Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Psalms 60:1-4
Heading (Psalms 60:1 a).
‘For the Chief Musician; set to Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach, when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand men of Edom in the Valley of Salt.'
This Psalm is dedicated to the Chief Musician to the tune of Shushan Eduth, ‘the Lily of Testimony'. Compare for this the similar tune for Psalms 80 (shushannim eduth - ‘lilies of testimony'). It is a Michtam, a cry for cover and protection, and was for the purpose of teaching. Possibly the aim was that it should be learned by heart.
The background to the Psalm was when David had invaded Syria (Aram) to the north (2 Samuel 8:3), defeating the kings of Zobah and Damascus. Seemingly the Edomites to the south, with the assistance of the Syrians, had taken advantage of the opportunity to invade Southern Judah. It was at this point that the Psalm was written, when Judah was in despair at this sudden and unexpected invasion by their enemies, a despair shared by David as he learned news of what was going on. Subsequently he sent Joab and Abishai to deal with this invasion with the result that a Syrian-Edomite alliance in the South was driven back, inflicting heavy casualties (2 Samuel 8:13).
The opening of the Psalm is explained by this reverse which David initially suffered, of which he received news while he was fighting in the north. It may well be that while he was conducting his successful campaign in the north, the Edomites, encouraged by a contingent of Syrians, had invaded southern Judah. News of this having reached David he penned this Psalm, in which he calls on God, recognising that the reverse that Israel have suffered reveals that God is angry with them (otherwise He would surely have protected them). Declaring His certainty of victory because YHWH has raised His banner on His people's behalf, he ends the Psalm by calling on God for His assistance.
He would then in practise proceed to deal with the invaders by despatching Joab with a powerful force, and it was Joab's brother, Abishai, who would spearhead the attack which slaughtered 6,000 Syrians and 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt (1 Chronicles 18:12), and follow it up by subjugating Edom, thus gaining great renown for David (“getting him a name”). Israel were no longer the underdogs in the area as they had been in the past before the rise of David.
Notice the emphasis on the distinctiveness of His people. They are the ones who ‘fear Him', that is, reverence Him and respond to Him, whilst He is the One Who ‘loves them and sees them as His own (Psalms 60:4). It is because of this that He raises up His standard on their behalf, and exultantly declares His control over the whole area, over Ephraim (Israel), Judah and the surrounding nations.
The Psalm may be divided into three parts:
1) David's Distress On Learning Of The Disastrous Invasion Of Southern Judah By The Combined Syrian-Edomite Forces And His Confidence In The Face Of It (Psalms 60:1).
2) David Calls On God To Save Them By His Mighty Right Hand So That The People Whom He Loves Might Be Delivered, And Declares The Certainty Of YHWH's Victory Because The Surrounding Nations Are Subject To Him (Psalms 60:5).
3) David Declares His Assurance That Although God Has Appeared For A While To Have Abandoned His People, He Will Now Arise And Enable Them To Gain The Victory (Psalms 60:9).
David's Distress On Learning Of The Disastrous Invasion Of Southern Judah By The Combined Syrian-Edomite Forces And His Confidence In The Face Of It (Psalms 60:1).
Recognising that the invasion of Judah by the Syrian-Edomite alliance is a sign of God's displeasure with Israel, he describes what has happened to southern Judah as being like a severe earthquake, which has caused them to tremble and stagger around. But he is nevertheless confident that God has now given them a banner which can be displayed because they are His true people.
‘O God you have cast us off, you have broken us down,
You have been angry, oh restore us again.'
He first calls on God for restoration for Israel, recognising that the reason why they have been cast off and broken down is because God has been angry with them. Were it not so He would surely not have allowed this to happen. Thus all he can do is pray for God to forgive them and restore them.
The rise of David to power, and his subsequent victories, may well have made the people of Israel complacent. They may well have settled down and grown cold towards YHWH, and slack in obedience to the covenant requirements. As a consequence moral behaviour may have sunk to a low level, with violence, corrupt business practises and deceit having become prominent. This would then explain why God had allowed them to suffer this reverse in order to wake them up to their failings.
It is a reminder to us that when we suffer reverses it may well be because God is chastening us because of our failings, with a view to our restoration.
Similar language was later used by the Moabite king in the Moabite inscription, when he cried to the Moabite god Chemosh suggesting that the defeat of Moabite cities by Omri, king of Israel, had been “because Chemosh was angry with his land”. But he would not have seen it as signifying that Chemosh was concerned with their moral state. The gods of foreign nations had no such concerns. Rahter he would see it as indicating that Chemosh was angry because he was not receiving the respect that he ‘deserved'.
‘You have made the land to tremble, you have torn it in two,
Heal its breaches, for it shakes.'
He pictures the land as having been devastated, almost as though a severe earthquake had struck it (compare Isaiah 24:18). Through the invasion God has made them tremble, and rent them apart, and devastated their towns, and shaken them, and he prays that He will therefore now put right the damage that has been done, and heal the breaches that have been made. He is not just sending Joab to deal with the situation, but calling on God to play His essential part.
We too, when we recognise that God has dealt with us in this way, should also call on God for His forgiveness and healing, looking to Him for restoration.
‘You have shown your people hard things,
You have made us drink the wine of staggering.'
But it is not only the land that has been devastated, but also the people. The people have also experienced hard things, and have been made by God to drink strong wine that has made them drunk, in other words, to experience His indignation in a way that has made them stagger. “Drinking the wine of staggering” is a regular picture of the effect on people of God's revealed anger (Psalms 75:8; Jeremiah 25:15 ff.; Isaiah 51:17; Isaiah 51:22). When our foundations are being shaken it may well be that God has a purpose in shaking our foundations.
‘You have given a banner to those who fear you,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. [Selah.'
But God has not totally deserted His people, for to them, as the people who fear Him, He has ‘given a banner' (raised His standard), a sign of His approval and support. It is a call for the people to rally behind it. It may be that this was a literal banner proclaiming the Name of YHWH, which Israel bore into battle. Or I could have been a metaphorical one, indicating an assurance of YHWH's support for His people and guaranteeing victory (see Psalms 60:6). Its purpose is twofold. Firstly in order to call His people to stand firm for the truth, and secondly in order that it might be displayed or set up as a proof to all the nations, that Israel are truly His people who bring His truth to the world, something evidenced by their victory. Indeed, as we learn elsewhere, YHWH IS their banner (Exodus 17:15).
‘Selah.' At this point there is a pregnant pause in the music in order to draw attention to the wonder of it.