1 {To the chief Musician. On Shushan. Testimony. Michtam of David; to teach: when he strove with the Syrians of Mesopotamia, and the Syrians of Zobah, and Joab returned, and smote the Edomites in the valley of salt, twelve thousand.} O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased: restore us again.
But thou hast cast off, and put us to confusion, and dost not go forth with our armies;
O God, restore us; and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
And David smote Hadarezer king of Zobah, at Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates.
And Hadarezer sent, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river; and they came to Helam; and Shobach the captain of the host of Hadarezer [went] before them.
And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there; and he said, Jehovah has broken in upon mine enemies before me, as the breaking forth of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal-perazim.
I have made a covenant with mine elect, I have sworn unto David my servant:
ùGod is greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, and terrible for all that are round about him.
Then thou spakest in vision of thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
Return, Jehovah: how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
[Wilt] not [thou], O God, who didst cast us off? and didst not go forth, O God, with our armies?
And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them back again; for I will have mercy upon them; and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am Jehovah their God, and I will answer them.
I say then, Has God cast away his people? Far be the thought. For *I* also am an Israelite, of [the] seed of Abraham, of [the] tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Know ye not what the scripture says in [the history of] Elias, how he pleads with God against Israel?
And when the Syrians saw that they were routed before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river; and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer [went] before them. And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over the Jordan, and came upon them, and set [the battle] in array against them. And David put the battle in array against the Syrians, and they fought with him. And the Syrians fled from before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand [in] chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and slew Shophach the captain of the host. And the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were routed before Israel, and they made peace with David, and became his servants. And the Syrians would no more help the children of Ammon.
And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken.
And the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were distressed); and the people hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in cliffs, and in strongholds, and in pits. And the Hebrews went over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. And Saul was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
Now there was no smith found throughout the land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. And all Israel went down to the Philistines, every man to get his ploughshare, and his hoe, and his axe, and his sickle sharpened, when the edges of the sickles, and the hoes, and the forks, and the axes were blunted; and to set the goads. And it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan; but with Saul and with Jonathan his son there was found.
And the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on mount Gilboa. And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines smote Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers came up with him; and he was much terrified by the archers. Then said Saul to his armour-bearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through with it; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armour-bearer would not; for he was much afraid. So Saul took the sword and fell on it. And when his armour-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armour-bearer, and all his men, that same day together. And when the men of Israel that were on this side of the valley, and [they] that were on this side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
of the Syrians, and of the Moabites, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of the Amalekites, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. And David made him a name when he returned, after he had smitten the Syrians in the valley of salt, eighteen thousand [men].
He smote of Edom in the valley of salt ten thousand, and took Sela in the war, and called the name of it Joktheel to this day.
And Abishai the son of Zeruiah smote of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand. And he put garrisons in Edom; and all they of Edom became servants to David. And Jehovah preserved David whithersoever he went.
And the Philistines fought, and Israel was routed, and they fled every man to his tent; and there was a very great slaughter, and there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
And thou, Solomon my son, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searches all hearts, and discerns all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cut thee off for ever.
But Amaziah strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of Seir ten thousand.
Slay them not, lest my people forget; by thy power make them wander, and bring them down, O Lord, our shield.
{An instruction: of Asaph.} Why, O God, hast thou cast off for ever? [why] doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 60
Commentary on Psalms 60 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 60
Ps 60:1-12. Shushan-eduth—Lily of testimony. The lily is an emblem of beauty (see on Ps 45:1, title). As a description of the Psalm, those terms combined may denote a beautiful poem, witnessing—that is, for God's faithfulness as evinced in the victories referred to in the history cited. Aram-naharaim—Syria of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia beyond the river (Euphrates) (2Sa 10:16). Aram-zobah—Syria of Zobah (2Sa 10:6), to whose king the king of the former was tributary. The war with Edom, by Joab and Abishai (2Ch 18:12, 25), occurred about the same time. Probably, while doubts and fears alternately prevailed respecting the issue of these wars, the writer composed this Psalm, in which he depicts, in the language of God's people, their sorrows under former disasters, offers prayer in present straits, and rejoices in confident hope of triumph by God's aid.
1-3. allude to disasters.
cast … off—in scorn (Ps 43:2; 44:9).
scattered—broken our strength (compare 2Sa 5:20).
Oh, turn thyself—or, "restore to us" (prosperity). The figures of physical, denote great civil, commotions (Ps 46:2, 3).
3. drink … wine of astonishment—literally, "of staggering"—that is, made us weak (compare Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17, 22).
4, 5. Yet to God's banner they will rally, and pray that, led and sustained by His power (right hand, Ps 17:7; 20:6), they may be safe.
5. hear me—or, "hear us."
6-10. God hath spoken in—or, "by."
his holiness—(Ps 89:35; Am 4:2), on the pledge of His attributes (Ps 22:3; 30:4). Taking courage from God's promise to give them possession (Ex 23:31; De 11:24) (and perhaps renewed to him by special revelation), with triumphant joy he describes the conquest as already made.
Shechem, and … Succoth—as widely separated points, and—
7. Gilead … and Manasseh—as large districts, east and west of Jordan, represent the whole land.
divide … and mete out—means to have entire control over.
Ephraim—denotes the military (De 33:17); and—
Judah—(the lawgiver, Ge 49:10), the civil power. Foreign nations are then presented as subdued.
8. Moab—is a my washpot—the most ordinary vessel.
over—or, "at"
Edom—(as a slave) he casts his shoe.
Philistia, triumph, &c.—or, rather, "shout."
for me—acknowledges subjection (compare Ps 108:9, "over Philistia will I triumph").
9, 10. He feels assured that, though once angry, God is now ready to favor His people.
who will lead me—or, who has led me, as if the work were now begun.
10. Wilt not thou?—or, "Is it not Thou?"
11, 12. Hence he closes with a prayer for success, and an assurance of a hearing.