Psalms 60:1-12·~1 min

Victory with God

David begins by confessing that God has rejected, broken, and shaken the people, leaving the land split and unstable and making them drink the bitter wine of staggering. Even so, God has raised a banner for those who fear him, and on that basis David asks that the beloved be delivered by God's saving right hand.

F¹or the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A Miktam of David for instruction. When he fought Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. ²You have shaken the land ³You have shown Your people hardship; ⁴You have raised a banner for those who fear You, ⁵Respond and save us with Your right hand,

From the sanctuary God speaks a word of sovereign possession and victory: he claims the covenant territories of Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, and Judah, and he assigns surrounding peoples and lands their subordinate places under his rule, from Moab the washbasin to Edom the sandal-ground and Philistia the realm over which he shouts in triumph.

⁶God has spoken from His sanctuary: ⁷Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; ⁸Moab is My washbasin;

David asks who will lead him into the fortified city and into Edom, while admitting the painful reality that God had seemed to reject his people and no longer go out with their armies. Therefore he asks for help against the foe, declares human aid vain, and concludes that with God the people will act valiantly because he will trample down their enemies.

⁹Who will bring me to the fortified city? ¹⁰Have You not rejected us, O God? ¹¹Give us aid against the enemy, ¹²With God we will perform with valor,

Section summaryDavid laments that God has rejected and broken his people, shaking the land and making them drink the wine of staggering, yet he also recognizes that God has raised a banner for those who fear him and therefore pleads for salvation by God's right hand. He then cites God's declaration from the sanctuary, where the Lord claims Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, Judah, Moab, Edom, and Philistia under his sovereign dominion. From that divine word David asks who will lead the people into the fortified city, admits that God had seemed to reject their armies, rejects human help as vain, and ends with confidence that through God they will perform valiantly and he himself will tread down their foes.

Role in the chapterThis section functions as a movement from chastened lament to covenant reassurance and renewed confidence. It teaches the community to interpret loss and hope alike through God's sovereign speech.