Psalm 60:
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Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
Psalm 60
Complete Concise
After many psalms which David penned in a day of distress this
comes which was calculated for a day of triumph; it was penned after he was
settled in the throne, upon occasion of an illustrious victory which God blessed
his forces with over the Syrians and Edomites; it was when David was in the
zenith of his prosperity, and the affairs of his kingdom seem to have been in a
better posture then ever they were either before or after. See 2 Sa. 8:3, 13; 1
Chr. 18:3, 12. David, in prosperity, was as devout as David in adversity. In
this psalm, I. He reflects upon the bad state of the public interests, for many
years, in which God had been contending with them (v. 1-3). II. He takes notice
of the happy turn lately given to their affairs (v. 4). III. He prays for the
deliverance of God's Israel from their enemies (v. 5). IV. He triumphs in hope
of their victories over their enemies, and begs of God to carry them on and
complete them (v. 6-12). In singing this psalm we may have an eye both to the
acts of the church and to the state of our own souls, both which have their
struggles.
To the chief musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to
teach, when he strove with Aram-naharaim, and with Aramzobah, when Joab
returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt 12,000.
Verses 1-5
The title gives us an account, 1. Of the general design of the
psalm. It is
Michtam—David's jewel, and it is
to teach. The
Levites must teach it to the people, and by it teach them both to trust in God
and to triumph in him; we must, in it, teach ourselves and one another. In a day
of public rejoicing we have need to be taught to direct our joy to God and to
terminate it in him, to give none of that praise to the instruments of our
deliverance which is due to him only, and to encourage our hopes with our joys.
2. Of the particular occasion of it. It was at a time, (1.) When he was at war
with the Syrians, and still had a conflict with them, both those of Mesopotamia
and those of Zobah. (2.) When he had gained a great victory over the Edomites,
by his forces, under the command of Joab, who had left 12,000 of the enemy dead
upon the spot. David has an eye to both these concerns in this psalm: he is in
care about his strife with the Assyrians, and in reference to that he prays; he
is rejoicing in his success against the Edomites, and in reference to that he
triumphs with a holy confidence in God that he would complete the victory. We
have our cares at the same time that we have our joys, and they may serve for a
balance to each other, that neither may exceed. They may likewise furnish us
with matter both for prayer and praise, for both must be laid before God with
suitable affections and emotions. If one point be gained, yet in another we are
still striving: the Edomites are vanquished, but the Syrians are not; therefore
let
not him that girds on the harness boast as if he had put it off.
In these verses, which begin the psalm, we have,
I. A melancholy memorial of the many disgraces and
disappointments which God had, for some years past, put the people under. During
the reign of Saul, especially in the latter end of it, and during David's
struggle with the house of Saul, while he reigned over Judah only, the affairs
of the kingdom were much perplexed, and the neighbouring nations were vexatious
to them. 1. He complains of
hard things which they had seen (that is,
which they had suffered), while the Philistines and other ill-disposed
neighbours took all advantages against them, v. 3. God sometimes shows even his
own people hard things in this world, that they may not take up their rest in
it, but may dwell at ease in him only. 2. He owns God's displeasure to be the
cause of all the hardships they had undergone:
"Thou hast been
displeased by us, displeased against us (v. 1), and in thy displeasure hast
cast us off and scattered us, hast put us out of thy protection, else our
enemies could not have prevailed thus against us. They would never have picked
us up and made a prey of us if thou hadst not broken
the staff of bands (Zec.
11:14) by which we were united, and so scattered us." Whatever our trouble
is, and whoever are the instruments of it, we must own the hand of God, his
righteous hand, in it. 3. He laments the ill effects and consequences of the
miscarriages of the late years. The whole nation was in a convulsion:
Thou
hast made the earth (or
the land) to tremble, v. 2. The generality of
the people had dreadful apprehensions of the issue of these things. The good
people themselves were in a consternation:
"Thou hast made us to drink
the wine of astonishment (v. 3); we were like men intoxicated, and at our
wits' end, not knowing how to reconcile these dispensations with God's
promises and his relation to his people; we are amazed, can do nothing, nor know
we what to do." Now this is mentioned here
to teach, that is, for
the instruction of the people. When God is turning his hand in our favour, it is
good to remember our former calamities, (1.) That we may retain the good
impressions they made upon us, and may have them revived. Our souls must still
have the affliction and the misery in remembrance, that they may be
humbled
within us, Lam. 3:19, 20. (2.) That God's goodness to us, in relieving us
and raising us up, may be more magnified; for it is as life from the dead, so
strange, so refreshing. Our calamities serve as foils to our joys. (3.) That we
may not be secure, but may always rejoice with trembling, as those that know not
how soon we may be returned into the furnace again, which we were lately taken
out of as the silver is when it is not thoroughly refined.
II. A thankful notice of the encouragement God had given them to
hope that, though things had been long bad, they would now begin to mend (v. 4):
"Thou hast given a banner to those that fear thee (for, as bad as
the times are, there is a remnant among us that desire to fear thy name, for
whom thou hast a tender concern),
that it may be displayed by thee,
because
of the truth of thy promise which thou wilt perform, and to be displayed by
them, in defense of truth and equity," Ps. 45:4. This banner was David's
government, the establishment and enlargement of it over all Israel. The pious
Israelites, who feared God and had a regard to the divine designation of David
to the throne, took his elevation as a token for good, and like the lifting up
of a banner to them, 1. It united them, as soldiers are gathered together to
their colours. Those that were
scattered (v. 1), divided among
themselves, and so weakened and exposed, coalesced in him when he was fixed upon
the throne. 2. It animated them, and put life and courage into them, as the
soldiers are animated by the sight of their banner. 3. It struck a terror upon
their enemies, to whom they could now hang out a flag of defiance. Christ, the
Son of David, is given
for an ensign of the people (Isa. 11:10), for a
banner to those that fear God; in him, as the centre of their unity, they are
gathered together in one; to him they seek, in him they glory and take courage.
His love is the banner over them; in his name and strength they wage war with
the powers of darkness, and under him the church becomes terrible as an army
with banners.
III. A humble petition for seasonable mercy. 1. That God would
be reconciled to them, though he had been displeased with them. In his
displeasure their calamities began, and therefore in his favour their prosperity
must begin:
O turn thyself to us again! (v. 1) smile upon us, and take
part with us; be at peace with us, and in that peace we shall have peace.
Tranquillus
Deus tranquillat omnia—A God at peace with us spreads peace over all the
scene. 2. That they might be reconciled to one another, though they had been
broken and wretchedly divided among themselves:
"Heal the breaches of
our land (v. 2), not only the breaches made upon us by our enemies, but the
breaches made among ourselves by our unhappy divisions." Those are breaches
which the folly and corruption of man makes, and which nothing but the wisdom
and grace of God can make up and repair, by pouring out a spirit of love and
peace, by which only a shaken shattered kingdom is set to rights and saved from
ruin. 3. That thus they might be preserved out of the hands of their enemies (v.
5):
"That thy beloved may be delivered, and not made a prey of,
save
with thy right hand, with thy own power and by such instruments as thou art
pleased to make the men of thy right hand,
and hear me." Those that
fear God are his beloved; they are dear to him as the apple of his eye. They are
often in distress, but they shall be delivered. God's own right hand shall
save them; for those that have his heart have his hand.
Save them, and hear
me. Note, God's praying people may take the general deliverances of the
church as answers to their payers in particular. If we improve what interest we
have at the throne of grace for blessings for the public, and those blessings be
bestowed, besides the share we have with others in the benefit of them we may
each of us say, with peculiar satisfaction, "God has therein heard me, and
answered me."
Verses 6-12
David is here rejoicing in hope and praying in hope; such are
the triumphs of the saints, not so much upon the account of what they have in
possession as of what they have in prospect (v. 6):
"God has spoken in
his holiness (that is, he has given me his word of promise, has
sworn by
his holiness, and he will not lie unto David, Ps. 89:35), therefore
I
will rejoice, and please myself with the hopes of the performance of the
promise, which was intended for more than a pleasing promise," Note, God's
word of promise, being a firm foundation of hope, is a full fountain of joy to
all believers.
I. David here rejoices; and it is in prospect of two things:—
1. The perfecting of this revolution in his own kingdom. God
having
spoken in his holiness that David shall be king, he doubts not but
the kingdom is all his own, as sure as if it were already in his hand:
I will
divide Shechem (a pleasant city in Mount Ephraim)
and mete out the valley
of Succoth, as my own.
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and both
are entirely reduced, v. 7. Ephraim would furnish him with soldiers for his
life-guards and his standing forces; Judah would furnish him with able judges
for his courts of justice; and thus Ephraim would be
the strength of his head
and Judah
his lawgiver. Thus may an active believer triumph in the
promises, and take the comfort of all the good contained in them; for they are
all yea and amen in Christ.
"God has spoken in his holiness, and
then pardon is mine, peace mine, grace mine, Christ mine, heaven mine, God
himself mine."
All is yours, for you are Christ's, 1 Co. 3:22, 23.
2. The conquering of the neighbouring nations, which had been
vexatious to Israel, were still dangerous, and opposed the throne of David, v.
8. Moab shall be enslaved, and put to the meanest drudgery.
The Moabites
became David's servants, 2 Sa. 8:2. Edom shall be made a dunghill to throw
old shoes upon; at least David shall take possession of it as his own, which was
signified by
drawing off his shoe over it, Ruth 4:7. As for the
Philistines, let them, if they dare, triumph over him as they had done; he will
soon force them to change their note. Rather let those that know their own
interest triumph because of him; for it would be the greatest kindness
imaginable to them to be brought into subjection to David and communion with
Israel. But the war is not yet brought to an end; there is a
strong city,
Rabbah (perhaps) of the children of Ammon, which yet holds out; Edom is not yet
subdued. Now, (1.) David is here enquiring for help to carry on the ark:
"Who
will bring me into the strong city? What allies, what auxiliaries, can I
depend upon, to make me master of the enemies' country and their strongholds?"
Those that have begun a good work cannot but desire to make a thorough work of
it, and to bring it to perfection. (2.) He is expecting it from God only:
"Wilt
not thou, O God? For thou hast
spoken in thy holiness; and wilt not
thou be as good as thy word?" He takes notice of the frowns of Providence
they had been under:
Thou hadst, in appearance,
cast us off; thou
didst not go forth with our armies. When they were defeated and met with
disappointments, they owned it was because they wanted (that is, because they
had forfeited) the gracious presence of God with them; yet they do not therefore
fly off from him, but rather take so much the faster hold of him; and the less
he has done for them of late the more they hoped he would do. At the same time
that they own God's justice in what was past they hope in his mercy for what
was to come: "Though
thou hadst cast us off, yet thou wilt not
contend for ever, thou wilt not always chide; though
thou hadst cast us off,
yet thou hast begun to show mercy; and wilt thou not perfect what thou hast
begun?" The Son of David, in his sufferings, seemed to be cast off by his
Father when he cried out,
Why hast thou forsaken me? and yet even then he
obtained a glorious victory over the powers of darkness and their strong city, a
victory which will undoubtedly be completed at last; for he has gone forth
conquering and to conquer. The Israel of God, his spiritual Israel, are
likewise, through him, more than conquerors. Though sometimes they may be
tempted to think that God has cast them off, and may be foiled in particular
conflicts, yet God will bring them into the strong city at last.
Vincimur in
praelio, sed non in bello—We are foiled in a battle, but not in the whole war.
A lively faith in the promise will assure us, not only that
the God of peace
shall tread Satan under our feet shortly, but that
it is our Father's
good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
II. He prays in hope. His prayer is,
Give us help from
trouble, v. 11. Even in the day of their triumph they see themselves in
trouble, because still in war, which is troublesome even to the prevailing side.
None therefore can delight in war but those that love to fish in troubled
waters. The
help from trouble they pray for is preservation from those
they were at war with. Though now they were conquerors, yet (so uncertain are
the issues of war), unless God gave them help in the next engagement, they might
be defeated; therefore,
Lord, send us help from the sanctuary. Help from
trouble is rest from war, which they prayed for, as those that contended for
equity, not for victory.
Sic quaerimus pacem—Thus we seek for peace.
The hope with which they support themselves in this prayer has two things in
it:-1. A diffidence of themselves and all their creature-confidences:
Vain is
the help of man. Then only we are qualified to receive help from God when we
are brought to own the insufficiency of all creatures to do that for us which we
expect him to do. 2. A confidence in God, and in his power and promise (v. 12):
"Through
God we shall do valiantly, and so we shall do victoriously; for
he it is,
and he only,
that shall tread down our enemies, and shall have the praise
of doing it." Note, (1.) Our confidence in God must be so far from
superseding that it must encourage and quicken our endeavours in the way of our
duty. Though
it is God that performs all things for us, yet there is
something to be done by us. (2.) Hope in God is the best principle of true
courage. Those that do their duty under his conduct may afford to do it
valiantly; for what need those fear who have God on their side? (3.) It is only
through God, and by the influence of his grace, that we do valiantly; it is he
that puts strength into us, and inspires us, who of ourselves are weak and
timorous, with courage and resolution. (4.) Though we do ever so valiantly, the
success must be attributed entirely to him; for
he it is that shall tread
down our enemies, and not we ourselves. All our victories, as well as our
valour, are from him, and therefore at his feet all our crown must be cast.
Psalm 60:
| Darby
| Geneva
| Gill
| Jamieson Faussett Brown
| Matthew Henry
| Matthew Henry Concise
| Spurgeon
| Wesley
| Index
| Bible Gateway |
Introduction 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 Job Proverbs
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