Psalms

Psalms 60

12 verses · Wisdom · Old Testament

1God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have been angry. Restore us, again. 2You have made the land tremble. You have torn it. Mend its fractures, for it quakes. 3You have shown your people hard things. You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger. 4You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth.
5So that your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and answer us. 6God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth. 7Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the defense of my head. Judah is my scepter. 8Moab is my wash basin. I will throw my sandal on Edom. I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
9Who will bring me into the strong city? Who has led me to Edom? 10Haven’t you, God, rejected us? You don’t go out with our armies, God. 11Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain. 12Through God we will do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.

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4 commentators · 26 notes on this chapter

Matthew HenryEnglish Puritan / Nonconformist · 1708–17142

Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.

Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.

v. 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…

v. 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 (Psa 60:6): "God has spoken in his holiness (that is, he has given me his…

John GillParticular Baptist / High Calvinist · 1746–176312

The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.

Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.

v. 1

O God, thou hast cast us off,.... What is said in this verse, and Psalm 60:2, are by some applied to times past; to the distress of the people Israel by their neighbours in the times of the judges; to their being smitten by the Philistines, in the times of…

v. 2

Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it,.... As is frequently done by an earthquake; which, whatever natural causes there may be of it, is always to be ascribed to God. The ancient Heathens (m) were of opinion that all earthquakes were of…

v. 3

Thou hast showed thy people hard things,.... As to have their city and temple burial, multitudes of them slain, and the rest carried captive, and put into the hands of cruel lords and hard masters, and made a proverb, a taunt, and a curse, in all places; and…

Keil & DelitzschGerman Lutheran, conservative-critical · 1861–18753

The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.

Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.

v. 1–5

This first strophe contains complaint and prayer; and establishes the prayer by the greatness of the need and Israel's relationship to God. The sense in which פּרצתּנוּ is intended becomes clear from Sa2 5:20, where David uses this word of the defeat of the…

v. 6–8

A divine utterance, promising him victory, which he has heard, is expanded in this second strophe. By reason of this he knows himself to be in the free and inalienable possession of the land, and in opposition to the neighbouring nations, Moab, Edom, and…

v. 9–12

The third strophe reverts to prayer; but the prayer now breathes more freely with a self-conscious courage for the strife. The fortified city (עיר מצור) is not Rabbath Ammon; but, as becomes evident from the parallel member of the verse and Kg2 14:7, the…

Jamieson, Fausset & BrownScottish Presbyterian / Reformed · 18719

The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.

Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.

v. 3

drink . . . wine of astonishment--literally, "of staggering"--that is, made us weak (compare Psa 75:8; Isa 51:17, Isa 51:22).

v. 4

Yet to God's banner they will rally, and pray that, led and sustained by His power (right hand, Psa 17:7; Psa 20:6), they may be safe.

v. 5

hear me--or, "hear us."

World English Bible — Public domain