Psalms 60:4

_THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE, THAT IT MAY BE DISPLAYED BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH. SELAH._ Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth - (Psalms 20:5.) Thou hast given us by the recent victory, after our prostrate condition, a banner of triumph to lift up (so the Hebrew), because of thy faithfulness to thy promise. "The truth" here answers to God's "holiness" (Psalms 60:6). Compare Romans 15:8. So long as soldiers see their banner uplifted, they flock round it with confidence. But when it is prostrate, their spirits and hopes fall. The "banner" is a pledge of safety, and a rallying point to those who fight under it....

4_Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee. _Some interpreters would change the past tense, and read the words as if they formed a continuation of the prayers which precede — _O that thou wouldst give a banner to them that fear thee! _(386) But it is better to suppose that David diverges to the language of congratulation, and, by pointing to the change which had taken place, calls attention to the evident appearances of the divine favor. He returns thanks to God, in the name of all the people, for having raised a standard which might at once cheer their hearts, and unite their divided numbers. (387) It is a poor and meagre interpretation which some have attached to the words, _before the truth, _that God showed favor to the Jews because he had found them true-hearted, and sound in his cause. Those in the higher ranks had, as is well known, proved eminently d

1-5 David owns God's displeasure to be the cause of all the hardships he had undergone. And when God is turning his hand in our favour, it is good to remember our former troubles. In God's displeasure their troubles began, therefore in his favour their prosperity must begin. Those breaches and divisions which the folly and corruption of man make, nothing but the wisdom and grace of God can repair, by pouring out a spirit of love and peace, by which only a kingdom is saved from ruin. The anger of God against sin, is the only cause of all misery, private or public, that has been, is, or shall be. In all these cases there is no remedy, but by returning to the Lord with repentance, faith, and prayer; beseeching him to return to us. Christ, the Son of David, is given for a banner to those that fear God; in him they are gathered together in one, and take courage. In his name and strength they...

Verse Psalms 60:4. _THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER_] נס _nes_, a _sign_, something that was capable of being fixed on a pole. _THAT IT MAY BE DISPLAYED_] להתנוסס _lehithnoses, that it may be_ _unfurled_. _BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH._] מפני קשט _mippeney koshet, from the face_ _of truth_; which has been thus paraphrased: If we have displayed the _ensign of Israel_, and gone forth against these our enemies, who have now made such a terrible breach among us, (Psalms 60:1,) it was _because of thy truth_-the _promises_ of victory which we supposed would attend us at all times. Mr. _Mudge_, thus: "Thou givest to them that fear thee a signal to be displayed before the truth. That thy favoured ones ma

THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER TO THEM THAT FEAR THEE - The word rendered “banner” - נס _nês_ - means properly anything elevated or lifted up, and hence, a standard, a flag, a sign, or a signal. It may refer to a standard reared on lofty mountains or high places during an invasion of a country, to point out to the people a place of rendezvous or a rallying place Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 18:3; or it may refer to a standard or ensign borne by an army; or it may refer to the flag of a ship, Ezekiel 27:7;...

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

THOU HAST GIVEN A BANNER,.... The word נס is, by Jarchi, taken to signify "temptation" or "trial" o; and he interprets it of many troubles which they had, that they might be tried by them, whether they would stand in the fear of God, and so considers these words as a continuation of the account of the distresses of the people of Israel; but they are rather to be considered as declaring a peculiar blessing and favour bestowed upon some among them, who are here described, when the rest were involved in the greatest calamities, signified by a "banner" or "ensign" given them; by which is meant, not so much David literally, and the victory he obtained over the Syrians and Edomites, of which the banner displayed might be a token; but the Messiah, who is said to be given for a banner, or set up as an ensign for the people, Isaiah 11:10; for the gathering of them to him, to prepare them

FEAR (_ See Scofield) - (Psalms 19:9). _...

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.,