Return to The Psalms of David Series

Main Idea: Psalm 60 is a victory psalm for in it David teaches us two important lessons about victory.

1. We’ll never know God’s power unless we face situations that reveal our weakness.

2. We’ll never know God’s sufficiency unless we face situations that reveal our inadequacies.

3. We’ll never know God’s wisdom unless we face situations that reveal our ignorance.

4. We’ll never know God’s greatness unless we face situations that reveal our smallness.

Some folks do well in hard times, spiritually speaking, I mean. When times are tough they turn to God, they seek God’s help, they trust God. God is real to them.

But something happens when the hard times cease. A shift occurs, a shift that’s gradual, almost unnoticeable. What hard times could not do, the absence of hard times accomplishes. The person starts to coast. Oh, he still believes in God, prays to God, perhaps even reads God’s Word. But something’s missing now. He’s not desperate for God any longer.

It’s so ironic. We know the enemy can kill us so our guard is up for him. But success can destroy us, too. In the parable of the four soils, Jesus warned about this when He had this to say about the third type of soil, the thorny soil, in Matthew 13:22, “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.” What tripped this person up? The stuff of this life and particularly the deceitfulness of wealth. In the hard times we look up, but in the good times we tend to drop our heads and fix our gaze on our surroundings.

Which of us can say we’ve never coasted spiritually? What I’m describing is a propensity we all battle, especially in this country of affluence that’s filled with potential distractions. When we’re really sick we go to the hospital, but who goes to the hospital when they’re feeling well? That’s kind of how we view the Lord, I fear. When we’re not feeling so well, we run to church to get a dose of God, but… You get the idea.

David faced the same challenge ten centuries B.C. In recent weeks we’ve pondered the psalms (about eight psalms) he wrote when King Saul was hunting him down to kill him, and in each of those psalms David ran to God and put his full trust in God. But what did David do after he became king? Once he took the throne he had power and authority. As king he had an army to fight his battles. He didn’t live in caves any longer, but in a palace. How did he respond to adversity then? We find the answer in Psalm 60.

Psalm 60 is the first psalm with a historical heading that David wrote after he became king. Psalm 60 actually has the longest introductory title in the Psalms—seven lines in the NIV Bible! In the Hebrew Bible the title actually comprises verses 1-2 (thus the psalm has 14 total verses). Notice the superscription…

For the director of music – Although David wrote this psalm, it eventually ended up in the hands of Israel ’s minister of music so he could teach it to the rest of God’s people. It was sung…

To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant” – We obviously don’t know how that tune sounded, but Asaph used the same tune in Psalm 80 and the Sons of Korah used the tune “Lilies” in Psalm 45. Psalm 60 is…

A miktam of David – apparently some sort of literary or musical notation that we’ve seen in several psalms (for instance, Psalms 56, 57, 58, & 59). But out of all the psalms only Psalm 60 includes the designation…

For teaching – Songs can be wonderful teaching tools. Kidner states, “By this term…we are reminded that the psalm, with its heartfelt plea from man and its resounding word from God, is no museum-piece but a forceful message to every generation.”[1] Yes, we can learn from Psalm 60! Notice when David wrote it…

When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt .

That’s interesting. The title talks about victory, but as we’ll soon see the psalm itself is about a terrible defeat (see verse 1). How can that be? Let’s take a closer look at the backdrop to Psalm 60.

We find the setting in 2 Samuel (and 1 Chronicles). After Saul was killed in battle, David became king of

Israel

(2 Sam. 2-5). After he became king David moved the ark of God up to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6) and proposed making a permanent structure for it, a temple, a ‘house’ for God (2 Sam 7:2). But God said no to David and told David his son would build that temple (2 Sam. 7:13), and then gave David a prophecy that the Messiah would be his descendant.

Rather than letting him build the temple, God had other plans for David, namely dealing with hostile nations that were a present threat to David’s dynasty and

Israel

’s future. And that’s exactly what we read in the following chapters of 2 Samuel. David is fighting

Israel

’s enemies (2 Sam. 8-10; also in 1 Chr. 18:1ff.). What the account of 2 Samuel (and 1 Chronicles) doesn’t make clear is that the road to victory was no cake walk.

The Philistines, Israel ’s arch-enemy, apparently entered into an alliance with Moab , Aram , Ammon , Edom , and Amalek. In other words, the countries to Israel ’s west, east, and north all attacked Israel at once. As any military strategist knows, it’s tough for any nation to defend itself when attacked on multiple fronts.[2]

From the details we’re given in Psalm 60, we can surmise that David and Israel’s main army were fighting up north near the Euphrates River against Aram Naharaim (the Arameans of NW Mesopotamia) and Aram Zobah (the Arameans of central Syria), when an army from Edom attacked Israel in the south. A war on two fronts! David sent his army chief of staff, Joab, to ward off the Edomites who had apparently, as this psalm suggests, done substantial initial damage to Israel . In fact, it didn’t look good at all for the home team.

Psalm 60 records for us what happened next. King David prayed, but he did more than pray. He recruited the nation to pray and even gave them the prayer to use, Psalm 60. Psalm 60 is a communal lament. VanGemeren observes, “This psalm is a community lament in which the people pray for God’s success after an apparent defeat.”[3]

As it turned out, Joab successfully defeated the Edomites in the south. After finishing his conquest up north, David joined Joab and completed the mop-up work.[4]

Let that sink in. Even in David’s victories, there were defeats along the way. That’s the way the Christian life works. It’s an uphill battle, three steps forward, two steps back, three steps forward, four steps back, three steps forward, one step back, and so on. The result is progress, but the process is often tedious!

Psalm 60 shows us an important part of that process called prayer. Psalm 60 is a victory psalm and in it David teaches us two important lessons about victory.

“You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry—now restore us! You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking. You have shown your people desperate times; you have given us wine that makes us stagger.”

David uses two powerful images to communicate how devastating the initial losses inflicted by the Edomites were. First, he likens it to an earthquake in verse 2. I saw firsthand the effect an earthquake had on southern Thailand . The tsunami it produced completely demolished entire villages, leaving only rubble behind. “You have shaken the land,” David says to God.

His second image is drunkenness at the end of verse 2, “You have given us wine that makes us stagger.” As James Boice observes, “We might say that the attack by the Edomites left the people reeling from the blow.”[5]

Yet it wasn’t just that the Edomites destroyed Israelite towns. Worse than that, David says, is that it happened because God was angry with His people. David uses seven verbs to show that God initiated this: “You have rejected us,” he says. “You have been angry…You have shaken the land…You…You...You.” Apparently, as happened years before with Achan, there was sin in the camp. That doesn’t mean God was angry with every Israelite—verse 4 indicates some feared Him and were obeying Him—but some weren’t. And their lack of obedience, says David, was causing the entire nation to experience God’s displeasure at the hands of the Edomites.

A. When David saw defeat, he looked up. He saw God in the losses. Granted God used means but David nonetheless God was at work. God had redeemed Israel by His grace, and now He was disciplining wayward Israel , also as a demonstration of His grace.

Where do you turn when life gets tough? I would urge you to do as David did and look up. What does God see when he looks at my life? Ask yourself these questions…

1. Is there sin in my life? Have I transgressed any of His commands? And here’s a question that gets to the heart of a very specific sin that we’re prone to commit when life is good…

2. Am I taking God for granted? Charles Spurgeon offers this important insight, “To be cast off by God is the worst calamity that can befall a man or a people; but the worst form of it is when the person is not aware of it and is indifferent to it.”[6]

God is so passionate about His worth that He takes action whenever His children take Him for granted. Sometimes drastic action on a national scale as in David’s day. So David looked up. In addition…

B. When David saw defeat, he asked God for help. Tucked away in the midst of her prayer David inserts two requests in verses 1-2, “You have rejected us, O God, and burst forth upon us; you have been angry—now restore us! You have shaken the land and torn it open; mend its fractures, for it is quaking.” Restore us! Mend our land! Please, Lord, help us! That’s David’s plea.

There’s the first lesson David gives us in this victory song. We need to learn to see God in our losses. Nothing just ‘happens,’ including our losses. But by His gracious enabling we need to make sure we see Him at work in our losses, and then respond accordingly.

The rest of the psalm teaches us about victory. Notice how the psalm ends in verse 12, “With God we will gain the victory; and he will trample down our enemies.” Now how did David transition from “You have rejected us, O God” in verse 1 to “With God we will gain the victory” in verse 12? We find out in the verses in between. According to David, victory is linked to five things.

A. Victory is linked to the fear of God (4). “But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow. Selah.” But—notice the contrast here. David says God’s victory belongs to those who fear Him. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” David’s son wrote in Proverbs 9:10. People who fear God are people who respect Him, reverence Him, honor Him, and take Him seriously in their lives 24/7.

And what does God do for those who fear Him? David says, “You have raised a banner to be unfurled against the bow.” The Hebrew word for ‘banner’ (nes) refers to a piece of cloth on the end of a pole, a flag.

I think of a scene from a Civil War movie I saw where soldiers are trying to take a fort on a hill. The man carrying the flag took a bullet and went down, so one of his comrades picked up the flag in his place and kept it flying high. The flag must not fall.

What does God do for those who fear Him? He has raised a flag, a banner, a rallying point for them. He is the One who grants victory, He and none other. The implications of this truth are significant…

2. We fight from victory. That’s why Paul can say in Romans 8:37, “We are more than conquerors through him who loved us,” even though he would eventually be decapitated by a Roman sword. Christ won the victory. His death on the cross paid sin’s penalty and His triumphant resurrection put the dagger in the heart of death for His people. Victory isn’t something we must attain. It must be received. As Paul announced in 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” If you are in Christ, then victory is yours. You don’t fight for it, but from it.

B. Victory is linked to the love of God (5). “Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.”[7] David offers a very specific plea: save us…help us…What gives him the audacity to ask God Almighty for such favor? The unmerited, undeserved place he and the rest of God’s people hold in God’s heart does. How does David see himself? We are “those you love,” he says to God.

Oh, what an amazing thing. God Almighty chose to love a tiny, undeserving nation in the Middle East called Israel . Not because she deserved that status but because He graciously willed to love her. And He loved her because it was His good plan through her to send a Messiah into the world because of His unmerited love for all the peoples of the world. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

But how does God show His children that He loves them? So many parents in our day give their children everything they want and say it’s because they love them. Yet Psalm 60 says God demonstrated His love by chastening His children for their disobedience. And once He got their attention, He restored them. That means…

2. Discipline is a vital expression of love. Parents, when you see sinful behavior in your children, don’t miss the opportunity to model God’s love for them by taking steps to show that sin has consequences in God’s world. That’s what God does with His children. Victory is linked to the fear of God and the love of God.

C. Victory is linked to the word of God (6-8). “God has spoken from his sanctuary…” Stop there for a moment. David says, “God has spoken.” He doesn’t tell us how God spoke, but he does indicate where. God has spoken from His sanctuary.[8] Perhaps He spoke through a priest in the tabernacle which David had recently moved to Jerusalem —using the Urim and Thummim on the ephod. Maybe God spoke through a prophet that brought the following message to David. Regardless how He spoke, He spoke! And David took His word to heart.

Here’s what God said, verses 6-8—“‘In triumph I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the Valley of Succoth . Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter. Moab is my washbasin, upon Edom I toss my sandal; over Philistia I shout in triumph.’”

Note the points of geography that God mentioned, places He said He would conquer as easily as we move pieces in a chess game. I will parcel out…

Shechem and Succoth, one on one side of the Jordan River and the other on the other side, were the first parts of the promised land occupied by Jacob when he came home after his years with Laban. Gilead was part of Israel’s promised land on the east side of the Jordan River, the tribe of Manasseh straddled the river, and Ephraim and Judah were the main tribes on the west side of the Jordan. Or to look at it another way, God picked the two major tribes, Ephraim which represents what later became known as the northern kingdom; and Judah, which became the southern kingdom.

Specifically, He calls Ephraim His ‘helmet,’ symbolic of force, and Judah His ‘scepter,’ symbolic of dominion and governance.[9] That’s significant, for God gave the scepter to Judah , that’s David’s tribe, thus establishing the Davidic dynasty. David was God’s chosen ruler. Ultimately, the Son of David, Jesus the Messiah, was God’s choice for King of kings.

So in verses 6-7 God mentions geographical locations within Israel . In verse 8 He mentions three locations outside Israel , the very countries that were attacking Israel : Moab ,

Edom

, and Philstia.

And note the common denominator between the places inside Israel and the countries outside of Israel . Note God’s repeated use of “my” and “mine.” God is making something else crystal clear. The land is mine. It’s not your land, Philistines, nor yours Edom , nor is it really yours, Israel . It is mine, God states emphatically. Granted, He allows tenants to occupy and enjoy His land, but it remains His land. And He does with it what He wants to do.

1. God made promises in the past. “God has spoken,” David said. The speech of God is what gave courage to David for the battles facing him. He paid attention to God’s speech, he pondered carefully what God said and what it meant for his life. In this case, God’s promises about the land gave David great hope in the midst of great challenges.

Ponder this. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark. Faith is not foolish, groundless optimism. And it’s more than just positive thinking. Faith is believing God’s Word and acting on it. David believed God’s Word, sent Joab to fight the Edomites, and then later joined Joab trusting that God would turn the tide. God promised victory, so David fought to get that victory. Again, we do not fight for victory, but from victory. Victory is linked to the fear of God, the love of God, and to the Word of God.

D. Victory is linked to the presence of God (9-10). God’s speech ends in verse 8. David begins speaking again in verse 9 by asking two questions followed by his own answer in the form of a question in verse 10, “Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom ? Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?”

Granted, God had given His Word that Judah was His scepter, which meant He was giving the land to Judah , which meant there would be victory in the present battle. But God didn’t say it would be easy. And it wasn’t. Here David talks about what he’s facing. He refers to a ‘fortified city’ apparently in Edom . Who will bring me to that city and give me victory over it? That’s David’s question. Lane comments, “ Edom had a strong fortified city called Petra , built into the rock and seemingly impregnable.”[10]

James Boice describes the scene: “I have had the privilege of visiting Petra twice. It is approached through a narrow cut in the limestone cliffs that winds inward for about two miles and is called a siq. The cliffs rise upward for thousands of feet on both sides, and in places the passage is so narrow that no more than two horses can pass abreast. A handful of brave men could defend this siq against an army. But even if the passage could be breached, the defenders could retreat into the mountains surrounding the hidden inner valley and defend themselves from there. Only God could give a victory over a fortress like that, and David knew it.”[11]

All of us face challenges in life. Your challenge may not be a Petra but it may feel like it! The question is, where are you looking for your strength? Know this…

1. If God isn’t with us, then all we have is our own strength. And it that’s true…

2. If God isn’t with us, there is no hope. That thought petrified David. Listen again to him in verse 10, “Is it not you, O God, you who have rejected us and no longer go out with our armies?” David knew that Israel has just lost some battles because God wasn’t going with

Israel

’s armies into those battles. David learned that victory is linked not only to the fear of God, the love of God, and the Word of God, but also to the presence of God.

My friend, this is serious. We were created to live in relationship with our Maker. Without God we merely exist. We coast. We slide. Eventually we fall and perish.

God is so good that He allows us to fall on our faces in defeat so that in our pain we’ll stop and look up. We can’t make it without Him. He knows that. He wants us to know that.

At that point David laid before God a very specific petition in verses 11-12, “Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless. With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.” Here’s the fifth key to victory…

E. Victory is linked to the help of God (11-12). “Give us aid,” David says. Notice that David isn’t shirking his responsibilities. He’s asking for God’s aid, but he still plans to send Joab to fight the battle, and he himself will finish the battle up north and then join Joab against the Edomites. But David knows that at the end of the day, he can strategize well, motivate the troops well, and even fight well, but only God can give the victory.

And so he calls out to God, “We need Your help! Man’s help is vain, O God, but with Your help we will defeat the enemies that are attacking us.”

Did you catch how this psalm ends, on a note of confidence? “With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies.”

Now ponder an important question. Could God prevent His people from facing obstacles? Could He have prevented the Edomites from attacking Israel ? Sure. And sometimes, in our lives, He does. He protects us by preventing the enemy’s attack. But not always. Sometimes He allows us to be attacked, even to suffer setbacks. Why?

Remember something we saw in the heading. This is a teaching psalm. What have we learned? Allow me to summarize with four very basic lessons.

Perhaps you’re in such a situation now and you are feeling very weak. Think of it this way. You are now in the perfect position to experience God’s power!

2. We’ll never know God’s sufficiency unless we face situations that reveal our inadequacies.

The fact is, we are inadequate. Jesus said, “Without my you can do nothing.” Jesus didn’t die on a cross for strong, self-sufficient people. He died for sinners, broken, weak, helpless, needy sinners. And He gives His power—the very power by which He came out of that tomb—to His people so they can live for Him, so they can face the trials of life in ways that display His sufficiency. So feeling inadequate is a good thing. You can’t be saved without it. But if you admit your sinfulness and repent of it, and call upon Him who alone is strong and believe in Him, He will save you. And as His followers, we live the same way day by day, admitting our inadequacy and experiencing His sufficiency.

3. We’ll never know God’s wisdom unless we face situations that reveal our ignorance.

David had no idea what to do? How do you defend a country on multiple fronts? Perhaps you’re facing multiple challenges right now. Once again, that means you are in the perfect place to experience God’s wisdom. “Where do I look?” you ask. In His Word. His victory is linked to His Word.

4. We’ll never know God’s greatness unless we face situations that reveal our smallness.

Beloved, we are small. One look into the star-filled sky at night is all it takes to remind me of my smallness. I am but one out of nearly six billion people on planet earth. And there’s one God. He alone is great. My smallness and His greatness, what a combination!

Back in the 1800’s a 37 year old mother by the name of Annie Hawks was busy with her household tasks. In her own words, here’s what happened:

“Suddenly, I became so filled with the sense of nearness to the Master that, wondering how one could live without Him, either in joy or pain, these words…were ushered into my mind, the thought at once taking full possession of me.”

After writing those words down, Hawks gave them to her pastor, Robert Lowry, who put those words to music and added a refrain. The hymn was first published at the National Baptist Sunday School Convention in Cincinnati , Ohio , in November 1872. Some years later, after the death of her husband, Hawks wrote: “I did not understand at first why this hymn had touched the great throbbing heart of humanity. It was not until long after, when the shadow fell over my way, the shadow of a great loss, that I understood something of the comforting power in the words which I had been permitted to give out to others in my hour of sweet serenity and peace.”[12]

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessèd Son.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

Perhaps you’ve been coasting through life because times are smooth. Perhaps you’re crumbling because the waves are high. In either case, you need Jesus! Come to Him! Why? For one very simple reason. The help of man is worthless but with God we will gain the victory. This is the bottom line… There is victory in Christ!

**Note: This is an unedited manuscript of a message preached at Wheelersburg Baptist Church . It is provided to prompt your continued reflection on the practical truths of the Word of God.

[1] D. Kidner, pp. 215-6.

[2] I’m indebted to Eric Lane ’s explanation on p. 269.

[3] VanGemeren, p. 414.

[4] Derek Kidner observes, “Three men, David, Abishai, and (here) Joab are credited with the slaughter in the Valley of Salt, a fact which may reflect the chain of command or, as 1 Kings 11:15f. suggests, different outbreaks of fighting.” D. Kidner, p. 215.

[5] James Boice, p. 497.

[6] Charles Spurgeon, p. 27.

[7] Psalm 108:6-13 are virtually identical to Psalm60:5-12.

[8] Literally, ‘in his holiness’ (as rendered by the KJV, NKJV, and ESV; the NRSV says ‘in his sanctuary.’

[9] VanGemeren, p. 416.

[10] Lane, p. 271.

[11] James Boice, p. 499.

[12] Taken from The Cyber Hymnal, http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/n/ineedteh.htm