Deeper Commentary

Psa 60:1 For the Chief Musician. To the tune of The Lily of the Covenant. A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt-
God not going out with Israel's armies, and their turning back from their enemies at this time (:10; Ps. 44:10), is all the language of the punishments for Israel breaking the covenant. The conflict with Edom is in 2 Sam. 8, immediately after the covenant with David. It's as if David is being warned that despite having the covenant, he is not invincible. He is being reminded that his people as a whole were not faithful to the Mosaic covenant. But this Psalm 60 is a celebration of victory; a victory given because they had kept the covenant (:1). So the idea may be that David saw in the victory that now Israel were back in covenant relationship with Yahweh. Hence it is "to the tune of The Lily of the Covenant". God's grace was being extended; those who had broken covenant were being treated as if they had kept it. But having received the huge grace of the Davidic covenant, David was being reminded that covenant relationship was indeed by grace. This is indeed, as the title says, "A teaching poem by [or for] David".

God, You have rejected us. You have broken us down, You have been angry. Restore us again- The Psalm is clearly related to Ps. 44, which appears to be a comment upon a temporary set back and defeat during this campaign against Edom. But despite this, the Psalm glorifies how God had come through for His people, despite the temporary reverses. See on :10,11.

I have discussed on 2 Sam. 8:1 how the major defeat in Edom is glossed over there in order to make David appear victorious all around him. The extent of the initial defeat may be hinted at in 1 Kings 11:15,16: "When David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the army was gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in Edom (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom)". This seems to say that Joab went to bury the slain of Israel, and at that slain in a great defeat, and at that time he remained six months subduing the Edomites with the victory which Psalm 60 later celebrates.

Psa 60:2 You have made the land tremble, You have torn it. Mend its fractures, for it quakes- "Fractures" is "breaches", and we wonder whether the Psalm was rewritten or reapplied with relevance to the exiles. A case can be made that the whole of book 3 of the Psalter (Psalms 73-89) was written / edited in Babylon. The Psalms of Korah (83-87) seem to reflect the longing of the righteous remnant in Babylon for the temple services. And it is just possible that the entire Psalter was re-edited there in Babylon, under inspiration- for so many Psalms have elements of appropriacy to the exiles in Babylon and the restoration. The LXX titles of Psalm 56 [“Concerning the people that were removed from the Sanctuary”] and 71 [“Of the sons of Jonadab, and the first that were taken captive”] speak for themselves. Likewise the LXX attributes Psalms 146-148 to Haggai and Zechariah. Even Psalm 60, whose title apparently refers to David, is full of reference to the exiles: "O God, You have scattered us [recognizing God's hand in the Babylonian scattering of Judah]; O restore us again [RV]"; to which God responds that the land is in fact His and His alone (Ps. 60:6-9), i.e. Judah did not in His eyes belong to the Babylonian nor Persian empires. The request for God to "heal the breaches" (Ps. 60:2) was answered in that God raised up Ezra and Nehemiah with the potential power to indeed mend the breaches in Jerusalem and the temple.

 

Psa 60:3 You have shown Your people hard things, You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger- Taking the cup of wine is a double symbol: of blessing (1 Cor. 10:16; 11:25), and of condemnation (Ps. 60:3; 75:8; Is. 51:17; Jer. 25:15; Rev. 14:10; 16:19). Why this use of a double symbol? Surely the Lord designed this sacrament in order to highlight the two ways which are placed before us by taking that cup: it is either to our blessing, or to our condemnation. Each breaking of bread is a further stage along one of those two roads. The relevance of this to the exiles is that indeed they had been shown hard things and had drunk the wine of condemnation, 'staggering' as a result of the invasion (Is. 29:9). They themselves were stiffnecked (s.w. "hard"), and reaped an appropriate judgment.

In the immediate context, David and his future Messianic Son have just received the amazing promises of 2 Sam. 7 but perhaps the point is that "Your people" were not faithful and actually through the defeat in Edom were given the cup of condemnation to drink. The fact they were later given victory, as Psalm 60 and 2 Sam. 8 mention, was by absolute grace to those who had just been condemned. David is also being nudged that he is not invincible because he has been given God's grace, and his failure with Bathsheba suggests he failed to grasp this still.

Psa 60:4 You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah- "The truth" is a reference to the covenant; see on :1. The poles or banners of the Israelite army were in the name of that covenant. But there is a deeper, Messianic connection between "the truth" and the banner or pole. This is another link between the concept of ‘truth’ and the cross. In Ps. 60:4 God’s Truth is displayed on the banner (s.w. “pole”, on which the snake was lifted up). John struggled with words, even under inspiration, to get over to us the tremendous truth and reality of what he witnessed at the cross (Jn. 19:35). God is the ultimate Truth, and the cross was the ultimate declaration of His Truth.

In the immediate context, the "truth", the covenant, was the basis of deliverance / salvation (:5), and, as it were, carrying this banner, Israel again went into battle against Edom despite their huge losses. But which covenant? Possibly the covenant David has just received. This verse doesn't mean that we go on crusades in the name of "truth"; but that a humiliated people of God, defeated after trusting in their own strength, now go to battle again- but this time trusting in the "mercy / grace and truth" of the covenant that saves (:5). Much of this Psalm 60 is repeated in Psalm 108 as a victory song. Likewise in Psalm 44. The war with Edom clearly had a far larger dimension than the simple note in 2 Samuel 8 that David defeated Edom. He did, but after a stunning defeat, and an amazing victory by God's grace alone, for which David gave ample thanks in at least three Psalms, 44,60 and 108. 

Psa 60:5 So that Your beloved may be delivered, save with Your right hand, and answer us- "The beloved of Yahweh" was Israel nationally (s.w. Dt. 33:12; Jer. 11:15; 12:7). But it was also David personally; Ps. 108:6 has the same words, but concludes "and answer me". A Psalm about David's personal deliverance is extended to all Israel. David saw himself as representative of God's people. It could be that Solomon is in view also; for his original name was Jedidiah (2 Sam. 12:25), 'the beloved of Yahweh', referred to in that way by David in Ps. 45:1. Perhaps Solomon was involved in the battle against the Edomites and David is asking for his son to be preserved. So we see here how David conflated the promises about his Messianic son with himself personally and all Israel. And it led to disappointment when Israel were initially defeated by Edom.

Psa 60:6 God has spoken from His sanctuary: I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth- Presumably there was a direct Divine communication from the sanctuary, perhaps through the mouth of Nathan, encouraging Israel to continue in the Edom campaign despite the reverses experienced (see on Ps. 44). The idea of 'division' and 'measuring' is 'possession' and inheritance (as Josh. 18:10). The idea therefore is that Israel is God's, and He had given it to Israel for inheritance; therefore those seeking to take it from them would be defeated. Perhaps Succoth and Shechem are mentioned because of their connections with Jacob, mentioned together in Gen. 33:17,18. As He had been with Jacob, despite allowing him to experience many setbacks and near defeats, so He would be with the later seed of Israel. Or perhaps the idea is that territory on both the right and left hand of the Jordan river was God's and His land.

Possibly David's "measuring" of the Moabites in 2 Sam. 8:2 is to be connected with this assurance that God will measure out an inheritance for Israel.  

Psa 60:7 Gilead is Mine and Manasseh is Mine. Ephraim also is the helmet of My head. Judah is My scepter- The emphasis is that the land belongs to God, it "is Mine"; therefore those seeking to take it from God's people would be defeated. Gilead and Manasseh represent the territory east of the Jordan; and Ephraim and Judah refer to the tribes west of the Jordan. The territories east of the Jordan just as much were God's as those to the west of it; for the Edomites were seeking to take firstly the Israelite territory east of the Jordan.

Psa 60:8 Moab is My wash basin. I will throw My shoe on Edom, I shout in triumph over Philistia- They were to become subservient to Yahweh. And that could imply that the hope was that they would accept Him as their God. For that was what conquered peoples usually did. David had earlier shouted in triumph over the Philistines when he slew Goliath; and that was to prepare him for this later victory. Circumstances repeat in our lives because they are under God's control. 2 Samuel 8 records David's victories against these three- Moab, Edom and the Philistines. After this defeat by Edom, he was being encouraged to go to battle in faith in God's grace as expressed in the covenant. LXX "the Philistines have been subjected to me" fits the chronology of 2 Sam. 8, where David first defeats Gath and the Philistines before Edom.

Psa 60:9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who has led me to Edom?- "Strong city" can mean the fortified, strengthened city under siege (2 Kings 25:2 s.w.). The reference may be to Sela or Petra, Edom's capital, which claimed to be fortified against any invader (Obadiah 3). David seems to be arguing that the Messiah would conquer Edom (Num. 24:18). But he is surprised and even angry that God has not given him victory initially over Edom (:10). The problem was that he had failed to give due weight to the promises to him being about his son, the Lord Jesus. Instead he too quickly assumed that the promises of the Kingdom of God must be about him. Just as we all have a tendency to stray from total focus upon the Lord Jesus and to want it all about me in the right here and now.

Psa 60:10 Haven’t You, God, rejected us? You don’t go out with our armies, God- The Psalm is clearly related to Ps. 44, which appears to be a comment upon a temporary set back and defeat during this campaign against Edom. But despite this, the Psalm glorifies how God had come through for His people, despite the temporary reverses. So this comment that God has rejected them would be looking back to how they once felt; for this Psalm is a victory song over Edom after defeating them (:1).

God not going out with Israel's armies, and their turning back from their enemies at this time (Ps. 44:10), is all the language of the punishments for Israel breaking the covenant. But this Psalm 60 is a celebration of victory; a victory given because they had kept the covenant (:1). So the idea may be that David saw in the victory that now Israel were back in covenant relationship with Yahweh.

Psa 60:11 Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain- Perhaps a reference to some attempt to hire mercenaries to help them in the campaign against Edom.

Psa 60:12 Through God we shall do valiantly, for it is He who will tread down our adversaries- David sees in the victory against Edom a guarantee that God will give them victory against future adversaries. This could be argued to be over interpretation; because as noted on :9, Divine blessing was related to whether Israel kept the covenant or not. And David seems to fail to emphasize this conditional element in God's help, just as he downplayed it in his enthusiasm to see Solomon as the fulfilment of the promised Messianic seed. And this led to Solomon's arrogance and spiritual collapse.