Canaan in its widest extent, and to victory over hostile neighbours,” and that he has his eye especially on the blessing of Jacob (Gen 49:1-33) and the blessing of Moses (Deu 33:1-29). If these assurances are to be depended on, Israel cannot now be about to succumb to Edom.

Psa 60:6

God hath spoken in his holiness; or, promised by his holiness (comp. Psa 89:35). As God is holy, he cannot falsify his promises. I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth; i.e. I will distribute Canaan among my peopleboth the western region, of which Shechem was the chief town (1Ki 12:25), and the eastern, which contained “the valley of Succoth” (Gen 33:17). God, having assigned the whole laud to his people (Gen 13:14, Gen 13:15), “meted it out” through Joshua, his servant, and gave to each tribe its inheritance.

Psa 60:7

Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Gilead was an old name for the territory beyond the Jordan (Gen 37:25), especially the more northern portion of it. Manasseh had a portion of this territory assigned to him (Num 32:39-42; Jos 17:1). But Manasseh had also a large inheritance on the western side of Jordan (Jos 17:7-11). It is not quite clear whether both the divisions of Manasseh, or the eastern one only, is here intended. Ephraim also is the strength of mine head. Ephraim was the most important of the tribes next to Judah, and held the central position in the western region, forming the main strength of the northern kingdom after the separation under Jeroboam (see 1Ki 12:25; and comp. Isa 7:2, Isa 7:5, Isa 7:9, Isa 7:17; Isa 9:21; Hos 4:17; Hos 5:7-14; Hos 6:4-10, etc.). Judah is my lawgiver (comp. Gen 49:10; Num 21:17); i.e. “my ruling tribe”the tribe to which I have committed the government of my people” (see 1Sa 16:1; 2Sa 2:4; 2Sa 5:1-3; Psa 78:68).

Psa 60:8

Moab is my washpot. A term of extreme contempt (see Herod; 2:172). The subjugation of Moab was prophesied by Balaam (Num 24:17), and effected by David (2Sa 8:2). Over Edom will I cast out my shoe. The reference to Rth 4:7, Rth 4:8, which is commonly made, is very doubtful. Probably no more is intended than that Edom will be a slave of so low a rank as only to clean the shoes of its master. The subjugation of Edom, like that of Moab, had been prophesied by Balaam (Num 24:18). Philistia, triumph thou because of me. The context will not allow of this rendering, since Philistia, like the other enemies of Israel, must be triumphed over, and not triumph. Translate, over Philistia is my triumphing (comp. Psa 108:9).

Psa 60:9-12

Rehearsal of God’s promises has raised the psalmist out of despondency, and he can now confidently call God to his assistance. Edom is to be conquered, for so God has premised (Psa 60:8). But how? Who will lead out Israel’s armies? Will God, who has lately “cast Israel off”? If not, it must he man. But “vain is the help of man” (Psa 60:11). So the call is made that God will give help in the troubleand with the call comes full confidenceand the triumphant cry goes forth, “Through God we shall do valiantly; for he it is that shall tread down our enemies” (Psa 60:12).

Psa 60:9

Who will bring me into the strong city? The “strong city” of Edom was Sela, “The Cliff”now Petra. And it was a city of enormous strength, rock hewn in the main, and guarded by frightful precipices. Who will conduct me through its strong natural and artificial defences, and give me possession of the place? Who will lead me into Edom? Who will even bring me into the country? The Edomites, flushed with their recent victory, will, of course, dispute my entrance. Who will enable me to overcome their resistance?

Psa 60:10

Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? rather, Hast not thou, O God, cast us off? Can we expect thee to lead us, when thou hast so lately cast us off, and, as we hear it said on all sides, dost not go out with our armies? A reference, perhaps, to Psa 44:9.

Psa 60:11

Give us help from trouble. Faith combats doubt, and, overcoming it, finds an utterance”Give us help now, whatever thou hast done in the past.” Our trouble is great. “Help us from it.” For vain is the help of man. We have, therefore, no hope but in thee.

Psa 60:12

Through God we shall do valiantly. No miracle is expected or asked for. Let God look upon us favourablylet his light shine into our hearts, and then “we ourselves shall do valiantly”we shall gain the victorywe shall accomplish the prophecy of Balaam (Num 24:18); and Edom shall pass into our possession. (For the fulfilment, see 2Sa 8:14; 1Ch 18:13.) For he it is that shall tread down our enemies (comp. Psa 44:5), which has the same meaning, “Through thy Name will we tread them under that rise up against us.” (For the extent to which Edom was trodden down, see 1Ki 11:15, 1Ki 11:16.)

HOMILIES BY W. FORSYTH

Psa 60:1-12

Despondency and its antidote.

There are heights and depths in the Divine life. We may pass quickly from the one to the other. When at the height of triumph we may be brought low. When in the depths of despondency we may be raised up. This psalm speaks of despondency. We see

I. HOPE RISING IN THE MIDST OF DESPONDENCY. (Psa 60:1-4.) We are apt to fix our mind on our trials. They bulk large. They press us sorely. We dwell upon their grievousness. We shrink from their effects, bewildered and dismayed (Psa 60:3). Besides, we are too ready to think of our trials as judgments. Our sins make us afraid. God seems to be visiting us in wrath, instead of mercy. But this is our infirmity. As we turn to God with humility, hope rises in our hearts. God is not against us, but for us. If he visits us with trials, it is for our good. His banner over us is still the banner of love.

II. FAITH IN GOD‘S PROMISES SUSTAINING THE SOUL IN DESPONDENCY. (Psa 60:5-8.) The words of Moses, Samuel, and Nathan had sunk deep into the psalmist’s heart. He remembered them, and was comforted. How much more reason have we to say, “God hath spoken in his holiness”! We have not only the words, that David had, but many words besidesnot only the words of prophets and apostles, but the words of him of whom it was said, “Thou hast the words of eternal life.” The Holy Scriptures are rich in promises (2Pe 1:3, 2Pe 1:4; 2Co 1:20). We may take one and another to the throne of grace, and say, “Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction” (Psa 119:49, Psa 119:50). Two rabbis, it is said, approaching Jerusalem, observed a fox running up the hill of Zion. Rabbi Joshua wept, but Rabbi Eliezer laughed. “Wherefore dost thou weep?” asked Eliezer. “I weep because I see what is written in the Lamentations fulfilled: ‘Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it'” (Lam 5:18). “And therefore do I laugh,” said Eliezer; “for when I see with my own eyes that God has fulfilled his threatenings to the letter, I have thereby a pledge that not one of his promises shall fail, for he is ever more ready to show mercy than judgment.”

III. PRAYER TO GOD GAINING THE VICTORY OVER DESPONDENCY. (Verses 9-12.) There are great things promised, but how are they to be performed? If we had to do with man, we might have doubts and fears. But we have to do with God, and he is both able and willing to fulfil his word. Remembering his character and his works, we rise above all desponding and depressing influences. Committing ourselves

to the keeping of the Lord of hosts, we go forth to the fight with brave hearts. “Jehovah-Nissi” is our watchword, and we are able to say, “Thanks be unto God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Co 15:57).W.F.

HOMILIES BY C. SHORT

Psa 60:1-12

Assurance in prayer.

I. THE PRAYER OF THE REJECTED FOR RESTORATION. (Psa 60:1-5.) The grounds of the prayer are:

1. Their great need. Felt themselves as if cast offthe very earth trembling with their calamity. They had been reduced to the helplessness of one overcome with wine.

2. The faithfulness of God to his promises was their banner. (Psa 60:4.) They could pray because they carried this banner.

3. They could hope and pray on account of their relation to God. (Psa 60:5.) They were beloved of God, and could urge the claim of affection.

II. WHATEVER LOSSES WE SUFFER WE HAVE VIRTUALLY UNIVERSAL POSSESSIONS. (Psa 60:6-8.) “As having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” All things are yours: things present, and things to come,” etc.

III. THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF GOD MUST LEAD US INTO THE NATURAL POSSESSION.

1. God alone can comfort us in trouble. (Psa 60:11.)

2. God alone can give us the victory over our strongest foes. (Psa 60:12.) “If God be for us, who can be against us?”S.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Psalms 60.

David complaining to God of former judgment, now, upon better hope, prayeth for deliverance: comforting himself in God’s promises, he requesteth that help whereon he trusteth.

To the chief Musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim, and with Aram-zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom, in the Valley of Salt, twelve thousand.

Title. al shushan eduth. Upon Shushan-eduth, &c.] See on Psalms 22. Houbigant renders it, Upon the hexachord of the testimony. Others render it, Upon the lily of the testimony; Michtam, or golden psalm of David. We here subjoin some further remarks on the titles of the Psalms by the author of the Observations. D’Herbelot, says he, observes, that “the works of seven of the most excellent Arab poets who flourished before the times of Mohammedanism, were called Al Moallacat, because they were successively fixed by way of honour to the gate of the temple of Mecca; and also Al-Modhahebat; which signifies gilded or golden, because they were written in letters of gold upon Egyptian paper:” and in a following page the same writer informs us, that the Arabs, when they would praise any one’s poems, were wont to say, “These are the golden verses of such or such a one;” which he seems to suppose was derived from the writing of these poems in letters of gold. Now, might not the present psalm, and those five others which are distinguished by the same epithet, be called golden, on account of their having been, on some occasion or other, written in letters of gold, and hung up in the sanctuary, or elsewhere? Not (it may be) on account of their being judged to have a superior excellence to the other hymns of this collection, absolutely speaking, but on account of their being suited to some particular circumstances which might occasion their being treated with this distinction. Hezekiah, we know, went up to the house of the Lord, and spread the letter of Sennacherib before him there; Isa 37:14 hung it up, it may be, before the Lord. What Hezekiah did with a paper of threatening, other princes might do with these psalms of encouragement and hope. Some have imagined that they were called golden psalms merely on account of their distinguished excellence. That distinguished excellence, however, doth not appear; and what is more, the ancient Jews, it is certain, had a different way of marking this out: as, The song of songs, which is Solomon’s; not the golden song of Solomon. Ainsworth supposes the word michtam to signify a golden jewel. That the affixing such a title to a psalm would have been agreeable enough to the eastern taste anciently, we may believe, from what appears in these modern times. D’Herbelot has actually mentioned a book intitled bracelets of gold, containing an account of all that history had mentioned relating to a month sacred among the Arabs. I cannot, however, easily admit that this is the true meaning of the word michtam, because there are several psalms which have this word prefixed to them; whereas, if it signified a jewel of gold, it would have been intended, if we may judge by modern titles of eastern books, to have distinguished one psalm from all the rest. To which may be added, that some of these psalms have another name given them; the 56th being called the dove dumb in distant places; and the present, the lily of the testimony. I will only farther add, that this writing in letters of gold still continues in the east. Maillet, speaking of the royal Mohammedan library in Egypt, which was so famous, and was afterwards destroyed by Saladine, says, “The greatest part of there books were written in letters of gold, such as the Turks and Arabs, even of our time, made use of in the titles of their books.” And a little after, speaking of the ignorance of the modern Egyptians, as to the burnishing of gold, so that their gilding has nothing of the ancient splendour, he adds, “It is true, to make up this defect, they have preserved the art of making gold liquid, and fit for ink. I have seen some of their books written with this gold, which were extremely beautiful.” See Observations, p. 318.

When he strove with Adram-naharaim That is Syria of the rivers, or that part of it which is called Mesopotamia, as lying between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates. The Syrians, both here and in other places, were called Aram, because they were the descendants of Aram, the son of Shem, Gen 10:22. Aram-Zobah is that part of Syria which was called Zobah. 2Sa 8:5. As David’s victory over Idumea was different from that over the Syrians, the next clause should be rendered literally, And Joab returned.

This conquest of Joab’s is to be looked upon as distinct from that of Abishai, mentioned 2Sa 8:13 and 1Ch 18:12. After Abishai had slain eighteen thousand of the Idumeans, Joab fell upon them again; and, as the title of this psalm particularly informs us, smote in the same place twelve thousand more, and afterwards destroyed them entirely. See 1Ki 11:15-16. The Valley of Salt, is in Idumaea, near the Black Sea.

Psa 60:1. Thou hast scattered us See 1Sa 1:7. Mudge renders these words, Thou hast made a breach upon us.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Psalms 60

To the chief Musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram naharaim and with Aram-zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand

1O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us,

Thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.

2Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it:

Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.

3Thou hast showed thy people hard things:

Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.

4Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,

That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

5That thy beloved may be delivered;

Save with thy right hand, and hear me.

6God hath spoken in his holiness;

I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem,
And mete out the valley of Succoth.

7Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;

Ephraim also is the strength of mine head;

Judah is my lawgiver;

8Moab is my washpot;

Over Edom will I cast out my shoe:
Philistia, triumph thou because of me.

9Who will bring me into the strong city?

Who will lead me into Edom?

10Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off?

And thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?

11Give us help from trouble:

For vain is the help of man.

12Through God we shall do valiantly:

For he it is that shall tread down our enemies.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Its Contents and Composition.For the first part of the Title comp. Intro., 12, No. 13, 8, No. 4. The second part refers us to the time of the wars of David with the Ammonites and their Aramaic confederates, repeated and carried on with variable success. Among these was the war with the king of Zoba, who, according to 2Sa 10:16, extended his rule across the Euphrates, but seems to have had his capital between the Orontes and the Euphrates northeast of Damascus. When now here the Aram of both streams, that is to say, Mesopotamia, is mentioned together with Aram Zoba and Edom, whilst 2 Samuel 8, besides these last two, mentions Damascus, there is no actual contradiction but differences in relation which may be used with great justice in favor as well as against the authenticity of the title and its derivation from an older and more complete historical source, especially as here the overthrow of Edom in the vale of Salt which is destitute of vegetation, and is about ten miles wide at the southern extremity of the dead sea (Robin. Bib. Researches, II., 109), is referred back to Joab, Davids general, whilst 2 Samuel 8 refers to David himself, and 1 Chronicles 18, 12 to Abishai, the brother of Joab, 2Sa 10:10. Instead of the number 12,000 slain mentioned here, these two passages have 18,000.4 The composition of the Psalm has been placed more correctly in the time before the battle in the valley of salt (Delitzsch), than afterwards (Hengst.), because it is necessary to suppose that the Edomites had fallen upon the land, laying it waste from the south when David had marched against his powerful enemies in the North and victoriously forced them back, but sent off his general Joab against the Edomites. To this laying waste the land, the lamentation which begins the Psalm refers (Psa 60:1-3). There is then a reference to Divine incitement (Psa 60:4) which introduces the prayer for Divine help (Psa 60:5), which passes over into the appropriation of a Divine oracle promising victory (Psa 60:6-8). Upon this is based the renewed petition, intensified by its inconsistency with the present situation (Psa 60:9-10) into pressing supplication for Divine assistance (Psa 60:11-12). Psalms 44 of the sons of Korah, in which Psa 60:9 corresponds with Psa 60:10 of this Psalm, would then have been composed subsequently to this Psalm of David. The latter part of our Psalm from Psa 60:5 is repeated in not so good a form in Psalms 108 This relation is not favorable to the many hypotheses differing exceedingly from one another, which refer this Psalm to events of the Maccabean times (Rudinger, Hesse, Olsh., Hitzig), or to the times after the exile (Ewald, Kster, Maurer). Even the supposition that the promise in the oracle of God expresses the idea of the restoration of the unity of the empire which is usual in the prophets, which presupposes the division and the experience of its sad consequence (Hupfeld), cannot be established by the contents or the expressions of this oracle. As for the expression to teach, there is nothing to decide whether it designates the Psalm as designed for the instruction of posterity (most interpreters), or whether it refers particularly to the design of bringing the unmanageable tribes to recognize the Divine choice of David by teaching them that his government was pleasing to God (Calvin), or whether it states directly its purpose of being committed to memory by the people on account of its national significance as Deu 31:19 (Hengst.), or whether it is to be explained by 2Sa 1:18, and accordingly is to be regarded as a song of military exercise, which was to be sung in connection with shooting with the bow (Delitzsch).

Str. I., Ver 1. Hast broken us.This Hebrew word is used by David, 2Sa 5:20, as a suitable term for the overthrow of the Philistines in the sense of breaking through, as frequently elsewhere, e. g. Psa 80:12; Psa 89:40, of breaking through a wall and figuratively, e.g. Psa 106:29; Exo 19:22, of the crushing blows of God. We are not then obliged to think here of the tearing asunder of the tribes of Israel, as Jdg 21:15.Give us restoration again.[Thus Moll, who finds the object in the verb , denoting to give restoration or refreshment. Hupfeld would supply the object from the preceding verb, appease Thine anger towards us. He refers to the phrase let go, and appease anger, and to Isa 12:1. With , the dat. comm., it is thus equivalent to: be gracious to us again, turn to us Thy grace again. Others find the object understood in favor: restore to us (Thy favor or salvation). Perowne, following Ewald, translates: restore us again, comp. Isa 58:12.C. A. B.]

Psa 60:2. The figures of this verse are derived from the earthquake shaking the whole land and making rents in it as breaches in a tottering building (Isa 30:13, &c.).

Psa 60:3. Wine to intoxication.This is literally wine, which is intoxication. It is the gift of God from the cup of wrath (Isa 51:17 sq.), from the hand of God (Psa 75:9). It is a figure, not of the total passionateness, folly and infatuation of the brotherly hatred raging in their bowels which has plunged the people into ruin as a punishment (Hupf.), but of the condition at once of internal confusion of spirit (Geier, et al.) and of helpless bodily weakness (Hengst.), Isa 19:14; Job 12:25, of the senseless condition in which man is unable to advise or help himself, and is in danger of falling (Hitzig), and indeed under the point of view of a Divine punishment.

Psa 60:4. To be lifted up because of truth.This verse makes the transition from lamentation to prayer, even if the last member of the verse should be translated: flee before the bow (the ancient versions, Ewald, Hitzig, Hupfeld). This likewise allows the reference to a Divine benefit, rendering the deliverance of the people possible. It is more appropriate to derive the reflexive (not to speak of. the doubtful passage, Zec 9:16), here, on account of its connection with from the same root. = to lift up (Num 21:8) rather than from =to flee, especially as in the meaning: truth is established by Pro 22:21 (Chald.). On the other hand, the supposition that we are here to read =bow, or that instead of this word, there is here an incorrect Aramaic spelling, is somewhat arbitrary. The interpretation that =with respect to, with regard to (Baur), to designate the occasion and the motive=because of, is established by passages like Deu 28:20; Neh 5:15 (Delitzsch). In this state of the case, the truth is not the true religion or the righteousness of the cause (De Wette), for which God has given the signal to arise in war (Hitzig, Roster, Maurer), but the truth and trustworthiness of the banner which is according to the context, the promise which God has spoken in His holiness.

Str. II., Psa 60:6 sq. Has spoken in His holinessThis is not in His sanctuary, or: swearing by His holiness, Psa 89:36; Amo 4:2. It is most appropriate to understand this promise, which refers to the duration of the possession of the promised land and the supremacy over neighboring nations, not of a special oracle given through the Urim and Thummim of the high-priest, or the answer just sought (J. D. Mich., Kster), nor to limit it to the promise given to David, 2Sa 7:9 sq., and as a figurative reproduction of the same (Delitzsch), but to regard it as a free summary of the ancient (Hengst.) prophecies, especially those contained in the Pentateuch (Hengst.). For the contents and form of the following words are opposed to the supposition of a direct address of God. The subject of the following predicates can only be either personified Israel (De Wette, et al.) or their king. If we more naturally think of the latter, there is no reason at all for the supposition, that God speaks in His character as ruler and in poetic anthropomorphic forms (Kster, Olsh., Hupfeld, Hitzig). For if David has appropriated these promises to himself as king and at the same time speaks as the author of this Psalm in the first person, all objections are removed such as arise from the absence of a conjunction which would indicate a consequence of the divine oracle.At first ancient or renowned places (Olsh.) are mentioned, which appear significantly in the history of Jacob (Hengst.), Shechem on the west of the Jordan (Jos 13:27), the valley of Succoth on the east of the Jordan (Gen 33:17; Jdg 8:4), not far from the Jabbok in the tribe of Gad, which latter, together with the tribe of Reuben, comprehended the here mentioned Gilead and Manasseh (Psa 60:7). Then the two chief tribes Ephraim and Judah are mentioned together with closer designation as the helmet and the sceptre (Gen 49:10; Num 21:28).

Finally three hostile, renowned and dangerous neighboring nations come into consideration (Psa 60:8). Moab is said not, as it were, to follow the king as a servant with the wash-basin, but as to be used by him as such, in order to wash his face white, that is, to gain for himself glory and renown by victory over him. Edom is designated as entirely humbled and disgraced by the figure of a shameful contact with the shoe. Philistia is described as conquered by the mention, not as it were of a shout of joy in homage (De Wette, Hengst., Hitzig), but either of the cry of murder, Isa 15:4 (Delitzsch), of wailing outcry (Ewald), or of the cry of the warrior upon the battle-field and of vengeance. For the previous, for the most part false, interpretations of the symbol of the wash-basin and shoe, see the Excursus of J. G. Wetzstein in Delitzsch Comm.

Str. III., Psa 60:9. Strong city.This is distinguished by the parallel member of the verse as the capital of the Idumeans (2Ki 14:7), namely that is to say, rock, thus the renowned Petra, comp. Gen 36:42; Jer 49:16; Oba 1:3; Psa 108:10.

Psa 60:10. Hast not Thou, O God, cast us off? and marchedst not out, O God, in our armies?This is not an answer to the preceding question: Art Thou not the one who (most interpreters), but must be regarded as a lamentation on account of the absence of the relative and the parallels in Psa 60:1 and Psa 44:10, which then is presupposed and constitutes the foundation of the following prayer (Hupfeld, Delitzsch).

[Psa 60:11. Afford us deliverance from the adversary.The prayer follows the lamentation seeking help in God. Israel implores deliverance from above, and receives it. Delitzsch: Israel conquers in God, and God, who is in Israel, will deservedly trample Edom under foot through Israel.C. A. B.]

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. There are sad times to the congregation of God in the world, in which they are obliged to experience hard, yes terrible things, since they not only are surrounded on all sides by enemies, which are greedy to spy out their nakedness and select for falling upon them the hour in which they feel themselves shattered, tired and weakened by previous struggles, but they likewise must confess that in all this they yet only receive and experience what God gives and does.

2. But if it really happens that the congregation bows under the hand of God when He humiliates and chastises them, it then gains again directly on the one side the comforting remembrance of Gods grace previously shown to them in many times and in many ways, whereby it has been placed in a peculiar relation to Him, and has gained a special position in the world, on the other side the refreshing confidence of new manifestations of grace in order that they may assert this position and carry out the tasks imposed upon them.

3. This remembrance, as well as this confidence, grows up in the heart only from faith in the truth of that which God in His holiness has spoken, and the congregation directs itself to the proclamation of the Divine promises in its. sufferings, and rises again from its defeats. It learns to look to the right hand of God and the banner lifted up and sustained by it, and it fights for the cause in which it suffers, with the glad courage of the certainty of victory through that assistance of God which renders all human help of no avail and all human hostility without danger to those who fear God and are likewise the beloved of God, and have been lifted above the present misfortunes by the fact that they have been driven by them to greater depths of faith and prayer.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Wars are for nations what earthquakes are for their lands; God sometimes visits men with both, and then likewise strikes the congregation with hard blows and shakes them; but He heals again the breaches and rents which arise thereby.He who fears God is loved by God; he who trusts God will be helped by God.It. is not necessary that God should march out with armies in order that He may conquer the whole world.Earthly success is fleeting, human help vain, trust in God alone is right.God may strike hard and painfully even by human hands; but He heals again with His hand those among them who humble themselves.There is but one banner upon which victory is always perched; what follows from this with reference to our actions?He who relies upon the truth of Gods word and upon the power of Gods hand will not lose hope.The beaten not only find refuge with God, but likewise the healing of their wounds, power for new conflicts, and assistance for final victory.In God the fallen rise up, and in God the weak become strong; yet faith in the truth of His word is requisite. Whither are you driven by your every misfortune? to God and His word? to penitence, to faith, to prayer? or whither else?

Calvin: When God lifts us on high by His bounties, He must yet always be sought in prayer modestly and humbly that He may carry on His work.

Starke: Men do not truly understand the good things which God bestows upon them until they are deprived of them.The vile drink of security is followed by the intoxicating cup of wrath and the punishments of God with all certainty; therefore flee from the former if you would not taste the latter.God gives the victory and divides the lands to whom He will.That is a fine campaign when God gives commands and He is the general.The best advice in all our affairs is to lay them plainly before God and crave His assistance without, prescribing to Him the kind and manner of help.

Renschel: God chastises us on account of our sins, that we may not be condemned with the world.Guenther: Lord, preserve us from Thy fiery wrath in war! But if it must flame up, give us warriors which can pray and Thy banner to those who fear Thee.Diedrich: If only we are the true confessors, we must obtain the victory, although it may be through many humiliations.

[Matt. Henry: Whatever our trouble is, and whoever are the instruments of it, we must own the hand of God, His righteous-hand, in it.Our calamities serve as foils to our joys.A lively faith in the promise will assure us, not only that the God of peace shall shortly tread Satan under our feet, but that it is our Fathers good pleasure to give us the kingdom.Words-worth: Christ has given to His soldiers a bannerthe banner of the Cross; and at their baptism they are pledged to fight valiantly under it against sin, the world, and the devil.Perowne: When men will drink presumptuously of the cup of their wickedness, God forces it, as it were, into their hands, till they have drained the very dregs as the cup of His wrath.Spurgeon: The bravest men are usually entrusted with the banner, and it is certain that those who fear God most have less fear of man than any others.To publish the gospel is a sacred duty; to be ashamed of it a deadly sin.Faith divides the spoil; she is sure of what God has promised, and enters at once into possession.From God all power proceeds, and all we do well is done by Divine operation; but still we, as soldiers of the great King, are to fight, and to fight valiantly too.C. A. B.]

Footnotes:

[4][Mich. justly remarks: David as king, Joab as commander-in-chief, Abishai as sent by his brother on this particular expedition, defeated the enemy. The discrepancy in numbers may have arisen from a mistake of the copyist, or rather is due to the fact, that there is here a reference to a single engagement, whilst the history perhaps states the losses of the campaign.C. A. B.]

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

In this Psalm the sacred writer is led out to a devout acknowledgment of God’s hand, both in prosperity and adversity. He takes refuge in God’s promises, and in them acts faith with full confidence of victory over all his enemies.

To the chief musician upon Shushan-edith, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim, and with Aram-zobah, when Joab returned and smote of Edom in the valley of Salt twelve thousand.

The title of this Psalm will find great light thrown upon it by a reference to that part of the scripture history, where the events to which the Psalmist alludes are recorded. See 2Sa 5 ; 2Sa 8 and the parallel history, 1Ch 18 . But what I more particularly request the Reader to remark in this title, and above all, is that this Psalm is among the Michtams, the golden memorandums, the precious jewels of David. And, Reader, you will find it among your Michtams also, if so be the Holy Ghost graciously leads out your soul to eye your David in all his conflicts, and in all his triumphs for you and your salvation!

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

How blessed is it to eye Christ in such like expressions as these, when we behold him as standing forth the Surety and Sponsor of his church and people? Jesus, as the head of his people personating his spouse, and for her sustaining all the indignation of God his Father’s broken law, may well be supposed to speak for himself and church in such terms as these. And as he is called by the Father the Repairer of the breach, the Restorer of paths to dwell in; Isa 58:12 and God the Father had promised to hold his hand in all the accomplishment of these mighty deeds; the prayer of Jesus to the Father for his strength makes this application yet more beautiful and striking. The displeasure of God at sin, the deadly breaches thereby made in the original friendship between God and man, the wine of astonishment in the cup of trembling, the Redeemer is said to have drunk even to, the dregs; are all very forcible figures to manifest the greatness of the work the Son of God wrought in going forth for the salvation of his people. Compare Isa 51:17 with Isa 53:6 and Joh 18:11 . Reader, doth not such views as those scriptures afford, sweetly direct your soul to behold Christ as your Surety, drinking this cup of astonishment to the last drop, when he was made a curse and sin for you, that you might drink the cup of salvation, and be made the righteousness of God in him? 2Co 5:21 ; Mar 14:33-34 .

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 60:9

The Jesuit missionary, Valignani, as he looked towards the long-closed Empire of China on his way to Japan cried: ‘O Rock, Rock, when wilt thou open? O mighty fortress, when shall these impenetrable gates of thine be broken through?’

Permanent Elements of Religion

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

PSALMS

XI

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS

According to my usual custom, when taking up the study of a book of the Bible I give at the beginning a list of books as helps to the study of that book. The following books I heartily commend on the Psalms:

1. Sampey’s Syllabus for Old Testament Study . This is especially good on the grouping and outlining of some selected psalms. There are also some valuable suggestions on other features of the book.

2. Kirkpatrick’g commentary, in “Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges,” is an excellent aid in the study of the Psalter.

3. Perowne’s Book of Psalms is a good, scholarly treatise on the Psalms. A special feature of this commentary is the author’s “New Translation” and his notes are very helpful.

4. Spurgeon’s Treasury of David. This is just what the title implies. It is a voluminous, devotional interpretation of the Psalms and helpful to those who have the time for such extensive study of the Psalter.

5. Hengstenburg on the Psalms. This is a fine, scholarly work by one of the greatest of the conservative German scholars.

6. Maclaren on the Psalms, in “The Expositor’s Bible,” is the work of the world’s safest, sanest, and best of all works that have ever been written on the Psalms.

7. Thirtle on the Titles of the Psalms. This is the best on the subject and well worth a careful study.

At this point some definitions are in order. The Hebrew word for psalm means praise. The word in English comes from psalmos , a song of lyrical character, or a song to be sung and accompanied with a lyre. The Psalter is a collection of sacred and inspired songs, composed at different times and by different authors.

The range of time in composition was more than 1,000 years, or from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra. The collection in its present form was arranged probably by Ezra in the fifth century, B.C.

The Jewish classification of Old Testament books was The Law, the Prophets, and the Holy Writings. The Psalms was given the first place in the last group.

They had several names, or titles, of the Psalms. In Hebrew they are called “The Book of Prayers,” or “The Book of Praises.” The Hebrew word thus used means praises. The title of the first two books is found in Psa 72:20 : “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.” The title of the whole collection of Psalms in the Septuagint is Biblos Psalman which means the “Book of Psalms.” The title in the Alexandrian Codex is Psalterion which is the name of a stringed instrument, and means “The Psalter.”

The derivation of our English words, “psalms,” “psalter,” and “psaltery,” respectively, is as follows:

1. “Psalms” comes from the Greek word, psalmoi, which is also from psallein , which means to play upon a stringed instrument. Therefore the Psalms are songs played upon stringed instruments, and the word here is used to apply to the whole collection.

2. “Psalter” is of the same origin and means the Book of Psalms and refers also to the whole collection.

3. “Psaltery” is from the word psalterion, which means “a harp,” an instrument, supposed to be in the shape of a triangle or like the delta of the Greek alphabet. See Psa 33:2 ; Psa 71:22 ; Psa 81:2 ; Psa 144:9 .

In our collection there are 150 psalms. In the Septuagint there is one extra. It is regarded as being outside the sacred collection and not inspired. The subject of this extra psalm is “David’s victory over Goliath.” The following is a copy of it: I was small among my brethren, And youngest in my father’s house, I used to feed my father’s sheep. My hands made a harp, My fingers fashioned a Psaltery. And who will declare unto my Lord? He is Lord, he it is who heareth. He it was who sent his angel And took me from my father’s sheep, And anointed me with the oil of his anointing. My brethren were goodly and tall, But the Lord took no pleasure in them. I went forth to meet the Philistine. And he cursed me by his idols But I drew the sword from beside him; I beheaded him and removed reproach from the children of Israel.

It will be noted that this psalm does not have the earmarks of an inspired production. There is not found in it the modesty so characteristic of David, but there is here an evident spirit of boasting and self-praise which is foreign to the Spirit of inspiration.

There is a difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint. Omitting the extra one in the Septuagint, there is no difference as to the total number. Both have 150 and the same subject matter, but they are not divided alike.

The following scheme shows the division according to our version and also the Septuagint: Psalms 1-8 in the Hebrew equal 1-8 in the Septuagint; 9-10 in the Hebrew combine into 9 in the Septuagint; 11-113 in the Hebrew equal 10-112 in the Septuagint; 114-115 in the Hebrew combine into 113 in the Septuagint; 116 in the Hebrew divides into 114-115 in the Septuagint; 117-146 in the Hebrew equal 116-145 in the Septuagint; 147 in the Hebrew divides into 146-147 in the Septuagint; 148-150 in the Hebrew equal 148-150 in the Septuagint.

The arrangement in the Vulgate is the same as the Septuagint. Also some of the older English versions have this arangement. Another difficulty in numbering perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another, viz: In the Hebrew often the title is verse I, and sometimes the title embraces verses 1-2.

The book divisions of the Psalter are five books, as follows:

Book I, Psalms 1-41 (41 chapters)

Book II, Psalms 42-72 (31 chapters)

Book III, Psalms 73-89 (17 chapters)

Book IV, Psalms 90-106 (17 chapters)

Book V, Psalms 107-150 (44 chapters)

They are marked by an introduction and a doxology. Psalm I forms an introduction to the whole book; Psa 150 is the doxology for the whole book. The introduction and doxology of each book are the first and last psalms of each division, respectively.

There were smaller collections before the final one, as follows:

Books I and II were by David; Book III, by Hezekiah, and Books IV and V, by Ezra.

Certain principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection:

1. David is honored with first place, Book I and II, including Psalms 1-72.

2. They are grouped according to the use of the name of God:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovah psalms;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohim-psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovah psalms.

3. Book IV is introduced by the psalm of Moses, which is the first psalm written.

4. Some are arranged as companion psalms, for instance, sometimes two, sometimes three, and sometimes more. Examples: Psa 2 and 3; 22, 23, and 24; 113-118.

5. They were arranged for liturgical purposes, which furnished the psalms for special occasions, such as feasts, etc. We may be sure this arrangement was not accidental. An intelligent study of each case is convincing that it was determined upon rational grounds.

All the psalms have titles but thirty-three, as follows:

In Book I, Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 33 , (4 are without titles).

In Book II, Psa 43 ; Psa 71 , (2 are without titles).

In Book IV, Psa 91 ; Psa 93 ; Psa 94 ; Psa 95 ; Psa 96 ; Psa 97 ; Psa 104 ; Psa 105 ; Psa 106 , (9 are without titles).

In Book V, Psa 107 ; III; 112; 113; 114; 115; 116; 117; 118; 119; 135; 136; 137; 146; 147; 148; 149; 150, (18 are without titles).

The Talmud calls these psalms that have no title, “Orphan Psalms.” The later Jews supply these titles by taking the nearest preceding author. The lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; and 10 may be accounted for as follows: Psa 1 is a general introduction to the whole collection and Psa 2 was, perhaps, a part of Psa 1 . Psalms 9-10 were formerly combined into one, therefore Psa 10 has the same title as Psa 9 .

QUESTIONS

1. What books are commended on the Psalms?

2. What is a psalm?

3. What is the Psalter?

4. What is the range of time in composition?

5. When and by whom was the collection in its present form arranged?

6. What the Jewish classification of Old Testament books, and what the position of the Psalter in this classification?

7. What is the Hebrew title of the Psalms?

8. Find the title of the first two books from the books themselves.

9. What is the title of the whole collection of psalms in the Septuagint?

10. What is the title in the Alexandrian Codex?

11. What is the derivation of our English word, “Psalms”, “Psalter”, and “Psaltery,” respectively?

12. How many psalms in our collection?

13. How many psalms in the Septuagint?

14. What about the extra one in the Septuagint?

15. What is the subject of this extra psalm?

16. How does it compare with the Canonical Psalms?

17. What is the difference in the numbering of the psalms in our version which follows the Hebrew, and the numbering in the Septuagint?

18. What is the arrangement in the Vulgate?

19. What other difficulty in numbering which perplexes an inexperienced student in turning from one version to another?

20. What are the book divisions of the Psalter and how are these divisions marked?

21. Were there smaller collections before the final one? If so, what were they?

22. What principles determined the arrangement of the several psalms in the present collection?

23. In what conclusion may we rest concerning this arrangement?

24. How many of the psalms have no titles?

25. What does the Talmud call these psalms that have no titles?

26. How do later Jews supply these titles?

27. How do you account for the lack of titles in Psa 1 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 10 ?

XII

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK OF PSALMS (CONTINUED)

The following is a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms:

1. The author: “A Psalm of David” (Psa 37 ).

2. The occasion: “When he fled from Absalom, his son” (Psa 3 ).

3. The nature, or character, of the poem:

(1) Maschil, meaning “instruction,” a didactic poem (Psa 42 ).

(2) Michtam, meaning “gold,” “A Golden Psalm”; this means excellence or mystery (Psa 16 ; 56-60).

4. The occasion of its use: “A Psalm of David for the dedication of the house” (Psa 30 ).

5. Its purpose: “A Psalm of David to bring remembrance” (Psa 38 ; Psa 70 ).

6. Direction for its use: “A Psalm of David for the chief musician” (Psa 4 ).

7. The kind of musical instrument:

(1) Neginoth, meaning to strike a chord, as on stringed instruments (Psa 4 ; Psa 61 ).

(2) Nehiloth, meaning to perforate, as a pipe or flute (Psa 5 ).

(3) Shoshannim, Lilies, which refers probably to cymbals (Psa 45 ; Psa 69 ).

8. A special choir:

(1) Sheminith, the “eighth,” or octave below, as a male choir (Psa 6 ; Psa 12 ).

(2) Alamoth, female choir (Psa 46 ).

(3) Muth-labben, music with virgin voice, to be sung by a choir of boys in the treble (Psa 9 ).

9. The keynote, or tune:

(1) Aijeleth-sharar, “Hind of the morning,” a song to the melody of which this is sung (Psa 22 ).

(2) Al-tashheth, “Destroy thou not,” the beginning of a song the tune of which is sung (Psa 57 ; Psa 58 ; Psa 59 ; Psa 75 ).

(3) Gittith, set to the tune of Gath, perhaps a tune which David brought from Gath (Psa 8 ; Psa 81 ; Psa 84 ).

(4) Jonath-elim-rehokim, “The dove of the distant terebinths,” the commencement of an ode to the air of which this song was to be sung (Psa 56 ).

(5) Leannoth, the name of a tune (Psa 88 ).

(6) Mahalath, an instrument (Psa 53 ); Leonnoth-Mahaloth, to chant to a tune called Mahaloth.

(7) Shiggaion, a song or a hymn.

(8) Shushan-Eduth, “Lily of testimony,” a tune (Psa 60 ). Note some examples: (1) “America,” “Shiloh,” “Auld Lang Syne.” These are the names of songs such as we are familiar with; (2) “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” and “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” are examples of sacred hymns.

10. The liturgical use, those noted for the feasts, e.g., the Hallels and Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 146-150).

11. The destination, as “Song of Ascents” (Psalms 120-134)

12. The direction for the music, such as Selah, which means “Singers, pause”; Higgaion-Selah, to strike a symphony with selah, which means an instrumental interlude (Psa 9:16 ).

The longest and fullest title to any of the psalms is the title to Psa 60 . The items of information from this title are as follows: (1) the author; (2) the chief musician; (3) the historical occasion; (4) the use, or design; (5) the style of poetry; (6) the instrument or style of music.

The parts of these superscriptions which most concern us now are those indicating author, occasion, and date. As to the historic value or trustworthiness of these titles most modern scholars deny that they are a part of the Hebrew text, but the oldest Hebrew text of which we know anything had all of them. This is the text from which the Septuagint was translated. It is much more probable that the author affixed them than later writers. There is no internal evidence in any of the psalms that disproves the correctness of them, but much to confirm. The critics disagree among themselves altogether as to these titles. Hence their testimony cannot consistently be received. Nor can it ever be received until they have at least agreed upon a common ground of opposition.

David is the author of more than half the entire collection, the arrangement of which is as follows:

1. Seventy-three are ascribed to him in the superscriptions.

2. Some of these are but continuations of the preceding ones of a pair, trio, or larger group.

3. Some of the Korahite Psalms are manifestly Davidic.

4. Some not ascribed to him in the titles are attributed to him expressly by New Testament writers.

5. It is not possible to account for some parts of the Psalter without David. The history of his early life as found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1and 2 Chronicles, not only shows his remarkable genius for patriotic and sacred songs and music, but also shows his cultivation of that gift in the schools of the prophets. Some of these psalms of the history appear in the Psalter itself. It is plain to all who read these that they are founded on experience, and the experience of no other Hebrew fits the case. These experiences are found in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.

As to the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition, I have this to say:

1. This theory has no historical support whatever, and therefore is not to be accepted at all.

2. It has no support in tradition, which weakens the contention of the critics greatly.

3. It has no support from finding any one with the necessary experience for their basis.

4. They can give no reasonable account as to how the titles ever got there.

5. It is psychologically impossible for anyone to have written these 150 psalms in the Maccabean times.

6. Their position is expressly contrary to the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Some of the psalms which they ascribe to the Maccabean Age are attributed to David by Christ himself, who said that David wrote them in the Spirit.

The obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result if it be Just, is a positive denial of the inspiration of both Testaments.

Other authors are named in the titles, as follows: (1) Asaph, to whom twelve psalms have been assigned: (2) Mosee, Psa 90 ; (3) Solomon, Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ; (4) Heman, Psa 80 ; (5) Ethem, Psa 89 ; (6) A number of the psalms are ascribed to the sons of Korah.

Not all the psalms ascribed to Asaph were composed by one person. History indicates that Asaph’s family presided over the song service for several generations. Some of them were composed by his descendants by the game name. The five general outlines of the whole collection are as follows:

I. By books

1. Psalms 1-41 (41)

2. Psalms 42-72 (31)

3. Psalms 73-89 (17)

4. Psalms 90-106 (17)

5. Psalms 107-150 (44)

II. According to date and authorship

1. The psalm of Moses (Psa 90 )

2. Psalms of David:

(1) The shepherd boy (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 ).

(2) David when persecuted by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ).

(3) David the King (Psa 101 ; Psa 18 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 2 ; Psa 110 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 20 ; Psa 21 ; Psa 60 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 41 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 3:4 ; Psa 64 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 ).

3. The Asaph Psalms (Psa 50 ; Psa 73 ; Psa 83 ).

4. The Korahite Psalms (Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 84 ).

5. The psalms of Solomon (Psa 72 ; Psa 127 ).

6. The psalms of the era of Hezekiah and Isaiah (Psa 46 ; Psa 47 ; Psa 48 )

7. The psalms of the Exile (Psa 74 ; Psa 79 ; Psa 137 ; Psa 102 )

8. The psalms of the Restoration (Psa 85 ; Psa 126 ; Psa 118 ; 146-150)

III. By groups

1. The Jehovistic and Elohistic Psalms:

(1) Psalms 1-41 are Jehovistic;

(2) Psalms 42-83 are Elohistic Psalms;

(3) Psalms 84-150 are Jehovistic.

2. The Penitential Psalms (Psa 6 ; Psa 32 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 51 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 130 ; Psa 143 )

3. The Pilgrim Psalms (Psalms 120-134)

4. The Alphabetical Psalms (Psa 9 ; Psa 10 ; Psa 25 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 37 ; 111:112; Psa 119 ; Psa 145 )

5. The Hallelujah Psalms (Psalms 11-113; 115-117; 146-150; to which may be added Psa 135 ) Psalms 113-118 are called “the Egyptian Hallel”

IV. Doctrines of the Psalms

1. The throne of grace and how to approach it by sacrifice, prayer, and praise.

2. The covenant, the basis of worship.

3. The paradoxical assertions of both innocence & guilt.

4. The pardon of sin and justification.

5. The Messiah.

6. The future life, pro and con.

7. The imprecations.

8. Other doctrines.

V. The New Testament use of the Psalms

1. Direct references and quotations in the New Testament.

2. The allusions to the psalms in the New Testament. Certain experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart, such as: (1) his peaceful early life; (2) his persecution by Saul; (3) his being crowned king of the people; (4) the bringing up of the ark; (5) his first great sin; (6) Absalom’s rebellion; (7) his second great sin; (8) the great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 ; (9) the feelings of his old age.

We may classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time, thus:

1. His peaceful early life (Psa 8 ; Psa 19 ; Psa 29 ; Psa 23 )

2. His persecution by Saul (Psa 59 ; Psa 56 ; Psa 34 ; Psa 7 ; Psa 52 ; Psa 120 ; Psa 140 ; Psa 54 ; Psa 57 ; Psa 142 ; Psa 17 ; Psa 18 )

3. Making David King (Psa 27 ; Psa 133 ; Psa 101 )

4. Bringing up the ark (Psa 68 ; Psa 24 ; Psa 132 ; Psa 15 ; Psa 78 ; Psa 96 )

5. His first great sin (Psa 51 ; Psa 32 )

6. Absalom’s rebellion (Psa 41 ; Psa 6 ; Psa 55 ; Psa 109 ; Psa 38 ; Psa 39 ; Psa 3 ; Psa 4 ; Psa 63 ; Psa 42 ; Psa 43 ; Psa 5 ; Psa 62 ; Psa 61 ; Psa 27 )

7. His second great sin (Psa 69 ; Psa 71 ; Psa 102 ; Psa 103 )

8. The great promise made to him in 2Sa 7 (Psa 2 )

9. Feelings of old age (Psa 37 )

The great doctrines of the psalms may be noted as follows: (1) the being and attributes of God; (3) sin, both original and individual; (3) both covenants; (4) the doctrine of justification; (5) concerning the Messiah.

There is a striking analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms. The Pentateuch contains five books of law; the Psalms contain five books of heart responses to the law.

It is interesting to note the historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms. These were controversies about singing uninspired songs, in the Middle Ages. The church would not allow anything to be used but psalms.

The history in Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah is very valuable toward a proper interpretation of the psalms. These books furnish the historical setting for a great many of the psalms which is very indispensable to their proper interpretation.

Professor James Robertson, in the Poetry and Religion of the Psalms constructs a broad and strong argument in favor of the Davidic Psalms, as follows:

1. The age of David furnished promising soil for the growth of poetry.

2. David’s qualifications for composing the psalms make it highly probable that David is the author of the psalms ascribed to him.

3. The arguments against the possibility of ascribing to David any of the hymns in the Hebrew Psalter rests upon assumptions that are thoroughly antibiblical.

The New Testament makes large use of the psalms and we learn much as to their importance in teaching. There are seventy direct quotations in the New Testament from this book, from which we learn that the Scriptures were used extensively in accord with 2Ti 3:16-17 . There are also eleven references to the psalms in the New Testament from which we learn that the New Testament writers were thoroughly imbued with the spirit and teaching of the psalms. Then there are eight allusions ‘to this book in the New Testament from which we gather that the Psalms was one of the divisions of the Old Testament and that they were used in the early church.

QUESTIONS

1. Give a list of the items of information gathered from the titles of the psalms.

2. What is the longest title to any of the psalms and what the items of this title?

3. What parts of these superscriptions most concern us now?

4. What is the historic value, or trustworthiness of these titles?

5. State the argument showing David’s relation to the psalms.

6. What have you to say of the attempt of the destructive critics to rob David of his glory in relation to the Psalter by assigning the Maccabean era as the date of composition?

7. What the obvious aim of this criticism and the necessary result, if it be just?

8. What other authors are named in the titles?

9. Were all the psalms ascribed to Asaph composed by one person?

10. Give the five general outlines of the whole collection, as follows: I. The outline by books II. The outline according to date and authorship III. The outline by groups IV. The outline of doctrines V. The outline by New Testament quotations or allusions.

11. What experiences of David’s life made very deep impressions on his heart?

12. Classify the Davidic Psalms according to these experiences following the order of time.

13. What the great doctrines of the psalms?

14. What analogy between the Pentateuch and the Psalms?

15. What historic controversies concerning the singing of psalms?

16. Of what value is the history in Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, and in Ezra and Nehemiah toward a proper interpretation of the psalms?

17. Give Professor James Robertson’s argument in favor of the Davidic authorship of the psalms.

18. What can you say of the New Testament use of the psalms and what do we learn as to their importance in teaching?

19. What can you say of the New Testament references to the psalms, and from the New Testament references what the impression on the New Testament writers?

20. What can you say of the allusions to the psalms in the New Testament?

XVII

THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS

A fine text for this chapter is as follows: “All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Psalms concerning me,” Luk 24:44 . I know of no better way to close my brief treatise on the Psalms than to discuss the subject of the Messiah as revealed in this book.

Attention has been called to the threefold division of the Old Testament cited by our Lord, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Luk 24:44 ), in all of which were the prophecies relating to himself that “must be fulfilled.” It has been shown just what Old Testament books belong to each of these several divisions. The division called the Psalms included many books, styled Holy Writings, and because the Psalms proper was the first book of the division it gave the name to the whole division.

The object of this discussion is to sketch the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah, or rather, to show how nearly a complete picture of our Lord is foredrawn in this one book. Let us understand however with Paul, that all prophecy is but in part (1Co 13:9 ), and that when we fill in on one canvas all the prophecies concerning the Messiah of all the Old Testament divisions, we are far from having a perfect portrait of our Lord. The present purpose is limited to three things:

1. What the book of the Psalms teaches concerning the Messiah.

2. That the New Testament shall authoritatively specify and expound this teaching.

3. That the many messianic predictions scattered over the book and the specifications thereof over the New Testament may be grouped into an orderly analysis, so that by the adjustment of the scattered parts we may have before us a picture of our Lord as foreseen by the psalmists.

In allowing the New Testament to authoritatively specify and expound the predictive features of the book, I am not unmindful of what the so-called “higher critics” urge against the New Testament quotations from the Old Testament and the use made of them. In this discussion, however, these objections are not considered, for sufficient reasons. There is not space for it. Even at the risk of being misjudged I must just now summarily pass all these objections, dismissing them with a single statement upon which the reader may place his own estimate of value. That statement is that in the days of my own infidelity, before this old method of criticism had its new name, I was quite familiar with the most and certainly the strongest of the objections now classified as higher criticism, and have since patiently re-examined them in their widely conflicting restatements under their modern name, and find my faith in the New Testament method of dealing with the Old Testament in no way shattered, but in every way confirmed. God is his own interpreter. The Old Testament as we now have it was in the hands of our Lord. I understand his apostle to declare, substantially, that “every one of these sacred scriptures is God-inspired and is profitable for teaching us what is right to believe and to do, for convincing us what is wrong in faith or practice, for rectifying the wrong when done, that we may be ready at every point, furnished completely, to do every good work, at the right time, in the right manner, and from the proper motive” (2Ti 3:16-17 ).

This New Testament declares that David was a prophet (Act 2:30 ), that he spake by the Holy Spirit (Act 1:16 ), that when the book speaks the Holy Spirit speaks (Heb 3:7 ), and that all its predictive utterances, as sacred Scripture, “must be fulfilled” (Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:16 ). It is not claimed that David wrote all the psalms, but that all are inspired, and that as he was the chief author, the book goes by his name.

It would be a fine thing to make out two lists, as follows:

1. All of the 150 psalms in order from which the New Testament quotes with messianic application.

2. The New Testament quotations, book by book, i.e., Matthew so many, and then the other books in their order.

We would find in neither of these any order as to time, that is, Psa 1 which forecasts an incident in the coming Messiah’s life does not forecast the first incident of his life. And even the New Testament citations are not in exact order as to time and incident of his life. To get the messianic picture before us, therefore, we must put the scattered parts together in their due relation and order, and so construct our own analysis. That is the prime object of this discussion. It is not claimed that the analysis now presented is perfect. It is too much the result of hasty, offhand work by an exceedingly busy man. It will serve, however, as a temporary working model, which any one may subsequently improve. We come at once to the psalmist’s outline of the Messiah.

1. The necessity for a Saviour. This foreseen necessity is a background of the psalmists’ portrait of the Messiah. The necessity consists in (1) man’s sinfulness; (2) his sin; (3) his inability of wisdom and power to recover himself; (4) the insufficiency of legal, typical sacrifices in securing atonement.

The predicate of Paul’s great argument on justification by faith is the universal depravity and guilt of man. He is everywhere corrupt in nature; everywhere an actual transgressor; everywhere under condemnation. But the scriptural proofs of this depravity and sin the apostle draws mainly from the book of the Psalms. In one paragraph of the letter to the Romans (Rom 3:4-18 ), he cites and groups six passages from six divisions of the Psalms (Psa 5:9 ; Psa 10:7 ; Psa 14:1-3 ; Psa 36:1 ; Psa 51:4-6 ; Psa 140:3 ). These passages abundantly prove man’s sinfulness, or natural depravity, and his universal practice of sin.

The predicate also of the same apostle’s great argument for revelation and salvation by a Redeemer is man’s inability of wisdom and power to re-establish communion with God. In one of his letters to the Corinthians he thus commences his argument: “For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? -For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preach-ing to save them that believe.” He closes this discussion with the broad proposition: “The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God,” and proves it by a citation from Psa 94:11 : “The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”

In like manner our Lord himself pours scorn on human wisdom and strength by twice citing Psa 8 : “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Mat 11:25-26 ). “And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children that were crying in the temple and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased, and said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?” (Mat 21:15-16 ).

But the necessity for a Saviour as foreseen by the psalmist did not stop at man’s depravity, sin, and helplessness. The Jews were trusting in the sacrifices of their law offered on the smoking altar. The inherent weakness of these offerings, their lack of intrinsic merit, their ultimate abolition, their complete fulfilment and supercession by a glorious antitype were foreseen and foreshown in this wonderful prophetic book: I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all of the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? Psa 50:8-13 .

Yet again it speaks in that more striking passage cited in the letter to the Hebrews: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshipers, once purged should have no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance made of sins year by year. For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, But a body didst thou prepare for me; In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hadst no pleasure: Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) To do thy will, O God. Saying above, Sacrifice and offering and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou wouldst not, neither hadst pleasure therein, (the which are offered according to the law), then hath he said, Lo, I am come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Heb 10:1-9 ).

This keen foresight of the temporary character and intrinsic worthlessness of animal sacrifices anticipated similar utterances by the later prophets (Isa 1:10-17 ; Jer 6:20 ; Jer 7:21-23 ; Hos 6:6 ; Amo 5:21 ; Mic 6:6-8 ). Indeed, I may as well state in passing that when the apostle declares, “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins,” he lays down a broad principle, just as applicable to baptism and the Lord’s Supper. With reverence I state the principle: Not even God himself by mere appointment can vest in any ordinance, itself lacking intrinsic merit, the power to take away sin. There can be, therefore, in the nature of the case, no sacramental salvation. This would destroy the justice of God in order to exalt his mercy. Clearly the psalmist foresaw that “truth and mercy must meet together” before “righteousness and peace could kiss each other” (Psa 85:10 ). Thus we find as the dark background of the psalmists’ luminous portrait of the Messiah, the necessity for a Saviour.

2. The nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah. In no other prophetic book are the nature, fullness, and blessedness of salvation so clearly seen and so vividly portrayed. Besides others not now enumerated, certainly the psalmists clearly forecast four great elements of salvation:

(1) An atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit offered once for all (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:4-10 ).

(2) Regeneration itself consisting of cleansing, renewal, and justification. We hear his impassioned statement of the necessity of regeneration: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts,” followed by his earnest prayer: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me,” and his equally fervent petition: “Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow” (Psa 51 ). And we hear him again as Paul describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not reckon sin Psa 32:1 ; Rom 4:6-8 .

(3) Introduction into the heavenly rest (Psa 95:7-11 ; Heb 3:7-19 ; Heb 4:1-11 ). Here is the antitypical Joshua leading spiritual Israel across the Jordan of death into the heavenly Canaan, the eternal rest that remaineth for the people of God. Here we find creation’s original sabbath eclipsed by redemption’s greater sabbath when the Redeemer “entered his rest, ceasing from his own works as God did from his.”

(4) The recovery of all the universal dominion lost by the first Adam and the securement of all possible dominion which the first Adam never attained (Psa 8:5-6 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 ; 1Co 15:24-28 ).

What vast extent then and what blessedness in the salvation foreseen by the psalmists, and to be wrought by the Messiah. Atoning sacrifice of intrinsic merit; regeneration by the Holy Spirit; heavenly rest as an eternal inheritance; and universal dominion shared with Christ!

3. The wondrous person of the Messiah in his dual nature, divine and human.

(1) His divinity,

(a) as God: “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever” (Psa 45:6 and Heb 1:8 ) ;

(b) as creator of the heavens and earth, immutable and eternal: Of old didst thou lay the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure; Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; As a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, And thy years shall have no end Psa 102:25-27 quoted with slight changes in Heb 1:10-12 .

(c) As owner of the earth: The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein, Psa 24:1 quoted in 1Co 10:26 .

(d) As the Son of God: “Thou art my Son; This day have I begotten thee” Psa 2:7 ; Heb 1:5 .

(e) As David’s Lord: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool, Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:41-46 .

(f) As the object of angelic worship: “And let all the angels of God worship him” Psa 97:7 ; Heb 1:6 .

(g) As the Bread of life: And he rained down manna upon them to eat, And gave them food from heaven Psa 78:24 ; interpreted in Joh 6:31-58 . These are but samples which ascribe deity to the Messiah of the psalmists.

(2) His humanity, (a) As the Son of man, or Son of Adam: Psa 8:4-6 , cited in 1Co 15:24-28 ; Eph 1:20-22 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Compare Luke’s genealogy, Luk 3:23-38 . This is the ideal man, or Second Adam, who regains Paradise Lost, who recovers race dominion, in whose image all his spiritual lineage is begotten. 1Co 15:45-49 . (b) As the Son of David: Psa 18:50 ; Psa 89:4 ; Psa 89:29 ; Psa 89:36 ; Psa 132:11 , cited in Luk 1:32 ; Act 13:22-23 ; Rom 1:3 ; 2Ti 2:8 . Perhaps a better statement of the psalmists’ vision of the wonderful person of the Messiah would be: He saw the uncreated Son, the second person of the trinity, in counsel and compact with the Father, arranging in eternity for the salvation of men: Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 . Then he saw this Holy One stoop to be the Son of man: Psa 8:4-6 ; Heb 2:7-9 . Then he was the son of David, and then he saw him rise again to be the Son of God: Psa 2:7 ; Rom 1:3-4 .

4. His offices.

(1) As the one atoning sacrifice (Psa 40:6-8 ; Heb 10:5-7 ).

(2) As the great Prophet, or Preacher (Psa 40:9-10 ; Psa 22:22 ; Heb 2:12 ). Even the method of his teaching by parable was foreseen (Psa 78:2 ; Mat 13:35 ). Equally also the grace, wisdom, and power of his teaching. When the psalmist declares that “Grace is poured into thy lips” (Psa 45:2 ), we need not be startled when we read that all the doctors in the Temple who heard him when only a boy “were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luk 2:47 ); nor that his home people at Nazareth “all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth” (Luk 4:22 ); nor that those of his own country were astonished, and said, “Whence hath this man this wisdom?” (Mat 13:54 ); nor that the Jews in the Temple marveled, saying, “How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (Joh 7:15 ) ; nor that the stern officers of the law found their justification in failure to arrest him in the declaration, “Never man spake like this man” (Joh 7:46 ).

(3) As the king (Psa 2:6 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 45:1-17 ; Psa 110:1 ; Mat 22:42-46 ; Act 2:33-36 ; 1Co 15:25 ; Eph 1:20 ; Heb 1:13 ).

(4) As the priest (Psa 110:4 ; Heb 5:5-10 ; Heb 7:1-21 ; Heb 10:12-14 ).

(5) As the final judge. The very sentence of expulsion pronounced upon the finally impenitent by the great judge (Mat 25:41 ) is borrowed from the psalmist’s prophetic words (Psa 6:8 ).

5. Incidents of life. The psalmists not only foresaw the necessity for a Saviour; the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation; the wonderful human-divine person of the Saviour; the offices to be filled by him in the work of salvation, but also many thrilling details of his work in life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. It is not assumed to cite all these details, but some of the most important are enumerated in order, thus:

(1) The visit, adoration, and gifts of the Magi recorded in Mat 2 are but partial fulfilment of Psa 72:9-10 .

(2) The scripture employed by Satan in the temptation of our Lord (Luk 4:10-11 ) was cited from Psa 91:11-12 and its pertinency not denied.

(3) In accounting for his intense earnestness and the apparently extreme measures adopted by our Lord in his first purification of the Temple (Joh 2:17 ), he cites the messianic zeal predicted in Psa 69:9 .

(4) Alienation from his own family was one of the saddest trials of our Lord’s earthly life. They are slow to understand his mission and to enter into sympathy with him. His self-abnegation and exhaustive toil were regarded by them as evidences of mental aberration, and it seems at one time they were ready to resort to forcible restraint of his freedom) virtually what in our time would be called arrest under a writ of lunacy. While at the last his half-brothers became distinguished preachers of his gospel, for a long while they do not believe on him. And the evidence forces us to the conclusion that his own mother shared with her other sons, in kind though not in degree, the misunderstanding of the supremacy of his mission over family relations. The New Testament record speaks for itself:

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me? Knew ye not that I must be in my Father’s house? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them Luk 2:48-51 (R.V.).

And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. Joh 2:3-5 (R.V.).

And there come his mother and his brethren; and standing without; they sent unto him, calling him. And a multitude was sitting about him; and they say unto him. Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answereth them, and saith, Who is my mother and my brethren? And looking round on them that sat round about him, he saith, Behold, my mother and my brethren) For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother Mar 3:31-35 (R.V.).

Now the feast of the Jews, the feast of tabernacles, was at hand. His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may behold thy works which thou doest. For no man doeth anything in secret, and himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou doest these things, manifest thyself to the world. For even his brethren did not believe on him. Jesus therefore saith unto them, My time is not yet come; but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that its works are evil. Go ye up unto the feast: I go not up yet unto this feast; because my time is not fulfilled. Joh 7:2-9 (R.V.).

These citations from the Revised Version tell their own story. But all that sad story is foreshown in the prophetic psalms. For example: I am become a stranger unto my brethren, And an alien unto my mother’s children. Psa 69:8 .

(5) The triumphal entry into Jerusalem was welcomed by a joyous people shouting a benediction from Psa 118:26 : “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Mat 21:9 ); and the Lord’s lamentation over Jerusalem predicts continued desolation and banishment from his sight until the Jews are ready to repeat that benediction (Mat 23:39 ).

(6) The children’s hosanna in the Temple after its second purgation is declared by our Lord to be a fulfilment of that perfect praise forecast in Psa 8:2 .

(7) The final rejection of our Lord by his own people was also clear in the psalmist’s vision (Psa 118:22 ; Mat 21:42-44 ).

(8) Gethsemane’s baptism of suffering, with its strong crying and tears and prayers was as clear to the psalmist’s prophetic vision as to the evangelist and apostle after it became history (Psa 69:1-4 ; Psa 69:13-20 ; and Mat 26:36-44 ; Heb 5:7 ).

(9) In life-size also before the psalmist was the betrayer of Christ and his doom (Psa 41:9 ; Psa 69:25 ; Psa 109:6-8 ; Joh 13:18 ; Act 1:20 ).

(10) The rage of the people, Jew and Gentile, and the conspiracy of Pilate and Herod are clearly outlined (Psa 2:1-3 ; Act 4:25-27 ).

(11) All the farce of his trial the false accusation, his own marvelous silence; and the inhuman maltreatment to which he was subjected, is foreshown in the prophecy as dramatically as in the history (Mat 26:57-68 ; Mat 27:26-31 ; Psa 27:12 ; Psa 35:15-16 ; Psa 38:3 ; Psa 69:19 ).

The circumstances of his death, many and clear, are distinctly foreseen. He died in the prime of life (Psa 89:45 ; Psa 102:23-24 ). He died by crucifixion (Psa 22:14-17 ; Luk 23 ; 33; Joh 19:23-37 ; Joh 20:27 ). But yet not a bone of his body was broken (Psa 34:20 ; Joh 19:36 ).

The persecution, hatred without a cause, the mockery and insults, are all vividly and dramatically foretold (Psa 22:6-13 ; Psa 35:7 ; Psa 35:12 ; Psa 35:15 ; Psa 35:21 ; Psa 109:25 ).

The parting of his garments and the gambling for his vesture (Psa 22:18 ; Mat 27:35 ).

His intense thirst and the gall and vinegar offered for his drink (Psa 69:21 ; Mat 27:34 ).

In the psalms, too, we hear his prayers for his enemies so remarkably fulfilled in fact (Psa 109:4 ; Luk 23:34 ).

His spiritual death was also before the eye of the psalmist, and the very words which expressed it the psalmist heard. Separation from the Father is spiritual death. The sinner’s substitute must die the sinner’s death, death physical, i.e., separation of soul from body; death spiritual, i.e., separation of the soul from God. The latter is the real death and must precede the former. This death the substitute died when he cried out: “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me.” (Psa 22:1 ; Mat 27:46 ).

Emerging from the darkness of that death, which was the hour of the prince of darkness, the psalmist heard him commend his spirit to the Father (Psa_31:35; Luk 23:46 ) showing that while he died the spiritual death, his soul was not permanently abandoned unto hell (Psa 16:8-10 ; Act 2:25 ) so that while he “tasted death” for every man it was not permanent death (Heb 2:9 ).

With equal clearness the psalmist foresaw his resurrection, his triumph over death and hell, his glorious ascension into heaven, and his exaltation at the right hand of God as King of kings and Lord of lords, as a high Driest forever, as invested with universal sovereignty (Psa 16:8-11 ; Psa 24:7-10 ; Psa 68:18 ; Psa 2:6 ; Psa 111:1-4 ; Psa 8:4-6 ; Act 2:25-36 ; Eph 1:19-23 ; Eph 4:8-10 ).

We see, therefore, brethren, when the scattered parts are put together and adjusted, how nearly complete a portrait of our Lord is put upon the prophetic canvas by this inspired limner, the sweet singer of Israel.

QUESTIONS

1. What is a good text for this chapter?

2. What is the threefold division of the Old Testament as cited by our Lord?

3. What is the last division called and why?

4. What is the object of the discussion in this chapter?

5. To what three things is the purpose limited?

6. What especially qualifies the author to meet the objections of the higher critics to allowing the New Testament usage of the Old Testament to determine its meaning and application?

7. What is the author’s conviction relative to the Scriptures?

8. What is the New Testament testimony on the question of inspiration?

9. What is the author’s suggested plan of approach to the study of the Messiah in the Psalms?

10. What the background of the Psalmist’s portrait of the Messiah and of what does it consist?

11. Give the substance of Paul’s discussion of man’s sinfulness.

12. What is the teaching of Jesus on this point?

13. What is the teaching relative to sacrifices?

14. What the nature, extent, and blessedness of the salvation to be wrought by the coming Messiah and what the four great elements of it as forecast by the psalmist?

15. What is the teaching of the psalms relative to the wondrous person of the Messiah? Discuss.

16. What are the offices of the Messiah according to psalms? Discuss each.

17. Cite the more important events of the Messiah’s life according to the vision of the psalmist.

18. What the circumstances of the Messiah’s death and resurrection as foreseen by the psalmist?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

Psa 60:1 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.

Upon Shushan-eduth ] An instrument so called, or to the tune of some song so called. The words signify the lily of the testimony; or, of kingly ornament; whereof many make manifold constructions, but they are all conjectural.

Michtam of David, to teach ] The Hebrews have a proverb, Lilmod lelammed, Men must, therefore, learn that they may teach. David here imparteth what he had learned of God’s goodness; and would teach others, especially when they go to war, as Jdg 3:2 2Sa 1:18 , to call upon God, and to lean upon his promises; as himself had done with singular success.

When he strove with Aram-naharaim ] Cum rixaretur, contenderet. Mesopotamia, called here Aram-naharaim, lay between those two famous rivers, Euphrates and Tigris; and so seemeth to have been a part of that earthly paradise, Gen 2:10-14 , whereof since Adam’s fall and Noah’s flood, cecidit rosa, mansit spina, saith one, the rose is gone, the thorn only remaineth. A country fruitful beyond belief, as Herodotus hath it; but inhabited by such as here joined with the Ammonites and other enemies of the Church; and were, therefore, sought by David, and at length vanquished. See 1Ch 19:1-19 .

And with Aram-zobah ] Or, Coelesyria, whereof Damascus was the metropolis.

When Joab returned ] sc. From the slaughter of the Syrians.

And smote of Edom ] That is, of the Edomites, who had set upon Israel in the south, when Joab with the army was fighting against the Syrians in the east. Joab, therefore, at his return took them to do; and slew twelve thousand, after that Abishai had first slain six thousand of them, all which eighteen thousand are said to have been slain by David, as being Rex et Radix victoriae, saith Kimchi, the king and root of the victory, 2Sa 8:13 .

In the valley of Salt ] Where Abraham had once fought with the four victorious kings, Gen 14:9 ; Gen 14:14-15 , and afterwards Amaziah with the Edomites. likewise slaying ten thousand, 2Ki 14:7 , In the midst of these conflicts and bustles David is thought to have written this psalm, together with Psa 44:1-26 Psa 108:1-13

Ver. 1. O God, thou hast cast us off ] Some gather from this sad complaint that David was sometimes worsted in these wars, though it be not particularly so recorded in the Scriptures (Aben Ezra). Dubia est martis alea, K , 2Sa 11:25 ; the best cause hath not always the best success, Jdg 20:21 ; Jdg 20:25 . Others think that the psalmist here complaineth of the sad condition of the Israelites after that Saul was slain in Mount Gilboa, and the Philistines tyrannized at their pleasure, 1Sa 21:7 . Whereupon also followed these civil dissensions and seditions, while some of the tribes set up Ishbosheth, and others went after David. These miseries he here mentioneth the rather that God’s goodness in the present settlement of the kingdom might the better appear. Hence most interpreters read the words in the preterpluperfect, Thou hadst cast us off, thou hadst scattered us, &c.; but now it is well with us for the present, and better yet it will be.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

This is “To the chief musician, on Shushan (lily) of testimony, Michtam of David to teach; when he strove with Syria of Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and smote Edom in the valley of salt, twelve thousand.”

In this fine psalm, the fitting close of its series, God’s temporary rejection of His people is felt and acknowledged frankly. Yet they cleave to His calling them, and while justifying Him in His displeasure and sore chastening, they see, for those that fear, a banner to be raised for truth which He gave them. Hence their bold challenge even in their lowest state, as well as their identification with the whole elect nation and all the land. The God who restores is the more surely theirs against all their foes and oppressors; and man once leaned on is seen to be but vanity.

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 60:1-5

1O God, You have rejected us. You have broken us;

You have been angry; O, restore us.

2You have made the land quake, You have split it open;

Heal its breaches, for it totters.

3You have made Your people experience hardship;

You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger.

4You have given a banner to those who fear You,

That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

5That Your beloved may be delivered,

Save with Your right hand, and answer us!

Psa 60:1-3 This strophe describes how the psalmist perceives his/Israel’s relationship with YHWH.

1. He has rejected us BDB 276, KB 276, Qal perfect, cf. Psa 44:9; Psa 44:23; Psa 74:1; Psa 77:7; Psa 108:11

2. He has broken us BDB 829, KB 971, Qal perfect, possibly related to a breach in a defensive wall

3. He has been angry BDB 60, KB 72, Qal perfect

4. He has made their land quake BDB 950, KB 1271, Hiphil perfect

5. He has made the land split open BDB 822, KB 954, Qal perfect, rare word, only here and a related form in Jer 22:14, where it is translated cut out

6. He made His people experience hardship BDB 906, KB 1157, Hiphil perfect

7. He gave them wine to drink (i.e., cause drunkenness and staggering) BDB 1052, KB 1639, Hiphil perfect, the cup might be for the nations (cf. Jer 25:16-26), is now given to the covenant people with the same effect (cf. Isa 51:17; Isa 51:22)

Notice that all the verbs are perfects, which denotes a settled condition. In light of this the psalmist prays that God will

1. restore us BDB 996, KB 1427, Polel imperfect, cf. Psa 80:3; Psa 80:7; Psa 80:19; Psa 85:4; Psa 126:1; Lam 5:21

2. heal (i.e., restore, NIDOTTE, vol. 3, p. 1163) the land BDB 950, KB 1272, Qal imperative, cf. 2Ch 7:14; this may refer to the breach in the wall of Psa 60:1 b

It must be stated that all of these prayer requests for God’s help, protection, deliverance are based on His people’s faith and lifestyle (cf. 2Ch 6:37-39). All God’s promises (except for the ones connected to Messiah and His ministry) are conditional (see SPECIAL TOPIC: COVENANT ).

SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH’S COVENANT REQUIREMENTS OF ISRAEL

Psa 60:1 The rejection by God (cf. Psa 60:1; Psa 60:10) of His people (cf. Psa 60:3; Psa 60:5) is shocking! We must remember that God had a purpose for Israel. She was to be a mechanism for the worldwide revelation of God’s character and purposes (see SPECIAL TOPIC: YHWH’s ETERNAL REDEMPTIVE PLAN , cf. Eze 36:22-38). This demanded faithful covenant obedience (cf. 1Ch 28:9). Because of the Fall of Genesis 3 they could not; judgment was the only option (cf. Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30).

The phrase in His holiness in Psa 60:6 is a powerful reminder of the character of God that He wants His people to emulate and model for the nations (see SPECIAL TOPIC: CHARACTERISTICS OF ISRAEL’S GOD ).

A new approach was necessary. This new approach is called the new covenant (cf. Jer 31:31-34; Eze 36:22-38), which the NT clarifies as the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Psa 60:4-5 To me this should be a separate strophe (cf. NKJV, NRSV). The subject changes from Psa 60:1-3. This strophe describes YHWH’s actions on behalf of Israel.

1. He has given those who revere Him a banner (BDB 651, i.e., a visible sign or way to communicate, cf. Exo 17:15; Isa 5:26; Isa 11:12; Isa 13:2; Psa 20:5); this could be a negative (i.e., flee) or positive (i.e., rally to) expression.

2. He wants it displayed to communicate Himself (i.e., the truth; the Hebrew consonants can mean of the bow or truth, BDB 905; UBS Text Project support of the bow with a B rating (some doubt); the NRSV, NJB, NET Bible; REB support this choice but NKJV and JPSOA have truth. The word for bow has an added vowel only here.

The point seems to be that YHWH is providing some support to Israel by His presence with them in battle.

Psa 60:4 Selah See notes at Psa 3:2 and Intro. to Psalms, VII.

Psa 60:5-12 This is repeated in Psa 108:6-13.

Psa 60:5 Your beloved This adjective (BDB 391) is used of YHWH’s covenant people (cf. Isa 5:1; Jer 11:15; Jer 12:7). It is a strong, passionate description.

This verse has two prayer requests based on Psa 60:4.

1. save us (MT; Qere me) BDB 446, KB 448, Hiphil imperative, i.e., by Your actions, cf. Psa 3:7; Psa 20:9

2. answer us (MT, Qere me) BDB 772, KB 851, Qal imperative

The UBS Text Project (p. 277) gives the MT’s us a C rating (considerable doubt). The plural is in Psa 60:10-11.

Your right hand This is a Hebrew idiom of power and effective action (cf. Exo 15:6; Psa 17:7; Psa 44:3; Psa 98:1; Psa 108:6; Psa 138:7; Psa 139:10, see SPECIAL TOPIC: HAND ).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Title. Michtam. App-65.

when, &c. See 2Sa 8:13-14.

Aram-naharaim, &c. = Mesopotamia or Syria. See 1Ch 18:5, and note below on “twelve thousand”.

twelve thousand. In 2Sa 8:13, and 1Ch 18:12, it is David’s and Abishai’s exploit, which was 18,000. Here, it is Joab’s exploit, and his share was 12,000, but he took six months longer in finishing up his task (1Ki 11:15, 1Ki 11:16). David’s 22,000 in 1Ch 18:5 were in a Syrian campaign. See notes on 2Sa 8:12, 2Sa 8:13.

God. Hebrew. Elohim. App-4.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Psa 60:1-12

Psa 60:1-12 :

O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again. For thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shakes. You have showed your people hard things: you have made us to drink the wine of astonishment. You have given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. That your beloved may be delivered; save with your right hand, and hear me. God hath spoken in his holiness; and I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me ( Psa 60:1-8 ).

These verses, actually, here in this particular part are repeated. Verses Psa 60:5-12 are identical to Psa 108:6-13 ,so we will get these further on again.

Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? Will not thou, O God, which hath cast us off? and thou, O God, which did not go out with our armies? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies ( Psa 60:9-12 ).

“Give us help, oh God. Vain is the help of man.” In another place David said, “It is time for You to work, oh Lord, for vain is the work of man.” Oh, that we would learn to just trust in God; call upon Him for our help. Rather than looking to man, look to God. We always are scheming. We’re always devising. We are always trying to figure out just one more angle. So many people try to use me in their devices and in their scheming. They have tried every game in the book, every trick. And they finally think, “Well, if I can just get Chuck, you know, they will listen to him.” And it is just another one of their… they are not willing to leave it in God’s hands completely. They just can’t leave it with God. They say, “Oh, I’m just turning my life over to God.” And then they are still scheming, still conniving, still trying to work another angle. Why don’t we just give up and let God take over completely? It is great day when I just yield to God all the issues of my life. And I trust Him completely. “Give us help from trouble, for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly.”

Father, we thank You tonight for Your Word. Let Your Spirit plant it in our hearts. May we grow thereby. In Jesus’ name. Amen

May the Lord bless and keep and strengthen and guide your life through this week. Keep looking up; we are getting so close. Keep your eyes on the Middle East; it is coming down. The day of the Lord is at hand. Let us lay aside every weight, the sin which does so easily beset us, and let’s run with patience the race that has been set before us, as we look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Psa 60:1-5

A PSALM FOLLOWING A MILITARY DEFEAT

SUPERSCRIPTION: FOR THE CHIEF MUSICIAN; SET TO SHUSHAN EDUTH.

MICHTAM OF DAVID; TO TEACH; WHEN HE STROVE WITH ARAM-NAHARAIM; AND JOAB RETURNED; AND SMOTE OF EDOM IN THE VALLEY OF SALT TWELVE THOUSAND.

Shushan Eduth. This is usually translated, “The Lily of the Testimony, which was the name of the tune or melody to which the singers fitted the words of this psalm. Psalms 45; Psalms 69; and Psalms 80 were also set to this tune.

Michtam of David. “Michtam” is thought to mean that this was a “Golden Psalm”; but some have supposed that it could have been another musical instruction for the singers. David, of course, is here indicated as the author. “There is nothing that stands in the way of accepting this claim of Davidic authorship. “The Psalm itself has every characteristic of the Davidic style, namely, liveliness, rapid transitions, terse yet comprehensive language, strong metaphors, intense feeling and hopefulness.

Regarding the occasion, Dummelow has this:

“The Psalm is clearly written after a lost battle, not after a victory. It has been suggested that while David was engaged in the north of Palestine subjugating Damascus and the Syrians, the Edomites in the south, saw their opportunity and attacked Israel, inflicting a serious military defeat.

The superscription barely mentions this defeat, preferring rather to emphasize the retaliation of Israel in which a great victory was won over Edom, a victory accredited to Joab here, in which some 12,000 Edomites were killed. Of course, some writers have complained that the Bible has no full account of any such defeat of Israel, even dating to question the accuracy of the superscription on that basis. To us this is amusing. That type of critical mind would question the results of the Battle of San Jacinto because Santa Ana did not go back to Mexico and erect a monument celebrating that battle! Great defeats are seldom memorialized by the defeated. For this reason, the very abbreviated account in 2 Samuel 8; 1 Chronicles 18, etc., which relate the results of the Davidic wars, devoted no space at all to a description of the defeat which prompted this psalm.

Another unjustified criticism is that which seems offended by the fact that Joab in this superscription is accredited with the ensuing victory over Edom, whereas “In Chronicles the victory is ascribed to Joab’s brother Abishai, and in 2 Samuel 8 to David. This is easily explained since David the king was commander-in-chief; Joab was the ranking General of the Armies; and his brother Abishai was entrusted with the campaign in the Valley of Salt. It was correct to ascribe victory to each of these.

Could it be an error to describe President Bush, or Secretary of Defense Cheney, or General Norman Schwarzkopf, any one of the three, or all three, as victors in the recent war with Iraq?

The organization of the psalm suggested by Rawlinson is:

(1) God is pleaded with (Psa 60:1-5);

(2) God is reminded of the promises he has made to Israel (Psa 60:6-8);

(3) God is pleaded with in the very strongest terms to give help to Israel (Psa 60:9-11); and

(4) God is praised and extolled as Israel’s Helper who will give them final and complete victory (Psa 60:12).

GOD IS PLEADED WITH

Psa 60:1-5

“O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down;

Thou hast been angry; oh restore us again.

Thou hast made the land to tremble; thou hast rent it:

Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.

Thou hast showed thy people hard things:

Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.

Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,

That it may be displayed because of the truth.

(Selah That thy beloved may be delivered,

Save with thy right hand, and answer us.”

“Thou hast cast us off … broken us down … been angry” (Psa 60:1). “This psalm conveys the sense of national humiliation resulting from a wholly unseen military reverse.” Notice also that God’s anger with Israel is also mentioned. This was no doubt due to the sins and rebellions of the Chosen People, the same being characteristic of that nation throughout its history.

“Thou hast made the land to tremble … rent it… it shaketh” (Psa 60:2).

Was this a real earthquake, or is the military defeat merely compared to an earthquake? We believe it is probably the latter, but earthquakes were by no means uncommon occurrences in Israel.

“The wine of staggering” (Psa 60:3). This does not mean that God had actually given Israel such a deadly potion, but that God’s providence had allowed it. The metaphor of drugged wine is used in describing the sins of the Great Harlot in Revelation; and here it is a metaphor of the stunning effect of that surprising military defeat. “The nation had been rendered unable to function.

Psa 60:4 is not easily translated; and one possible meaning is that, “Israel had indeed raised the God-given banner; but it proved to be not so much a rallying point as a signal for dispersion.

“That thy beloved may be delivered” (Psa 60:5). This recalls the tremendous fact of God’s loving Israel, thus injecting a strong feeling of encouragement and hope into the passage.

“Save with thy right hand, and answer us” (Psa 60:5). This double cry for God’s help emphasizes the great lesson of the psalm, namely, that no matter how discouraging and difficult any given situation may appear to be, the answer is always, inevitably, and certainly, “Take it to the Lord in prayer.”

E.M. Zerr:

Psa 60:1. David was speaking for the nation as a whole. The people often provoked the Lord by their sins and received the Judgments of God as a punishment.

Psa 60:2. Not the earth literally was made to tremble, but the people who live on it. They were made to feel the force of God’s wrath.

Psa 60:3. Hard things and wine of astonishment are figurative phrases referring to the chastisements of God upon his wayward people.

Psa 60:4. A banner is from a word that is defined by Strong as a token. It means that people who fear God are “winners” in the contest against sin and God gives them the “blue ribbon” or token as a first prize reward.

Psa 60:5. David loved his people and prayed for them. Save with the right hand means that the salvation that is provided by the hand of God will be righteous.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

This is a song out of defeat. It may be divided into three parts. The first is a recognition of the cause of defeat, ending with a prayer (verses Psa 60:1-5). The second expresses the answer of God in the soul of the singer (verses Psa 60:6-8). In the third there is a note of helplessness, a cry of need, and a cry of confidence. In the midst of an evidently disastrous defeat, the singer recognizes the government of God. His appeal for help is based on his recognition of the true vocation of the people. They bear a banner for the display of truth. Note the “Selah” at this point, suggesting especial attention to this fact. For the sake of that banner the cry for deliverance is raised.

Then the singer tells of the answer, but the supreme note is “God hath spoken in His holiness.”

All the fine imagery which describes triumph follows that declaration. Victory is possible only in holiness. Defeat is ever the issue of sin. All human aid is helpless when God has abandoned the people. The song ends with a cry for help and the declaration of personal assurance.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

Prayer for Help against Foes

Psa 60:1-12

This was a national psalm to be taught the people. See title; also Deu 31:19. A strong coalition had been formed against David at that time. See 2Sa 10:6; 2Sa 10:8; 2Sa 10:17; 2Sa 10:19; 1Ch 18:12-15. Israel was threatened with disaster. It was as if an earthquake had rent the soil. But the king-psalmist argued that God had given His people a mission in the world, which could not be forfeited. First, Israel carried a banner for the truth, Psa 60:4. In addition, God had spoken in His holiness and had promised that the seed of Abraham should possess Canaan. Standing on a hill-summit, the psalmist sees the Land of Promise outspread before him. Shechem and Succoth, Psa 60:6, one west, the other east, of the Jordan, indicate the breadth of the land. All had been given over to Israel by covenant, and therefore the surrounding peoples must become subject.

As yet the strong city of Petra, rock-girded, Psa 60:9, had laughed David to scorn; but he had confidence that God would lead him within its mighty walls, to tread down his adversaries, Num 24:18. Man could not, but God could. The question is never, Can God? but always, Can we trust and follow Him?

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

Psalm 60

The Lord with His People

1. Confessions and prayer (Psa 60:1-5)

2. The inheritance anticipated (Psa 60:6-8)

3. Faiths certainty (Psa 60:9-12)

This Psalm, Shushan-Eduth (the lily of testimony), also a Michtam of David, has for its beginning a confession of the godly in Israel. The Lord they acknowledge had scattered them and is angry with them. They pray for restoration. That thy beloved may be delivered, save with Thy right hand and hear me. Then He hears and answers in His holiness and His people rejoice as once more they possess their earthly inheritance. The casting of the shoe upon Edom means the subjugation of Edom, taking possession and making Edom a servant.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Michtam

Michtam, a prayer.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

Michtam: or, a golden Psalm, Psa 59:1, *title

when he strove: 2Sa 8:3, 2Sa 8:12, 2Sa 8:13, 2Sa 10:16, 1Ch 18:3, 1Ch 18:12, 1Ch 18:13, 1Ch 19:16-19

valley: 2Ki 14:7, 2Ch 25:11

O God: Psa 60:10, Psa 44:9, Psa 74:1, Psa 89:38, Psa 108:11, 1Ch 28:9, Rom 11:1, Rom 11:2

scattered: Heb. broken, Psa 59:11, 1Sa 4:10, 1Sa 4:11, 1Sa 4:17, 1Sa 13:6, 1Sa 13:7, 1Sa 13:11, 1Sa 13:19-22, 1Sa 31:1-7

O turn: Psa 79:9, Psa 89:3, Psa 89:7, Psa 89:19, Psa 85:4, Psa 90:13, Lam 3:31, Lam 3:32, Zec 10:6

Reciprocal: Gen 22:21 – Aram Gen 27:29 – be lord Num 24:18 – General 1Ki 11:15 – when David 1Ki 11:23 – Hadadezer Psa 25:16 – Turn Psa 44:11 – scattered Psa 44:19 – Though Psa 56:1 – Michtam Psa 75:3 – earth Psa 108:10 – who will lead Lam 5:22 – But thou hast utterly rejected us Zec 1:2 – Lord Joh 1:4 – the life

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

The presence of God with His people after disciplinary dealings.

To the chief musician, upon Shushan-eduth: Michtam of David, to teach: when he strove with the Syrians of Mesopotamia, and with the Syrians of Zobah; when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt, twelve thousand.*

{*In 2Sa 8:12 (q.v.) the victory is in the Hebrew copies over Aram (Syria), but “Edom” manifestly right. It is ascribed there also to David as king, instead of Joab as general; of whom Abishai (named in 1Ch 18:12) was probably the lieutenant. The difference in numbers also (Sam. and Chron., eighteen thousand) may be the difference between those slain in the main battle, as compared with the whole contest.}

The closing psalm of this Michtam series fills very plainly its place as a fifth psalm. It speaks on the one hand of disciplinary dealings of God with His people under which they have suffered, and on the other, of God turning again to be with them; after the discipline has done its work. Again, it is a Deuteronomic psalm, as contemplating restored Israel, like the Israel of the wilderness of old, just ready to enter upon her inheritance in the land, to “divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.” This also shows, as we saw in the last one, how far beyond the immediate occasion which prompted them; these prophetic psalms reach. To “divide Shechem” supposes a new occupancy of the land, such as could not, one would say, at all connect with the Syro-Edomitish war to which the title refers; and such inapplicable things in an inspired composition may well have been permitted expressly to prevent the thought of the immediate application being the whole or the main thing. And this is the case probably with all prophecies. The Spirit of God makes the object which is immediately in view to stand for some object connected with that final consummation, to which as a matter of hope or warning He is constantly directing our attention, -on which all prophetic lines converge. Thus it is that Peter gives us as of primary importance his noted canon of hermeneutics, that “no prophecy of the Scripture is of private” -literally, “its own” -“interpretation.” To detach it from the general body of the prophetic Scripture is necessarily to misread it, and pervert it from its proper place and use.

Shushan-eduth, “the lily of testimony,” in the title here, naturally carries us back to the forty-fifth psalm; with its “lilies” -shoshannim. And it is as natural to think of the fourth verse here in explanation of the “testimony”: “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that they may stand up because of the truth.” As the forty-fifth psalm also is “a song of the beloved” or “of loves,” so here the fifth verse follows the fourth with the prayer, “that thy beloved ones may be delivered.” Israel is evidently the “lily of testimony”; and it is “among the thorns,” -in tribulation, out of which it is brought in triumph by the power and grace of God.

“Michtam of David, to teach,” is surely not difficult to understand, if the character of every michtam was epigrammatic, and to give maxims of faith, worthy to be durably engraved upon the memory. If this be the purport of it also, some special emphasis must be put upon the “teaching” in this case, which would suit well also with the character of this psalm; previously noticed, as a deuteronomic fifth.

The psalm has twelve verses, altered from the usual division into 4 x 3 by the shortening of the second section by one verse, which is added to the last one.

1. The first section is the language of conviction on the part of the latter-day remnant, speaking for the nation. They own that in the ruin into which they have been brought, God’s hand has been against them. It is He who has cast them off and scattered them: He has been displeased. They own it, -own, therefore, their guilt, and plead for restoration.

The figures of the second verse are those of an earthquake which has rent the land, and with which it is still shaking. An earthquake is a common figure of social convulsions, which, though they come from beneath, are signs of divine displeasure. All the bonds that unite men together have their security in that which unites them to God. Let this be broken through, there must be “breaches” between man and man; the blow which shatters the political fabric coming from below -from the volcanic heavings of fermenting elements that lie everywhere below the surface, the passions of men ready always to discharge themselves, if the repression of the divine hand be removed. “Earthquakes in divers places” the Lord associates with other signs of the approaching end (Mat 24:7); and the sympathy between man and nature (which has been commonly recognized, but which the occupation with mere material causes leads men to overlook or deny) may well manifest itself in literal outbreaks of this nature. God warns man who will not otherwise hear, by such appeals to his grosser senses; real intelligence would find in them; beyond this, the parables of divine speech.

The convulsions of the land the psalmist interprets in their inner meaning. It is the wine of trembling which God has been causing His people to drink. He has given them up to intoxication, to find the strength of a cup sweet enough to the taste at first, in result the confusion of all their faculties.

2. But there is still ground of appeal to God, and that in effect because of His whole nature. His truth and His love abide, and may be the sure confidence of His people in their distress. The psalmist has already uttered that word, “Thy people,” a relationship which for long Israel has had no right to claim. But when they shall accept the punishment for their iniquity, then shall their faithful God be ready with His mercy, as He has promised. For “it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto Jehovah thy God, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I have commanded thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that then Jehovah thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee” (Deu 30:1-3).

Thus and in these circumstances will Israel be able to claim God as their God in the days to which these psalms, as we have seen, look forward. And thus the psalmist can now speak of a “standard” which God has put into the hands of those that fear Him, that they may “up-standard themselves,” as Delitzsch puts it, “because of the truth.” It is hard to express the thought without circumlocution, in English; but the giving them a standard acknowledges them in their corporate relationship, -puts them together, makes of a defeated rabble an army, -and, by His (loin. it, takes them once more as His own. So that now in lifting the standard, they lift themselves up, -they stand up: they are nationalized again, as really the people of God.

The last words here, because of truth,” are difficult because of their abstract character. The word (qoshet*) occurs only once beside (Psa 22:21), where it is translated “certainty”; and the Chaldaic form is found twice in Daniel (Dan 2:47; Dan 4:37), in both cases rendered “truth.” These passages favor the meaning suggested by the context, that it refers to the absolute fidelity of God to the word He has spoken. His immutable promise is indeed itself a standard under which they may gather with perfect assurance: it is exact, precise truth,” as Schultens renders it, “weighed, as it were, in the evenest balance.”

{*The Septuagint reads “the bow” (qesheth instead of qoshet), and of course changes the whole meaning: “Thou hast given a token to them that fear thee, that they might flee from the bow.” This it is needless to discuss, as it has no probability in its favor; though the Vulgate follows it, and such critics as Cheyne naturally prefer it.}

But truth does not dwell alone, with God. His heart goes with it. So the psalmist has another plea, -an appeal to the other side of the divine nature: ‘ that Thy beloved ones may be delivered, save with Thy right hand. and answer me.” How good to know that God has a heart; and that, not a Master, but a Father’s arms, welcome the wanderers! It is the same story essentially, whether we read it in the Old Testament or in the New: for God is the same; only in the New Testament the sun has burst through all the clouds. God was always Light: He now is “in the light.”

3. Possession of the land is at once anticipated. “God has spoken in His holiness: I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem; and mete out the valley of Succoth.” God has spoken in His holiness: in His grace to them surely, but grace has brought them into true-hearted subjection to Him; so that it is in holiness He can act for them. Israel is in fact now to be the proclaimer of divine holiness to the ends of the earth. But divine favor towards Israel is inseparably connected with their possession of the land; at once therefore they anticipate this. They are going to divide Shechem on the west of Jordan, and the valley of Succoth on the east side: to take possession of both sides of the river. Only these two places are named; but these imply that all the rest is theirs. Shechem and Succoth do not indeed at first sight seem like representative places, especially the latter, and yet in some sense they must be: there must be some special suitability in them to express the divine thought as to this repossession of what they had lost before. They are not again to lose it; and notice, to begin with, that they are now in the track of their father Abraham. Jacob’s name connects itself with both places; but his record in connection with them is one of failure, and has no pleasant memory attaching to it. In Abraham’s case it is far otherwise. Shechem is the first place in which he rests after reaching the land, and there it is that he has the first promise of the land itself. Shechem means “shoulder,” which Issachar afterwards (like the nation hitherto) “bowed, to bear, and became a servant for tribute,” imposed by masters which he had preferred to God. Abraham bows his shoulder to God at the oak Moreh, (“instructor,”) to learn of Him; and to find blessing at His hand. Shechem stands thus for the spirit of obedience, as it was in fact afterward the place at which Israel heard the law, with its blessings and curses, proclaimed when they entered the land under Joshua. The history soon showed indeed that they knew not the meaning of it; but when they enter the land under the new covenant, it will be with the law written upon their heart. The spirit of obedience will now therefore be fully theirs; so that they will for the first time be able to take complete possession of (or “divide”) Shechem. How could their tenure of the land under the “new covenant,” and in fulfillment (for the first time really) of the promise given to Abraham there, be better expressed?

But what of the “valley of Succoth”? There seems no reference here to the history at all: there is no notice of it except in that part of Jacob’s which seems to be failure throughout. On the other hand, the types speak with the clearest and most beautiful significance. Succoth means “booths” or “tabernacles”; and it is the word used for that “feast of tabernacles” which is the last of Israel’s sacred year, and which, as the commemoration of their wilderness wanderings as ended, by those now in the land, carries them on in figure to those millennial days in which their longer wanderings as strangers among the Gentiles shall be over forever, and their final rest be come. Thus Succoth follows Shechem here in a most beautiful manner, and the two together establish the prophetic meaning of the psalm conclusively.

But now the tribes appear as if gathering to enter upon their inheritance. Again, only representative names are given. “Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine Ephraim also is the strength of my head; Judah is my lawgiver.” Four names only are here; and of these Gilead is only part of Manasseh. They must be surely significant, as those preceding them have been seen to be: as, let us rather say, everything in Scripture is. Let us try to learn the significance.

Gilead is given by Gesenius as meaning, “hard, rocky”; but there seems, on the other hand, reason for connecting it rather with Jacob’s Galeed (Gen 31:47), “a heap of witness.” It would be thus in remarkable antithesis with Manasseh, with which it is linked, and which means “forgetting.” A heap of witness is for the very purpose of making forgetfulness impossible.

Manasseh as the natural first-born of Joseph we have read elsewhere (Gen 48:1-22, notes) as the first principle of spiritual “increase.”: “forgetting that which is behind,” says the apostle, “I press on.” But Manasseh has a son, Machir, who is the father of Gilead, and whose name approaches his as closely as possible, meaning “one who recollects,” Spiritually, there is no incongruity with all this contrariety: we forget what is behind in order to keep in remembrance what our goal is; and thus one springs out of the other. “The memorial heap” also, as Fausset well observes, “marked the crisis in Jacob’s life, when he became severed from his Syrian kindred, and henceforth a sojourner in and heir of Canaan.”

Gilead it is we have here, and not Machir and then it is to be considered that Gilead is not just Galeed, even though the meaning be identical, as indeed the words are. A heap of witness is that we may not forget, but the tribe-name means forgetting: here, as we have seen, Israel is ending her long history of sin and sorrow, to enter into possession of her glorious future -her home with God. On the one hand, what more natural than the desire to forget so sad a story? And this, too, the God of grace has provided for by the sweet assurance pictured. for Israel in her day of atonement, when the scapegoat bears the sins of the people into a “land cut off.” And this brings once again the new covenant before us, in which God says, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.”

And many have a difficulty in reconciling this with such a scripture as that which Ecclesiastes ends with, that “God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” This is, of course, the Old Testament: but the New has what is similar, and in express application to Christians: “For we must all appear” -or “be made manifest” -“before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2Co 5:10).

That this is a very different thing from the judgment of the person “according to his works,” which is the principle of the final judgment at the “great white throne” (Rev 20:11-12), should be well known to every reader of his Bible now. “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me,” says the Lord, “hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but is passed from death unto life” (Joh 5:24, Gk.). And the same chapter of Revelation shows that a thousand years before the great white throne those that belong to the first resurrection have found their blessed “part” with Christ, and reign with Him. This has been so often repeated, that I only refer to it in. this place. Scripture never confounds, as many Christians do, the saint with the sinner with regard to judgment to come, nor the “resurrection of life” with the “resurrection of judgment” (Joh 5:29).

Yet there will be a judgment of works for the saint, though not a judgment by works; a review of things done in the body, and proportionate reward or loss, according as the works which “come into judgment” abide or cannot abide that solemn manifestation. Just in this way will the precious blood of Christ be manifested also, in all its saving power, for the believer. Nothing need be hidden, nothing shall be hidden: grace shall be seen in its full glory in the presence of the sins which have stained the best life ever lived among mere men. Reward that might have been may not be, but that which depends upon the work of Christ alone cannot be lost, if that work fail not.

All shall be manifested: -to ourselves how great a gain! when the story of our lives shall be fully told, and all God’s ways with us seen in view of our own ways. Then to have the lives of others bared before us as our own lives, and to see the equal yet various dealings of God with all! The wisdom. of all time, -the harvests of all seasons, -the full store garnered up of all that had seemed to be passed away, -who would lose such riches, that once knew their value? Nay, we shall never lose them: nothing passes, nothing is lost in all eternity; our memories will be as deathless as all else: how else could knowledge of redemption itself be left to us? or how could the praises of the redeemed go on without diminution?

The psalm does not go beyond time, the earth, and Israel; but the same principles are found in it: Gilead and Manasseh abide together. Divine love will put away their sins in such sort that the sunshine of God’s favor towards them shall never know the shadow of a passing cloud; and yet the lessons of their past shall abide with them ever: the “heap of witness” shall do its blessed work. The psalmist’s voice, representing that of the nation, claims both Gilead and Manasseh. The perfect memory of the one and the forgetfulness of the other, -learned both of Him who unites them in His necessary perfection -shall be found characterizing those who go back into the land to possess it according to the perfect grace of His covenant of promise.

This unites itself, moreover, with the present verse in a very striking way: for of what does “the valley of Succoth” speak, but of the past, as looked back upon from the full blessing reached? Succoth, the “booths,” refers to the wilderness-history which is for them now ended; and in these they lived, as it were their life there over again. Their Succoths were, in short, a kind of Gilead for them.

“Ephraim also is the strength of my head,” continues the speaker. “Fruitful” Ephraim, with her “myriads” of people, assured her by her prophet-lawgiver, would enable Israel to lift up the head. “As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,” says one of the songs of degrees, “so are children of the youth: happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.” The blessings on the head of Joseph, enlarged upon both by Jacob and Moses, show how perfectly Ephraim fulfills the name.

But the spiritual meaning shines through here also, and will be realized when Israel, redeemed. from the barrenness of her past history, shall bring forth fruit to God. The barrenness of the past has been a fruitful argument only on the lips of scoffers, as the apostle assures them; “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you” (Rom 2:24): a principle of universal application to the barren professor. Conversely, the apostle brings forward the fruitfulness of divine grace in the soul to establish it, and to assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemn us,” he urges, “God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight” (1Jn 3:19-22). Thus every way “Ephraim is the strength of the head.”

But “Judah is my ruler;” and this, too, carries us back to Jacob’s blessing. The spirit of worship, of which Judah speaks, is that which alone gives God. Himself His throne among men. How these psalms themselves, which the arrogant folly of a critic like Cheyne would deny to David, show this character -a praise which ever enthrones God! And this is what fits him for his own place on that representative throne, which was, as such, the “throne of Jehovah” (1Ch 29:23). Thus also the “Son of David” who is also David’s Lord, is He whose voice is heard saying, “In the midst of the congregation will I praise Thee.” In Him the two thrones come together in a perfect concord, never to be broken.

Israel is now in condition to receive, therefore, the full inheritance which she has never yet received. In her most triumphant days, Moab, Edom; the Philistines, lay within what was her territory according to the original promise. The first two, indeed, were expressly spared by their divine Leader, along with Ammon, the other son of Lot, and the lands they then possessed were retained to them. But this was only temporarily; for they never turned to God; and their judgment is denounced upon them by the prophets from Balaam on. “The residue of My people shall spoil them, and the remnant of My people shall possess them,” says the Lord by Zephaniah (2: 9).

Amnion is not mentioned here; but Moab, Edom, and Philistia, are; and, first of all, Moab: “Moab is my wash-pot.”

When they were just upon the border of the land, at the time of their first entrance, Moab had been the guilty defiler of the people of God. Upon Midian, its ally in this, summary judgment had been executed, as we know; but Moab had escaped at that time.

“God,” however, “requireth that which is past,” and the deed of ancient times seems to come here into remembrance. There had, of course, been meanwhile no repentance. Israel, by summary judgment upon the seducer, washes herself clean at last.

In fact also, that which Moab seems to answer to passes away from Israel in judgment at this time. If Moab stands, as I doubt not, for mere profession (see Deu 2:8-23, notes), then we have the express statement of Isaiah to that effect. “And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem; when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughter of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning” (Isa 4:3-4).

How great a defilement indeed is the mere presence of unbelievers in the midst of the people of God! A wonder it is that, even in dead Sardis, a few should be found who had not defiled their garments (Rev 3:4). And the mere touch of death defiled in Israel. Familiar the word is, (but oh how it requires to be repeated in dull ears today!) “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? and what path hath he that believeth with an unbeliever? . . . wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2Co 6:14-18.) Measure the defilement here by the penalty implied, and what must it be in the sight of God?

Israel is cleansed now in this respect, and of necessity growing into her inheritance. Edom must next give place. The casting the shoe upon it is the sign of taking forcible possession. Edom; the enemy-brother, yields and is displaced. Typically, the old man yields to the new. And with Edom conquered, Philistia bursts into a cry of pain. Typically, this is simple: for Philistia, as we have seen in constant and progressive pictures, (Gen 20:1-18; Gen 26:1-35, Jos 13:1-33, Jdg 9:1-57, 1Sa 17:1-58, 2Sa 5:17-25; 2Sa 21:15-22 : notes) is the religion of the flesh, which passes away with the “old man’s” judgment. These things would take long to unfold in any proper manner, and scarcely need, for one who has learned the meaning of the scriptures just referred to. They will be found to give one consistent meaning throughout -consistent as truth ever is, and with this consistency on every side, as only truth can be.

That Israel is beginning to fill out her divine limits is plain in the letter of it; but this is only the anticipation of faith, as we see by the final section.

4. The sudden drop in the closing part, as a fourth section emphasized in its four verses, need not surprise us. Nor is it needless, this emphasis that is laid upon the human weakness which shuts us up to God for the accomplishment of every hope. It is the creature taking the creature-place, which is, after all, its perfection as such. God is able now on His side to come in and act for us.

All is very simple here. The strength of the enemy is first glanced at: Petra, the rock city of Edom, being pre-eminently strong. They must be led into it by One who has the key to its closed door. But He! alas for the breach that has come in there! Yet, this owned, will He not act for them; shut up to Him as they are, in the vanity of all other hope? Surely He will: when did He fail those whom all else had failed? Nay, out of this utter weakness comes our strength; and the apostle is here one with the poor remnant of Israel. Experience shall make good their confidence: -“Through God we shall do valiantly: for He shall tread down our oppressors.”

With this, the assurance of faith is complete: the Michtam series of psalms ends.

Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary

Psa 60:1. O God, thou hast cast us off So highly had our sins provoked thy divine majesty, that thou didst reject or forsake us, so as to withdraw thy gracious and powerful presence from us, and no longer to go forth with our armies. Thus the Psalm begins with a melancholy memorial of the many disgraces and disappointments with which God had, for some years past, chastised the people. For, during the reign of Saul, especially in the latter part of it, and during Davids struggle with the house of Saul, while he reigned over Judah only, the affairs of the kingdom were much perplexed, and the neighbouring nations were very vexatious to them. Thou hast scattered us Hebrew, , peratztanu, thou hast broken us; partly by that dreadful overthrow by the Philistines, 1 Samuel 31., and partly by the civil war in our own country between Judah and Israel. Thou hast been displeased And thy displeasure, caused by our sins, has been the source of all our sufferings. Whatever our trouble may be, and whoever may be the instruments of it, we must own the righteous hand of God in it. O turn thyself to us again Be at peace with us; smile upon and take part with us, and we shall again have prosperity.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Psa 60:1. Oh God thou hast cast us off; or interrogatively, Why hast thou cast us off? At this juncture all the surrounding nations, named here, in the eighty third psalm, and in 2 Samuel 8., seem at once to rise up against David, being alarmed at his military fame and prosperity.

Psa 60:2. Thou hast made the earth to tremble, hast shaken all the surrounding nations that entered into a league against thy people; a figure of ancient speech designating the convulsions of war.

Psa 60:3. Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. From this phrase, and from the opening of the psalm, it would appear that the rebels had obtained the first victory, See on 2 Samuel 8.

REFLECTIONS.

This psalm was evidently composed when David was almost surrounded with new wars, and when he knew not what the issues would be. These wars were the more painful, as he was then thinking of building a temple for the Lord. He prays God not to cast off Israel, by the breach which Edom had occasioned, for they had here, it would seem, a vast army to support them.

David, after pouring out his soul in great humility, discovers great faith in God, who had given him a banner or standard, well supported by men. Ephraim mustered strong about it, and were the strength of his head. Judah filled the benches of justice; for thrones of justice were placed for Davids relatives in the temple. Psa 122:5. Therefore, after the figurative language of his age, he says that he would wash his feet in the pots of Moab, and cast his shoe over Edom, which implied their reduction to a menial condition. 2Sa 8:2. Philistia was elevated with joy at the breaking out of the war with Edom, and he ironically bids her enjoy the triumph, which should be of short duration; for God would bring him into Bozrah, the strong city and the capital of his enemies, which was situate on a rock, Oba 1:3, and he would mete out their country with a line.So the believer shall have the victory over all his inward corruptions, and the church over all her outward foes.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

LX. This Ps. really consists of two bound together in an abrupt style. In A, i.e. in Psa 60:1-5; Psa 60:10 b, Psa 60:11 f. we have a lament over the desperate condition of Israel, though the Psalmist is driven by his despair to renewed trust in God. In B (Psa 60:6-10 a) the tone is quite different. Appeal is made to a Divine oracle and the poet exults in the confidence that Israel will recover its possessions and utterly subdue Moab and Edom. The whole of B recurs in Psa 108:7-11 a: so also does the conclusion of Ps., viz. in Psa 60:11-12.

LX. A was written in a time of such depression that the very earth seemed to be shaken by the calamities of the Jews. Beyond this there is no indication of date. With 60 B it is different. According to its most natural interpretation the oracle predicts the complete recovery of territory lost, and now at least partially regained. It is, therefore, not a mere summary of Joshuas conquests. Nor can it be Davidic. David did not, so far as we know, fight for the complete recovery of central, southern, and eastern Palestine. It must have been composed after the captivity of N. Israel in 721, and that being granted we must go down to the Maccabean period, since then for the first time after the Exile Judah possessed an army of its own and led it against N. Israel. But we cannot determine the precise point in the Maccabean wars which the poet has in mind.

LX. A. Psa 60:3. Translate with slight emendation, Thou hast drenched us with hard things.wine of staggering, a common metaphor in Heb. (see, e.g., Isa 51:17, Jer 25:15-17). The writer means misfortunes which bewilder, like excess of wine which robs a man of his senses.

Psa 60:4. Read mg.

Psa 60:10. The continuation of Psa 60:1-5 in Psa 60:10 b is, Thou hast cast us off and goest not forth, O God, with our armies.

LX. B. The anthropomorphism is very remarkable if the very words of the oracle are given. But another interpretation is possible: God hath spoken in His holy place, i.e. the Temple. Therefore the Jewish general, or the poet identifying himself with him, breaks forth into a song of triumph and anticipates victory. Ephraim and Shechem were in the centre of Palestine, the latter being the seat of Samaritan worship. So also was a part of Manasseh; Gilead and Succoth are on the E. of Jordan. The victories anticipated are quite unlike those ascribed to Joshua and are wholly unlike those of David.

Psa 60:7. sceptre: translate marshals staff (cf. Gen 49:10).

Psa 60:8. The poet passes to Israels ancient foes. Moab is to be like the slave who presents the bason for the washing of his masters feet: Edom a slave who removes the dusty shoes (cf. Mar 1:7).

Psa 60:10. In the first words of Psa 60:10 and the last of Psa 60:9 we have the end of Psalms 60 B, who leads me into the strong city? (i.e. Bozrah, with a play on the meaning of the name, viz. stronghold) Is it not thou, O God? But there was, no doubt, a fuller close, now lost.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

PSALM 60

The remnant of the Jews own that God, though He has cast them off for their iniquities, is their only hope – the One who alone can restore and heal the breaches.

(vv. 1-3) Looking beyond all second causes, the remnant acknowledge that God has cast off, and scattered the nation because of His displeasure. They further realize that the One who has scattered is the only One who can restore.

They own that God has made the land to tremble. Now they look to the One that has broken, to heal the breaches. God has showed His people hard things. and made them drink the wine of bewilderment (JND). They do not rebel against God’s dealings with them; they do not seek to justify themselves; they do not look to themselves or to others to retrieve their position. They look only to God.

(vv. 4-5) The remnant have thus reached a condition of soul in which God can bless them. Therefore they are able to say, Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee. The banner is that which rallies and unites the peoples of God. This rallying centre is found amongst those that fear God. The banner becomes the display of truth, and thus a means of deliverance for God’s beloved people.

(vv. 6-8) The psalmist now turns to the promises of God’s Word, on which all their hopes rest. God hath spoken. And what God has said has all the certainty of God’s own nature; He has spoken in His holiness. God asserts His title to the whole land, whether on the west side of Jordan, as represented by Shechem; or on the east side, as represented by Succoth. He claims the tribes of Israel as His. Gilead and Manasseh represent His people east of Jordan; Ephraim and Judah represent them on the west side. One is the most important tribe in the north as the other is the leading tribe in the south. Thus every quarter of the land is claimed by God. Politically these two tribes have a leading place; Ephraim being the warrior tribe (Deut. 33: 17), and Judah the leading tribe in government (Gen. 49: 10).

Finally God will utterly subjugate the ancient enemies of His people. Moab will be reduced to a state of ignominious bondage, likened to a slave who washes the feet of his owner. Edom is likened to a slave to whom the master cast a worn-out shoe. Philistia, who so often had triumphed over God’s people, is now called to shout or cry out because of the triumph of God (JND).

(vv. 9-12) The soul, strengthened by the promises of God, looks to God to lead to victory. The question is raised, Who will bring me into the strong city? of which the rock city of Edom was a formidable example. His confidence in God at once supplies the answer. The very God who had cast them off because of their transgressions is the One alone through whom their help will come; for vain is the help of man. Through God will they do valiantly, for they say, He it is that shall tread down our enemies.

Fuente: Smith’s Writings on 24 Books of the Bible

60:1 [To the chief Musician upon {a} Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with {b} Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand.] O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast {c} scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.

(a) These were certain songs after the note of which this psalm was sung.

(b) Also called Sophene, which stands by Euphrates.

(c) For when Saul was not able to resist the enemy, the people fled here and there: for they were not safe in their own homes.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

Psalms 60

The occasion for this national (communal) lament psalm was Israel’s victory over the Arameans and the Edomites (cf. 2Sa 8:13; 1Ki 11:15-16; 1Ch 18:12). Naharaim (lit. rivers) and Zobah were regions in Aram. In this battle, Joab was responsible for defeating 12,000 Edomites (2Sa 8:13). Joab’s brother Abishai was the field commander, and the writer of Chronicles gave him the credit for the victory (1Ch 18:12).

This is a didactic psalm according to the superscription. That is, David wrote it to teach the readers to trust in the Lord when they encountered similar difficulties.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

1. A cry for deliverance in battle 60:1-5

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

In the battle with the Arameans, Israel’s enemy overcame her temporarily. David viewed this defeat as punishment from the Lord. He called out in prayer for national restoration. Since God had allowed the defeat, He was the One who could reverse it.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Psa 60:1-12

THIS psalm has evidently a definite historical background. Israel has been worsted in fight, but still continues its campaign against Edom. Meditating on Gods promises, the psalmist anticipates victory, which will cover defeat and perfect partial successes, and seeks to breathe his own spirit of confidence into the ranks of his countrymen. But the circumstances answering to those required by the psalm are hard to find. The date assigned by the superscription cannot be called satisfactory; for Davids war there referred to {2Sa 8:1-18} had no such stunning defeats as are here lamented. The Divine Oracle of which the substance is given in the central part of the psalm, affords but dubious indications of date. At first sight it seems to imply the union of all the tribes in one kingdom, and therefore to favour the Davidic authorship. But it may be a question whether the united Israel of the Oracle is fact or prophecy. To one school of commentators, the mention of Ephraim in conjunction with Judah is token that the psalm is prior to the great revolt; to another, it is proof positive that the date is after the destruction of the northern kingdom. The Maccabean date is favoured by Olshausen, Hitzig, and Cheyne among moderns; but, apart from other objections, the reappearance of Psa 60:5-12 in Psa 108:1-13, implies that this piece of Hebrew psalmody was already venerable when a later compiler wove part of it into that psalm. On the whole, the Davidic authorship is possible, though clogged with the difficulty already mentioned. But the safest conclusion seems to be Baethgens modest one, which contrasts strongly with the confident assertions of some other critics-namely, that assured certainty in dating the psalm “is no longer possible.”

It falls into three parts of four verses each, of which the first (Psa 60:1-4) is complaint of defeat and prayer for help; the second (Psa 60:5-8), a Divine Oracle assuring victory; and the third (Psa 60:9-12), the flash of fresh hope kindled by that Gods word.

The first part blends complaint and prayer in the first pair of verses, in each of which there is, first, a description of the desperate state of Israel, and then a cry for help. The nation is broken, as a wall is broken down, or as an army whose ordered ranks are shattered and scattered. Some crushing defeat is meant, which in Psa 60:2 is further described as an earthquake. The land trembles, and then gapes in hideous clefts, and houses become gaunt ruins. The state is disorganised as in consequence of defeat. It is an unpoetical mixture of fact and figure to see in the “rending” of the land allusion to the separation of the kingdoms, especially as that was not the result of defeat.

There is almost a tone of wonder in the designation of Israel as “Thy people,” so sadly does the fate meted out to them contrast with their name. Stranger still and more anomalous is it, that, as Psa 60:3 b laments, Gods own hand has commended such a chalice to their lips as should fill them with infatuation. The construction “wine of reeling,” is grammatically impossible, and the best explanation of the phrase regards the nouns as in apposition-“wine which is reeling,” or “reeling as wine.” The meaning is that God not only sent the disaster which had shaken the nation like an earthquake, but had sent, too, the presumptuous self-confidence which had led to it.

Psa 60:4 has received two opposite interpretations, being taken by some as a prolongation of the tone of lament over disaster, and by others as commemoration of Gods help. The latter meaning violently interrupts the continuity of thought. “The only natural view is that which sees” in Psa 60:4 “a continuation of the description of calamity” in Psa 60:3 (Cheyne, in loc.). Taking this view, we render the second clause as above. The word translated “that they may flee” may indeed mean to lift themselves up, in the sense of gathering round a standard, but the remainder of the clause cannot be taken as meaning “because of the truth,” since the preposition here used never means “because of.” It is best taken here as from before. The word variously rendered bow and truth is difficult. It occurs again in Pro 22:21, and is there parallel with “truth” or faithfulness in fulfilling Divine promises. But that meaning would be inappropriate here, and would require the preceding preposition to be taken in the impossible sense already noted. It seems better, therefore, to follow the LXX and other old versions, in regarding the word as a slightly varied mode of spelling the ordinary word for a bow (the final dental letter being exchanged for a cognate dental). The resulting meaning is deeply coloured by sad irony. “Thou hast indeed given a banner-but it was a signal for flight rather than for gathering round.” Such seems the best view of this difficult verse; but it is not free from objection. “Those who fear Thee” is not a fitting designation for persons who were thus scattered in flight by God even if it is taken as simply a synonym for the nation. We have to make choice between two incongruities. If we adopt the favourite view, that the verse continues the description of calamity, the name given to the sufferers is strange. If we take the other, that it describes Gods gracious rallying of the fugitives, we are confronted with a violent interruption of the tone of feeling in this first part of the psalm. Perowne accepts the rendering from before the bow, but takes the verb in the sense of mustering round, so making the banner to be a rallying point and the giving of it a Divine mercy.

The second part (Psa 60:5-8) begins with a verse which Delitzsch and others regard as really connected, notwithstanding the Selah at the end Psa 60:4, with the preceding. But it is quite intelligible as independent, and is in its place as the introduction to the Divine Oracle which follows and makes the kernel of the psalm. There is beautiful strength of confidence in the psalmists regarding the beaten, scattered people as still Gods “darlings.” He appeals to Him to answer, in order that a result so accordant with Gods heart as the deliverance of His beloved ones may be secured. And the prayer has no sooner passed his lips than he hears the thunderous response, “God has spoken in His holiness.” That infinite elevation of His nature above creatures is the pledge of the fulfilment of His word.

The following verses contain the substance of the Oracle; but it is too daring to suppose that they reproduce its words; for “I will exult” can scarcely be reverently put into the mouth of God. The substance of the whole is a twofold promise-of a united Israel, and a submissive heathendom. Shechem on the west and Succoth on the east of Jordan, Gilead and Manasseh on the east, and Ephraim and Judah on the west, are the possession of the speaker, whether he is king or representative of the nation. No trace of a separation of the kingdoms is here. Ephraim, the strongest tribe of the northern kingdom, is the “strength of my head,” the helmet, or perhaps with allusion to the horns of an animal as symbols of offensive weapons. Judah is the ruling tribe, the commanders baton, or possibly “lawgiver,” as in Gen 49:1-33. Israel thus compact together may count on conquests over hereditary foes.

Their defeat is foretold in contemptuous images. The basin for washing the feet was “a vessel unto dishonour”; and, in Israels great house, no higher function for his ancestral enemy, when conquered, would be found. The meaning of casting the shoe upon or over Edom is doubtful. It may be a symbol for taking possession of property, though that lacks confirmation; or Edom may be regarded as the household slave to whom the masters shoes are thrown when taken off; or, better, in accordance with the preceding reference to Moab, Edom may be regarded as part of the masters house or furniture. The one was the basin for his feet; the other, the corner where he kept his sandals.

If the text of Psa 60:8 c is correct Philistia is addressed with bitter sarcasm, and bidden to repeat her ancient shouts of triumph over Israel now, if she can. But the edition of these verses in Psa 108:1-13, gives a more natural reading which may be adopted here: “Over Philistia will I shout aloud.”

The third part (Psa 60:9-12) is taken by some commentators to breathe the same spirit as the first part. Cheyne, for instance, speaks of it as a “relapse into despondency,” whilst others more truly hear in it the tones of rekindled trust. In Psa 60:9 there is a remarkable change of tense from “Who, will bring?” in the first clause, to “Who has guided?” in the second. This is best explained by the supposition that some victory over Edom, had preceded the psalm, which is regarded by the singer as a guarantee of success in his assault of “the fenced city,” probably Petra. There is no need to supplement Psa 60:10, so as to read, “Wilt not Thou, O God, which,” etc. The psalmist recurs to his earlier lament, not as if he thought that it still held true, but just because it does not. It explained the reason of past disasters; and, being now reversed by the Divine Oracle, becomes the basis of the prayer which follows. It is as if he had said, “We were defeated because Thou didst cast us off. Now help as Thou hast promised and we shall do deeds of valour.” It is impossible to suppose that the result of the Divine answer, which makes the very heart of the psalm, should be a hopeless repetition of the initial despondency. Rather glad faith acknowledges past weakness and traces past failures to self-caused abandonment by a loving God, who let His people be worsted that they might learn who was their strength, and ever goes forth with those who go. forth to war with the consciousness that all help but His is vain, and with the hope that in Him even their weakness shall do deeds of prowess. “Hast not Thou cast us off?” may be the utterance of despair; but it may also be that of assured confidence and the basis of a prayer that will be answered by Gods present help.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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