Psalms 60 · ESV Study Bible

He Will Tread Down Our Foes

PSALM 60 [†] O God, j you have rejected us, k broken our defenses;

you have been angry; l oh, restore us.

2 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;

m repair its breaches, for it totters.

3 n You have made your people see hard things;

o you have given us p wine to drink that made us stagger.

4 You have set up q a banner for those who fear you,

that they may flee to it r from the bow. [2] Selah

5 s That your t beloved ones may be delivered,

give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

6[†] God has spoken u in his holiness: [3]

“With exultation v I will divide up w Shechem

and portion out the Vale of x Succoth.

7 y Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;

z Ephraim is a my helmet;

Judah is my b scepter.

8 c Moab is my washbasin;

upon Edom I d cast my shoe;

over e Philistia I shout in triumph.” [4]

9[†] Who will bring me to the fortified city?

f Who will lead me to Edom?

10 Have you not g rejected us, O God?

You h do not go forth, O God, with our armies.

11 Oh, grant us help against the foe,

for i vain is the salvation of man!

12[^] With God we shall j do valiantly;

it is he who will k tread down our foes.

To the choirmaster: with l stringed instruments. Of David.

PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 60. This is a lament for the whole community, at a time when Israel’s continued life in the land is under threat from Gentile neighbors. The title says it is “for instruction”; perhaps this means that it is to instruct the people how to pray when their troops must fight. The original setting is Israel, which by God’s appointment dwelt in the land and was to be the source of blessing to the rest of the world (which often came, at least in Israel’s better days, by making the other nations their subjects). Christians, who are not limited to one theocratic nation, recognize that God’s process of conquering the Gentiles is through the witness of faithful believers (cf. Matt. 28:18–20); but they may still use this psalm to pray for God’s blessing on this endeavor. The title seems to link the psalm with the events of 2 Sam. 8:1–14; but 2 Sam. 8:13 reports the number of Edomites killed as 18,000 instead of the “twelve thousand” here. If these are the same events, then probably the different numbers represent different ways of computing the casualties (e.g., 12,000 could be the number in an earlier report, while 18,000 could be the adjusted tally, after some time had passed). The campaign resulted in a great victory for David and brought several Gentile kingdoms under David’s rule. This psalm, with its air of lament, would thus represent the prayers of the people before the campaign had been completed. Verses 5–12 of Psalm 60 are taken up again in Ps. 108:6–13.

PSALM—NOTE ON 60:1–5 O God, You Have Rejected Us. The song opens by laying out the heart of the matter: the community counts itself as if God has rejected them, i.e., treated them as if they were not his own people. In this psalm, us refers to the people of God as a whole, who are to view themselves as God’s treasured possession, called for his own purposes (your people, v. 3; that they may flee, v. 4; your beloved ones, v. 5). That is why the complaint is so touching, and why they may confidently pray for restoration and repair. The salvation that they pray for (v. 5) is specifically success in their military endeavors, with a view toward Israel fulfilling its calling in the world.