Psalms 60
Big idea: A defeat psalm, written after a campaign went wrong, and it does not soften the diagnosis: you have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger. Into that, God speaks — and what he says is a land survey. Shechem, Succoth, Gilead, Manasseh, Ephraim, Judah, and then the humiliating list: Moab is my wash basin; I will throw my sandal on Edom. The map still belongs to him. The psalm's conclusion is not confidence in the army but the plainest verse in it: the help of man is vain.
Psalm 60 ends saying the help of man is vain. Psalm 61 asks to be led to a rock higher than himself.
60:1–5 — You have made the land tremble
A national defeat, and the psalm assigns it. You rejected, you broke us down, you made the land tremble, you TORE it — the verbs are all God's, as in Psalm 44. The image in verse 3 is the sharpest: wine that makes you stagger, poured for your own people. And then, without transition, a banner — something to rally to, given by the same hand that did the damage.
1 For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have been angry. Restore us, again. 2 You have made the land tremble. You have torn it. Mend its fractures, for it quakes. 3 You have shown your people hard things. You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger. 4 You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. 5 So that your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and answer us.
60:6–12 — Through God we will do valiantly
God speaks, and the speech is a land survey: Shechem divided, Succoth measured, tribal territories claimed one by one, and then the neighbours reduced to household objects — Moab a wash basin, Edom something to throw a sandal at. It is deliberately dismissive. And then the psalm turns straight back to the question the oracle did not answer: who will actually get me into the city?
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth. 7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the defense of my head. Judah is my scepter. 8 Moab is my wash basin. I will throw my sandal on Edom. I shout in triumph over Philistia.” 9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who has led me to Edom? 10 Haven’t you, God, rejected us? You don’t go out with our armies, God. 11 Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain. 12 Through God we will do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).