Psalms 60:12

_WHO WILL BRING ME INTO THE STRONG CITY? WHO WILL LEAD ME INTO EDOM?_ -Anticipation of, and prayer for, success in the expedition against Edom. Verse 9. WHO WILL BRING ME INTO THE STRONG CITY? - `the city of strength' (Psalms 31:21): Petra, or Sela, the rock-built city of Idumea (2 Kings 14:7). Verse 10. WRIT NOT THOU, O GOD - because of thy promise (Psalms 60:6). WHICH HADST CAST US OFF, AND THOU, O GOD, WHICH DIDST NOT GO OUT WITH OUR ARMIES? - quoted from Psalms 44:9. Faith believes the final fulfillment of the promise, in spite of contrary appearances for a time. Verse 11....

6-12 If Christ be ours, all things, one way or another, shall be for our eternal good. The man who is a new creature in Christ, may rejoice in all the precious promises God has spoken in his holiness. His present privileges, and the sanctifying influences of the Spirit, are sure earnests of heavenly glory. David rejoices in conquering the neighbouring nations, which had been enemies to Israel. The Israel of God are through Christ more than conquerors. Though sometimes they think that the Lord has cast them off, yet he will bring them into the strong city at last. Faith in the promise will assure us that it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom: But we are not yet made complete conquerors, and no true believer will abuse these truths to indulge sloth, or vain confidence. Hope in God is the best principle of true courage, for what need those fear who have God on their side?...

Verse Psalms 60:12. _THROUGH GOD WE SHALL DO VALIANTLY_] Through thee _alone_ shall we do valiantly; thou _alone_ canst tread down our enemies; and to thee _alone_ we look for conquest. THE author to whom _Harmer_ refers in the note on the _fourth_ verse, is one of the writers in a work entitled _Gesta dei per_ _Francos_, fol. Hanoviae, 1611, 2 vols. And the places quoted by _Harmer_ may be found in vol. i., p. 282; and as the passage is singular, and a good use has been made of it for the illustration of a difficult passage, I shall lay the words of the original before the reader: "Proxima ab hinc die sabbati clarescente, quidam Sarracenorum spe vitae in summitatem tecti domus praecelsae Solomonis ab armis elapsi, circiter trecenti, confugerant. Qui multa prece pro vita flagitantes, in mortis articulo positi, nullius fiducia aut

THROUGH GOD - By the help of God. WE SHALL DO VALIANTLY - literally, we shall make strength. That is, we shall gain or gather strength; we shall go forth with spirit and with courage to the war. This expresses the confident assurance that they would secure the aid of God, and that under him they would achieve the victory. FOR HE IT IS THAT SHALL TREAD DOWN OUR ENEMIES - He will himself tread or trample them down; that is, he will enable us to do it. The psalm, therefore, though begun in despondency and sadness, closes, as the Psalms often do, with confident hope; with the assurance of the favor of God; and with the firm belief that the object sought in the psalm would be obtained. The history shows that the prayer was answered; that the armies of David were successful; that Edom was subdued; and that thus the territories of the Hebrew people had, in fact, in t

EXPOSITION IN the case of this psalm, the "title" is again our best guide, both with respect to the author and to the occasion of the composition. The title is unusually full, and contains such a number of minute particulars, as a later compiler or commentator would scarcely have ventured upon. The history involved in the title—reconcilable on the whole with the accounts in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles—is certainly not contained in those accounts. It implies an author, writing from his own knowledge of facts—an author who, if not David himself, must have been a contemporary. The psalm itself has every characteristic of the Davidic style—liveliness, rapid transitions, terse yet comprehensive language, strong metaphors, intense feeling, hopefulness. It belongs to the time when, after his first Syrian campaign (2 Samuel 8:3), David was engaged in a war with

THROUGH GOD WE SHALL DO VALIANTLY,.... Or, "through the Word of the Lord", as the Targum; Christ, whose name is the Word of God, appearing at the head of his armies, in a vesture dipped in blood, and with a sharp sword proceeding out of his mouth, will inspire his people to fight valiantly under him; and who, in his name and strength, will get the victory over all their enemies, the beast, false prophets, and kings of the earth, and all under them; see Revelation 19:11; FOR HE [IT IS THAT] SHALL TREAD DOWN OUR ENEMIES; as mire in the street, or as grapes in a winepress; even kings, captains, mighty men, and all the antichristian nations and states; the beast, false prophet, and Satan himself, Revelation 19:15; and so there will be an end of all the enemies of Christ and h

Psalms 60 The Lord with His People _ 1. Confessions and prayer (Psalms 60:1)_ 2. The inheritance anticipated (Psalms 60:6) 3. Faith's certainty (Psalms 60:9) This Psalm, “Shushan-Eduth” (the lily of testimony), also a Michtam of David, has for its beginning a confession of the godly in Israel. The Lord they acknowledge had scattered them and is angry with them. They pray for restoration. “That thy beloved may be delivered, save with Thy right hand and hear me.” Then He hears and answers in His holiness and His people rejoice as once more they possess their earthly inheritance. The casting of the shoe upon Edom m

LX. This Ps. really consists of two bound together in an abrupt style. In A, _i.e._ in Psalms 60:1; Psalms 60:10_ b_, Psalms 60:11 f. we have a lament over the desperate condition of Israel, though the Psalmist is driven by his despair to renewed trust in God. In B (Psalms 60:6_ a_) the tone is quite different. Appeal is made to a Divine oracle and the poet exults in the confidence that Israel will recover its possessions and utterly subdue Moab and Edom. The whole of B recurs in Psalms 108:7_ a_: so also does the conclusion of Ps.,

TO THE CHIEF MUSICIAN. See App-64. UPON. relating to....

None but God can give help, and though for the moment He has abandoned His people, He will surely once more lead them to victory....