Psalm 60:6 Komentář

After many psalms which David penned in a day of distress this comes which was calculated for a day of triumph; it was penned after he was settled in the throne, upon occasion of an illustrious victory which God blessed his forces with over the Syrians and Edomites; it was when David was in the zenith of his prosperity, and the affairs of his kingdom seem to have been in a better posture then ever they were either before or after. See Sa2 8:3, Sa2 8:13; Ch1 18:3, Ch1 18:12. David, in prosperity, was as devout as David in adversity. In this psalm, I. He reflects upon the bad state of the public interests, for many years, in which God had been contending with them (Psa 60:1-3). II. He takes notice of the happy turn lately given to their affairs (Psa 60:4). III. He prays for the deliverance of God's Israel from their enemies (Psa 60:5). IV. He triumphs in hope of their victories over their enemies, and begs of God to carry them on and complete them (Psa 60:6-12). In singing this psalm we may have an eye both to the acts of the church and to the state of our own souls, both which have their struggles. To the chief musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach, when he strove with Aram-naharaim, and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt 12,000.

David is here rejoicing in hope and praying in hope; such are the triumphs of the saints, not so much upon the account of what they have in possession as of what they have in prospect (Psa 60:6): "God has spoken in his holiness (that is, he has given me his word of promise, has sworn by his holiness, and he will not lie unto David, Psa 89:35), therefore I will rejoice, and please myself with the hopes of the performance of the promise, which was intended for more than a pleasing promise," Note, God's word of promise, being a firm foundation of hope, is a full fountain of joy to all believers. I. David here rejoices; and it is in prospect of two things: - 1. The perfecting of this revolution in his own kingdom. God having spoken in his holiness that David shall be king, he doubts not but the kingdom is all his own, as sure as if it were already in his hand: I will divide Shechem (a pleasant city in Mount Ephraim) and mete out the valley of Succoth, as my own. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and both are entirely reduced, Psa 60:7. Ephraim would furnish him with soldiers for his life-guards and his standing forces; Judah would furnish him with able judges for his courts of justice; and thus Ephraim would be the strength of his head and Judah his lawgiver. Thus may an active believer triumph in the promises, and take the comfort of all the good contained in them; for they are all yea and amen in Christ. "God has spoken in his holiness, and then pardon is mine, peace mine, grace mine, Christ mine, heaven mine, God himself mine." All is yours, for you are Christ's, Co1 3:22, Co1 3:23. 2. The conquering of the neighbouring nations, which had been vexatious to Israel, were still dangerous, and opposed the throne of David, Psa 60:8. Moab shall be enslaved, and put to the meanest drudgery. The Moabites became David's servants, Sa2 8:2. Edom shall be made a dunghill to throw old shoes upon; at least David shall take possession of it as his own, which was signified by drawing off his shoe over it, Rut 4:7. As for the Philistines, let them, if they dare, triumph over him as they had done; he will soon force them to change their note. Rather let those that know their own interest triumph because of him; for it would be the greatest kindness imaginable to them to be brought into subjection to David and communion with Israel. But the war is not yet brought to an end; there is a strong city, Rabbah (perhaps) of the children of Ammon, which yet holds out; Edom is not yet subdued. Now, (1.) David is here enquiring for help to carry on the ark: "Who will bring me into the strong city? What allies, what auxiliaries, can I depend upon, to make me master of the enemies' country and their strongholds?" Those that have begun a good work cannot but desire to make a thorough work of it, and to bring it to perfection. (2.) He is expecting it from God only: "Wilt not thou, O God? For thou hast spoken in thy holiness; and wilt not thou be as good as thy word?" He takes notice of the frowns of Providence they had been under: Thou hadst, in appearance, cast us off; thou didst not go forth with our armies. When they were defeated and met with disappointments, they owned it was because they wanted (that is, because they had forfeited) the gracious presence of God with them; yet they do not therefore fly off from him, but rather take so much the faster hold of him; and the less he has done for them of late the more they hoped he would do. At the same time that they own God's justice in what was past they hope in his mercy for what was to come: "Though thou hadst cast us off, yet thou wilt not contend for ever, thou wilt not always chide; though thou hadst cast us off, yet thou hast begun to show mercy; and wilt thou not perfect what thou hast begun?" The Son of David, in his sufferings, seemed to be cast off by his Father when he cried out, Why hast thou forsaken me? and yet even then he obtained a glorious victory over the powers of darkness and their strong city, a victory which will undoubtedly be completed at last; for he has gone forth conquering and to conquer. The Israel of God, his spiritual Israel, are likewise, through him, more than conquerors. Though sometimes they may be tempted to think that God has cast them off, and may be foiled in particular conflicts, yet God will bring them into the strong city at last. Vincimur in praelio, sed non in bello - We are foiled in a battle, but not in the whole war. A lively faith in the promise will assure us, not only that the God of peace shall tread Satan under our feet shortly, but that it is our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. II. He prays in hope. His prayer is, Give us help from trouble, Psa 60:11. Even in the day of their triumph they see themselves in trouble, because still in war, which is troublesome even to the prevailing side. None therefore can delight in war but those that love to fish in troubled waters. The help from trouble they pray for is preservation from those they were at war with. Though now they were conquerors, yet (so uncertain are the issues of war), unless God gave them help in the next engagement, they might be defeated; therefore, Lord, send us help from the sanctuary. Help from trouble is rest from war, which they prayed for, as those that contended for equity, not for victory. Sic quaerimus pacem - Thus we seek for peace. The hope with which they support themselves in this prayer has two things in it: - 1. A diffidence of themselves and all their creature-confidences: Vain is the help of man. Then only we are qualified to receive help from God when we are brought to own the insufficiency of all creatures to do that for us which we expect him to do. 2. A confidence in God, and in his power and promise (Psa 60:12): "Through God we shall do valiantly, and so we shall do victoriously; for he it is, and he only, that shall tread down our enemies, and shall have the praise of doing it." Note, (1.) Our confidence in God must be so far from superseding that it must encourage and quicken our endeavours in the way of our duty. Though it is God that performs all things for us, yet there is something to be done by us. (2.) Hope in God is the best principle of true courage. Those that do their duty under his conduct may afford to do it valiantly; for what need those fear who have God on their side? (3.) It is only through God, and by the influence of his grace, that we do valiantly; it is he that puts strength into us, and inspires us, who of ourselves are weak and timorous, with courage and resolution. (4.) Though we do ever so valiantly, the success must be attributed entirely to him; for he it is that shall tread down our enemies, and not we ourselves. All our victories, as well as our valour, are from him, and therefore at his feet all our crown must be cast.

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 60 To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim, and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of Salt twelve thousand. The words "shushaneduth" are thought, by Aben Ezra, to be the beginning of a song, to the tune of which this psalm was set; though others, as he observes, take them to be the name of a musical instrument, on which it was sung. Some take "shushan" to be an instrument of six chords, an hexachord; and "eduth", which signifies a "testimony", to be the title of the psalm, it being a testimony, or lasting memorial, of the victory obtained over the Syrians and Edomites; though rather they may be considered as expressing the subject matter of the psalm; and so the Targum interprets them, "concerning the ancient testimony of the sons of Jacob and Laban;'' referring to Gen 31:47; they may be rendered, as they are by some, "concerning the lily of the testimony" (a); and be applied to the Gospel, the testimony of our Lord Jesus, the pure, lily white, and unblemished testimony it bears to him, his person, office, and grace; and particularly to salvation as alone in him, and to which witness is borne in this psalm, Psa 60:11. This psalm is a "michtam", or golden psalm of David, and its use is "to teach". It is of the instructive kind, and teaches where help and salvation are to be expected; see Col 3:16; it was written when David "strove", or fought, with Aramnaharaim, the Syrians of Mesopotamia, which lay between the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, from whence is the name; hence the Septuagint render it Mesopotamia of Syria; and the Targum is, "he made war with Aram, which is by Euphrates;'' and at the same time David also fought with Aramzobah, or the Syrians of Zobah, as they are called in Sa2 10:6; with Josephus (b), Zobah is the same with Sophene; but wrongly, as is thought by learned men (c): for though this is a name which some part of Syria goes by in Mela (d); and Ptolemy (e) makes mention of a place of this name; yet that was beyond Euphrates, and in Armenia; whereas this must be nearer the land of Israel; for it is said (f) that Aramzobah is the country of Syria, which David subdued, and joined to the land of Israel; concerning which the Jews so often say, that in some things it was the same with it: according to Hillerus (g), it is the same country which the Arabians call Kinnosrina, the chief city of which is Haleb, or Aleppo; and R. Benjamin Tudelensis (h) making mention of Haleb, says, this is Aramzobah. Moreover, this psalm was written "when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand"; the "valley of salt" was near the Dead Sea, and upon the borders of Idumea; the battle fought here by Joab was either the same with the former, or different from it, at or about the same time; and accounts seemingly different from this are given in Sa2 8:13; in the first of these the number is said to be eighteen thousand Syrians, and the victory is ascribed to David; and in the latter the same number as there, but said to be Edomites, as here, and the slaughter ascribed to Abishai. The note of R. Abendana (i), for the reconciling of this, is worth transcribing: Our Rabbins of blessed memory say there were two battles; that Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, slew eighteen thousand, and after that Joab came and smote of them twelve thousand; and this is what is said; and "Joab returned", &c. the sense is, he returned after Abishai: and in the book of Samuel the battle is ascribed to David, because he was the root or chief (that is, under whom Joab and Abishai fought); but R. David Kimchi writes, that there were between them all eighteen thousand only; that Abishai began the battle, and smote of them six thousand, and after that Joab returned, and smote of them twelve thousand; but of a truth the wise R. Joel Ben Sueb gives the right sense of this affair, which is this; when David was fighting with the Syrians of Naharaim and Zobah, it was told him that Edom was come out to meet him, and help the Syrians; and then he veiled himself in prayer, and said this psalm; and Joab returned from the army, and went to meet the Edomites, that they might not pass over to help the Syrians, and join them, and he smote of them twelve thousand; and David was left fighting with the Syrians of Naharaim and Zobah, and subdued them under him, and he turned to help Joab; and Abishai, the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and he smote of them eighteen thousand, and they were in all thirty thousand, according to our Rabbins of blessed memory; and the text in Sa2 8:13; should be inverted and explained thus; "when he returned from smiting the Syrians, he got him in the valley of salt a name; for his fame went abroad, because he smote there eighteen thousand, and this was in Edom.'' The Targum very wrongly renders it, "and there fell of the armies of David and Joab twelve thousand.'' The title of this psalm, in the Syriac version, is, "which David gave out, saying, if I should come into the hands of Saul, I shall perish; and he fled, and those that were with him: but to us it declares the conversion of the Gentiles, and the rejection of the Jews.'' The former part of which is quite foreign; but the latter seems to be right; for reference is had to both in this psalm, and to Christ, the banner displayed, or ensign lifted up, and to his dominion over Jews and Gentiles in the latter day, and to that salvation which is alone in him. (a) "Super rosa testimonii", Tigurine version; "super flore testimonii", Musculus. (b) Antiqu. l. 7. c. 5. s. 1. and l. 8. c. 7. s. 6. (c) Vid. Hudson. Not in ibid. (d) De Orbis Situ, l. 1. c. 6. (e) Geograph. l. 5. c. 13. (f) Gloss. in T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 25. 1. (g) Onomast. Sacr. p. 586. (h) Itimerar. p. 59. (i) In Miclol Yophi in loc.

God hath spoken in his holiness,.... Or "in his holy place" (q); in heaven, the habitation of his holiness and of his glory; or "in the house of the sanctuary", as the Targum: in the tabernacle, in the holy place by Urim and Thummim; and in the most holy place by his sacred oracle, from between the mercy seat: or "by his Holy Ones", as the Arabic version; by his holy prophets, Samuel and Nathan, by whom he spoke to David concerning the kingdom; and by his Holy Spirit dictating this psalm, and the rest unto him; and by his Son, his Holy One, by whom he has spoken in these last times unto his people, to which this psalm has reference: or it may be understood of the perfection of his holiness in which he has spoken, and by which he has swore; not only to David literally, concerning the extent of his dominion, the perpetuity and stability of it; but to David's son and antitype, the Messiah, concerning his seed, possession, and inheritance, Psa 89:19; I will rejoice; at the holiness of the Lord, which is matter of joy to the saints, especially as the is displayed and glorified in salvation by Christ, Psa 97:12; and at what he said in his holiness to David, concerning his temporal kingdom, and the duration of it; because he knew that what he said he would perform; and at what was spoken to him by the Messiah, in council and covenant, concerning his seeing his seed, and prolonging his days; which was the joy set before him, which carried him through his sorrows and sufferings, Heb 12:2; wherefore he believed his kingdom should be enlarged, both among Jews and Gentiles, as follows; I will divide Shechem; a city in Mount Ephraim, Jos 20:7; and so was in the hands of Ishbosheth the son of Saul; as the valley of Succoth, Gilead, Ephraim, and Manasseh, after mentioned, and all the tribes of Israel, were, but Judah, Sa2 2:4; but, because of God's promise, David believed that they would be all in his possession; signified by dividing, as a land is divided for an inheritance when conquered, Jos 13:7; or this is said in allusion to the dividing of spoils in a conquered place; and so the Targum, "I will divide the prey with the children of Joseph, that dwell in Shechem;'' and as Shechem was the same with Sychar, near to which our Lord met with the Samaritan woman, and converted her, and many others of that place, then might he be said to divide the spoils there, Joh 4:5; and mete out the valley of Succoth; with a measuring line, so taking possession of it, Sa2 8:2; Succoth was near to Shechem, Gen 33:17; and was in the tribe of Gad, and in a valley, Jos 13:27; there was a Succoth in the plain of Jordan, Kg1 7:46; it signifies booths, tents, or tabernacles, and may mystically signify the churches of Christ, wherein he dwells and exercises his dominion. (q) "in sanctuario suo", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "in sancto suo", V. L. Musculus, Cocceius.

"God has spoken in His Holy One" [Psalm 60:6]....In what Holy One of His? "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself." [2 Corinthians 5:19] In that Holy One, of whom elsewhere you have heard, "O God, in the Holy One is Your way." "I will rejoice and will divide Sichima....and the valley of tabernacles I will measure out." Sichima is interpreted shoulders. But according to history, Jacob returning from Laban his father-in-law with all his kindred, hid the idols in Sichima [Genesis 35:4] which he had from Syria, where for a long time he had dwelled, and at length was coming from thence. But tabernacles he made there because of his sheep and herds, and called the place Tabernacles. And these I will divide, says the Church. What is this, "I will divide Sichima"? If to the story where the idols were hidden is the reference, the Gentiles it signifies; I divide the Gentiles. I divide, is what? "For not in all men is there faith." [2 Thessalonians 3:2] I divide, is what? Some will believe, others will not believe....The shoulders are divided, in order that their sins may burden some men, while others may take up the burden of Christ. For godly shoulders He was requiring when He said, "For My yoke is gentle, and My burden is light." [Matthew 11:30] Another burden oppresses and loads you, but Christ's burden relieves you: another burden has weight, Christ's burden has wings. For even if you pull off the wings from a bird, you remove a kind of weight; and the more weight you have taken away, the more on earth it will abide. She that you have chosen to disburden lies there: she flies not, because you have taken off a weight: let there be given back the weight, and she flies. Such is Christ's burden; let men carry it, and not be idle: let them not be heeded that will not bear it; let them bear it that will, and they shall find how light it is, how sweet, how pleasant, how ravishing unto Heaven, and from earth how transporting....Perchance because of the sheep of Jacob, "the valley of Tabernacles" is to be understood of the nation of the Jews, and the same is divided: for they have passed from thence that have believed, the rest have remained without.

Shushan-eduth--Lily of testimony. The lily is an emblem of beauty (see on Psa 45:1, title). As a description of the Psalm, those terms combined may denote a beautiful poem, witnessing--that is, for God's faithfulness as evinced in the victories referred to in the history cited. Aram-naharaim--Syria of the two rivers, or Mesopotamia beyond the river (Euphrates) (Sa2 10:16). Aram-zobah--Syria of Zobah (Sa2 10:6), to whose king the king of the former was tributary. The war with Edom, by Joab and Abishai (Ch2 18:12, Ch2 18:25), occurred about the same time. Probably, while doubts and fears alternately prevailed respecting the issue of these wars, the writer composed this Psalm, in which he depicts, in the language of God's people, their sorrows under former disasters, offers prayer in present straits, and rejoices in confident hope of triumph by God's aid. (Psa 60:1-12) allude to disasters. cast . . . off--in scorn (Psa 43:2; Psa 44:9). scattered--broken our strength (compare Sa2 5:20). Oh, turn thyself--or, "restore to us" (prosperity). The figures of physical, denote great civil, commotions (Psa 46:2-3).

God hath spoken in--or, "by." his holiness-- (Psa 89:35; Amo 4:2), on the pledge of His attributes (Psa 22:3; Psa 30:4). Taking courage from God's promise to give them possession (Exo 23:31; Deu 11:24) (and perhaps renewed to him by special revelation), with triumphant joy he describes the conquest as already made. Shechem, and . . . Succoth--as widely separated points, and--

A divine utterance, promising him victory, which he has heard, is expanded in this second strophe. By reason of this he knows himself to be in the free and inalienable possession of the land, and in opposition to the neighbouring nations, Moab, Edom, and Philistia, to be the victorious lord to whom they must bow. The grand word of promise in Sa2 7:9. is certainly sufficient in itself to make this feeling of certainty intelligible, and perhaps Psa 60:8-10 are only a pictorial reproduction of that utterance; but it is also possible that at the time when Edom threatened the abandoned bordering kingdom, David received an oracle from the high priest by means of the Urim and Thummim, which assured him of the undiminished and continued possession of the Holy Land and the sovereignty over the bordering nations. That which God speaks "in His holiness" is a declaration or a promise for the sure fulfilment and inviolability of which He pledges His holiness; it is therefore equal to an oath "by His holiness" (Psa 89:36; Amo 4:2). The oracle does not follow in a direct form, for it is not God who speaks (as Olshausen thinks), to whom the expression אעלזה is unbecoming, nor is it the people (as De Wette and Hengstenberg), but the king, since what follows refers not only to the districts named, but also to their inhabitants. כּי might have stood before אעלזה, but without it the mode of expression more nearly resembles the Latin me exultaturum esse (cf. Psa 49:12). Shechem in the centre of the region on this side the Jordan, and the valley of Succoth in the heart of the region on the other side, from the beginning; for there is not only a [Arab.] sâkût (the name both of the eminence and of the district) on the west side of the Jordan south of Beisn (Scythopolis), but there must also have been another on the other side of the Jordan (Gen 33:17., Jdg 8:4.) which has not as yet been successfully traced. It lay in the vicinity of Jabbok (ez-Zerka), about in the same latitude with Shechem (Sichem), south-east of Scythopolis, where Estori ha-Parchi contends that he had found traces of it not far from the left bank of the Jordan. Jos 13:27 gives some information concerning the עמק (valley) of Succoth. The town and the valley belonged to the tribe of Gad. Gilead, side by side with Manasseh, Psa 60:9, comprehends the districts belonging to the tribes of Gad and Reuben. As far as Psa 60:9, therefore, free dominion in the cis-and trans-Jordanic country is promised to David. The proudest predicates are justly given to Ephraim and Judah, the two chief tribes; the former, the most numerous and powerful, is David's helmet (the protection of his head), and Judah his staff of command (מחקק, the command-giving = staff of command, as in Gen 49:10; Num 21:18); for Judah, by virtue of the ancient promise, is the royal tribe of the people who are called to the dominion of the world. This designation of Judah as the king's staff or sceptre and the marshal's baton shows that it is the king who is speaking, and not the people. To him, the king, who has the promise, are Joab, Edom, and Philistia subject, and will continue so. Joab the boastful serves him as a wash-basin; (Note: A royal attendant, the tasht-dâr, cup-or wash-basin-bearer, carried the wash-basin for the Persian king both when in battle and on a journey (vid., Spiegel, Avesta ii. LXIX). Moab, says the Psalmist, not merely waits upon him with the wash-basin, but himself serves as such to him.) Edom the crafty and malicious is forcibly taken possession of by him and obliged to submit; and Philistia the warlike is obliged to cry aloud concerning him, the irresistible ruler. סיר רחץ is a wash-pot or basin in distinction from a seething-pot, which is also called סיר. The throwing of a shoe over a territory is a sign of taking forcible possession, just as the taking off of the shoe (חליצה) is a sign of the renunciation of one's claim or right: the shoe is in both instances the symbol of legal possession. (Note: The sandal or the shoe, I as an object of Arab. wt'̣, of treading down, oppressing, signifies metaphorically, (1) a man that is weak and incapable of defending himself against oppression, since one says, ma kuntu na‛lan, I am no shoe, i.e., no man that one can tread under his feet; (2) a wife (quae subjicitur), since one says, g'alaa‛ na‛lahu, he has taken off his shoe, i.e., cast off his wife (cf. Lane under Arab. ḥiḏa'â', which even signifies a shoe and a wife). II As an instrument of Arab. wṭ‛, tropically of the act of oppressing and of reducing to submission, the Arab. wa‛l serves as a symbol of subjugation to the dominion of another. Rosenmller (Das alte und neue Morgenland, No. 483) shows that the Abyssinian kings, at least, cast a shoe upon anything as a sign of taking forcible possession. Even supposing this usage is based upon the above passage of the Psalms, it proves, however, that a people thinking and speaking after the Oriental type associated this meaning with the casting of a shoe upon anything. - Fleischer. Cf. Wetzstein's Excursus at the end of this volume.) The rendering of the last line, with Hitzig and Hengstenberg: "exult concerning me, O Philistia," i.e., hail me, though compelled to do so, as king, is forbidden by the עלי, instead of which we must have looked for לי. The verb רוּע certainly has the general signification "to break out into a loud cry," and like the Hiph. (e.g., Isa 15:4) the Hithpal. can also be used of a loud outcry at violence.