Psalms 60:4

Thatit may be displayed because of the truth With this rendering, which has been retained in the text of the R.V., the verse becomes the preface to the following prayer. Israel is charged with the maintenance of God's cause, therefore let Him help them against the heathen. But it is decidedly preferable (cp. R.V. marg.) to follow the LXX, Vulg., Symm., and Jer. in rendering, That they may betake themselves to flight from before the bow (cp. Isaiah 31:8). The verse then forms the conclusion of the first stanza of the Psalm. By -them that fear thee" Israel is meant; and the word implies that Israel is loyal to Jehovah (cp. Psalms 44:17 ff). He has -given them a banner" (cp. Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 13:1; Jeremiah 4:6), raised a standard to summon them to fight for His cause (for the cause of the nation was the cause of its God), in order that they should be put to flight before the enemy's archers. The words are reproachfully sarcastic, and there is no need to weaken the sarcasm by inserting onlybefore that they may betake themselves to flight. God has deliberately mustered His people and led them forth to defeat. They recall (though their spirit is wholly different) the complaint of the Israelites in the wilderness, "Because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us" (Deuteronomy 1:27).

The view that Psalms 60:1 form the first stanza of the Psalm is confirmed by the position of Selah, by the commencement of the extract in Psalms 108 with Psalms 60:5, and by the symmetry of structure which is given by a division at this point.