Psalms · psalm 60 of 150
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Psalm 60 is a prayer of the people after a defeat in war. It asks God to restore them, because he has rejected them and shaken the land, and recalls that God has spoken in his holiness and claims the lands of Israel and its neighbors as his own. It ends by acknowledging that human help is vain and that with God we shall do valiantly.
The title says according to Shushan Eduth, a Miktam of David, for instruction, when he strove with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. The books of Samuel and Chronicles tell this victory with different details, in 2 Samuel 8:13 and 1 Chronicles 18:12. Verses 5 to 12 are repeated almost identically in Psalm 108:6-13.
The people begin with a lament: O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us. You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its breaches, for it totters. You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger. Yet you have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us.
Then the people recall a word from God, spoken in his sanctuary: with exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter. Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph. These are words in which God presents himself as lord of all lands, tribes and neighboring nations.
Then the people ask: who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies. Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man! With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The people acknowledge that God has rejected and broken them, and ask him to turn back to them. The defeat is understood as a matter between the people and their God, not only a military fact.
God has given a banner to those who fear him, to be raised on account of the truth. Even in defeat there is a rallying point: the name and faithfulness of the Lord.
Give us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man. The people give up trusting in human military power and seek God's help.
With God we shall do valiantly, and he will tread down our foes. Victory is attributed not to the people's strength but to God's action with them.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That God has rejected them, broken them and been angry with them. — Psalm 60:1
Answer: Shaken it and torn it open, and the people ask him to mend it. — Psalm 60:2
Answer: A banner to be raised on account of the truth. — Psalm 60:4
Answer: They are his: Gilead and Manasseh are mine, and Ephraim is my helmet. — Psalm 60:7
Answer: Moab is his washbasin and upon Edom he casts his shoe. — Psalm 60:8
Answer: That it is vain. — Psalm 60:11
Psalm 60 teaches us to read defeat with faith. The people do not look for human culprits; they turn to God, acknowledge his sovereignty and ask for help. In a small group you can talk about failures and losses in the church or in personal life and pray with this psalm, asking God to restore and give a banner to begin again.
Verse 11 is especially useful for remembering that no program, leader or human resource replaces God. That does not cancel effort but gives it meaning: we work and trust at the same time, knowing that victory comes from God and that with him we shall do valiantly.
Psalm 60 ends with the confidence that God will give victory. Psalm 61 continues with a personal prayer of David, who cries from the end of the earth to the rock that is higher than he.
The title links it with David's wars against Aram and Edom. Second Samuel 8:13 says David defeated eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and 1 Chronicles 18:12 credits Abishai, while the title mentions Joab and twelve thousand. These differences show there were different phases of the campaign.
They are images of dominion: the washbasin is a humble object, and casting a shoe over a land expresses taking possession. God affirms his lordship over the neighboring nations, and so the people can expect victory.
Verses 5 to 12 of Psalm 60 appear in Psalm 108:6-13, combined with another section. It is common for psalms to reuse and combine texts for worship. This shows that those words of trust in God were used repeatedly in Israel's worship.