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Psalm Sixty
Psalm 60
Chapter Contents
David prays for the deliverance of Israel from their
enemies. (1-5) He entreats God to carry on and complete their victories. (6-12)
Commentary on Psalm 60:1-5
(Read Psalm 60:1-5)
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 wage
war with the powers of darkness.
Commentary on Psalm 60:6-12
(Read Psalm 60:6-12)
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? All our victories
are from him, and while those who willingly submit to our anointed King shall
share his glories, all his foes shall be put under his feet.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Psalms》
Psalm 60
Verse 2
[2] Thou
hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof;
for it shaketh.
Tremble — A
poetical expression, signifying great changes among the people.
Verse 3
[3] Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the
wine of astonishment.
To drink —
Thou hast filled us with no less honor, than men intoxicated with strong drink.
Verse 4
[4] Thou
hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of
the truth. /*Selah*/.
A banner —
Which is a sign and instrument, 1. Of union. This people who were lately
divided, thou hast united under one banner, under my government: 2. Of battle.
Thou hast given us an army, and power to oppose our enemies; which blessing God
gave to Israel, for the sake of those few sincere Israelites who were among
them.
The truth —
Not for any merit of ours, but to shew thy faithfulness in making good thy
promises.
Verse 5
[5] That
thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.
Beloved —
Thy beloved people.
Verse 6
[6] God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem,
and mete out the valley of Succoth.
Rejoice —
Therefore I will turn my prayers into praises, for what God has already done.
Divide —
Which supposeth possession and dominion.
Shechem — A
place within Jordan, in mount Ephraim.
Succoth — A
place without Jordan. He mentions Shechem, and Succoth; for all the land of
Canaan, within and without Jordan.
Verse 7
[7]
Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine
head; Judah is my lawgiver;
Gilead —
All the land beyond Jordan, which was possessed by Reuben and Gad, and half of
the tribe of Manasseh.
Manasseh —
The other half of that tribe within Jordan.
The strength — A
chief part of my strength, either to offend mine enemies, or to defend myself.
For this tribe was very numerous, and valiant and rich.
Law-giver —
The chief seat of my throne and kingdom, and of the inferior throne of
judgment, Psalms 122:5.
Verse 8
[8] Moab
is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou
because of me.
Wash-pot — In
which I shall wash my feet. I shall bring them into the lowest degree of
servitude.
Shoe — I
will use them like slaves; a proverbial expression.
Triumph — It
is an ironical expression, signifying that her triumphs were come to an end.
Verse 9
[9] Who
will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
Who —
None can do it but God.
City —
The cities; the singular number for the plural. Having beaten his enemies out
of the field, he desires God's assistance to take their strong-holds, and so
secure himself from farther attempts.
Edom —
Which was an high and rocky country, Obadiah 1-3, fortified by nature, as well as by
art, and therefore not to be subdued without a Divine hand.
Verse 10
[10] Wilt
not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go
out with our armies?
Hadst cut off —
But now hast graciously returned to us.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Psalms》
Exposition
Explanatory Notes and Quaint Sayings
Hints to the Village Preacher
Here is a
lengthy title, but it helps us much to expound the Psalm. To the Chief
Musician upon Shushaneduth, or the Lily of Testimony. The forty-fifth was
on the lilies, and represented the kingly warrior in his beauty going forth to
war; here we see him dividing the spoil and bearing testimony to the glory of
God. Tunes have strange names apparently, but this results from the fact that
we do not know what was in the composer's mind, else they might seem to be
touchingly appropriate; perhaps the music or the musical instruments have more
to do with this title than the Psalm itself. Yet in war songs, roses and lilies
are often mentioned, and one remembers Macaulay's Song of the Hugenots, though
perhaps we err in mentioning so carnal a verse—
"Now by
the lips of those ye love, fair gentlemen of France,
Charge for the golden lilies now, upon them with the lance."
Michtam
of David, to teach. David obeyed the precept to teach the children of Israel;
he recorded the Lord's mighty acts that they might be rehearsed in the ears of
generations to come. Golden secrets are to be told on the house tops; these
things were not done in a corner and ought not to be buried in silence. We ought
gladly to learn what inspiration so beautifully teaches. When he strove with
Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah. The combined Aramean tribes sought to
overcome Israel, but were signally defeated. When Joab returned. He had
been engaged in another region, and the enemies of Israel took advantage of his
absence, but on his return with Abishai the fortunes of war were changed. And
smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand. More than this appear
to have fallen according to 1Ch 18:12, but this commemorates one memorable part
of the conflict. Terrible must have been the battle, but decisive indeed were
the results, and the power of the enemy was utterly broken. Well did the Lord
deserve a song from his servant.
DIVISION. Properly the
song may be said to consist of three parts: the complaining verses, Ps 60:1-3;
the happy, Ps 60:4-8; the prayerful, Ps 60:9-12. We have divided it as the
sense appeared to change.
EXPOSITION
Verse
1. Before the days of Saul, Israel had been brought very low; during
his government it had suffered from internal strife, and his reign was closed
by an overwhelming disaster at Gibeon. David found himself the possessor of a
tottering throne, troubled with the double evil of factions at home, and
invasion from abroad. He traced at once the evil to its true source, and began
at the fountainhead. His were the politics of piety, which after all are the
wisest and most profound. He knew that the displeasure of the Lord had brought
calamity upon the nation, and to the removal of that displeasure he set himself
by earnest prayer. O God, thou hast cast us off. Thou hast treated us as foul
and offensive things, to be put away; as mean and beggarly persons, to be
shunned with contempt; as useless dead boughs, to be torn away from the tree, which
they disfigure. 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. When the divine desertion causes mourning and
repentance, it will be but partial and temporary. When a cast off soul sighs
for its God it is indeed not cast off at all. Thou has scattered us. David
clearly sees the fruits of the divine anger, he traces the flight of Israel's
warriors, the breaking of her power, the division in her body politic, to the
hand of God. Whoever might be the secondary agent of these disasters, he
beholds the Lord's hand as the prime moving cause, and pleads with the Lord
concerning the matter. Israel was like a city with a breach made in its wall,
because her God was wroth with her. These first two verses, with their
depressing confession, must be regarded as greatly enhancing the power of the
faith which in the after verses rejoices in better days, through the Lord's
gracious return unto his people.
Thou
hast been displeased. This is the secret of our miseries. Had we pleased thee,
thou wouldst have pleased us; but as we have walked contrary to thee, thou hast
walked contrary to us. O turn thyself to us again. Forgive the sin and smile
once more. Turn us to thee, turn thou to us. Aforetime thy face was towards thy
people, be pleased to look on us again with thy favour and grace. Some read it,
"Thou wilt turn to us again, "and it makes but slight difference
which way we take it, for a true hearted prayer brings a blessing so soon that
it is no presumption to consider it already obtained. There was more need for
God to turn to his people than for Judah's troops to be brave, or Joab and the
commanders wise. God with us is better than strong battalions; God displeased
is more terrible than all the Edomites that ever marched into the valley of
salt, or all the devils that ever opposed the church. If the Lord turn to us,
what care we for Aramnaharaim or Aramzobah, or death, or hell? but if he
withdraw his presence we tremble at the fall of a leaf.
Verse
2. Thou hast made the earth to tremble. Things were as
unsettled as though the solid earth had been made to quake; nothing was stable;
the priests had been murdered by Saul, the worst men had been put in office,
the military power had been broken by the Philistines, and the civil authority
had grown despicable through insurrections and intestine contests. Thou hast
broken it. As the earth cracks, and opens itself in rifts during violent
earthquakes, so was the kingdom rent with strife and calamity. Heal the
breaches thereof. As a house in time of earthquake is shaken, and the walls
begin to crack, and gape with threatening fissures, so was it with the kingdom.
For it shaketh. It tottered to a fall; if not soon propped up and repaired it
would come down in complete ruin. So far gone was Israel, that only God's
interposition could preserve it from utter destruction. How often have we seen
churches in this condition, and how suitable is the prayer before us, in which
the extremity of the need is used as an argument for help. The like may be said
of our personal religion, it is sometimes so tried, that like a house shaken by
earthquake it is ready to come down with a crash, and none but the Lord himself
can repair its breaches, and save us from utter destruction.
Verse
3. Thou hast showed thy people hard things. Hardships had
been heaped upon them, and the psalmist traces these rigorous providences to
their fountainhead. Nothing had happened by chance, but all had come by divine
design and with a purpose, yet for all that things had gone hard with Israel.
The psalmist claims that they were still the Lord's own people, though in the
first verse he had said, "thou hast cast us off." The language of
complaint is usually confused, and faith in time of trouble ere long
contradicts the desponding statements of the flesh. Thou hast made us to drink
the wine of astonishment. Our afflictions have made us like men drunken with
some potent and bitter wine; we are in amazement, confusion, delirium; our
steps reel, and we stagger as those about to fall. The great physician gives
his patients potent potions to purge out their abounding and deep seated
diseases. Astonishing evils bring with them astonishing results. The grapes of
the vineyard of sin produce a wine which fills the most hardened with anguish
when justice compels them to quaff the cup. There is a fire water of anguish of
soul which even to the righteous makes a cup of trembling, which causes them to
be exceeding sorrowful almost unto death. When grief becomes so habitual as to
be our drink, and to take the place of our joys, becoming our only wine, then
are we in an evil case indeed.
Verse
4. Here the strain takes a turn. The Lord has called back to himself
his servants, and commissioned them for his service, presenting them with a
standard to be used in his wars. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear
thee. Their afflictions had led them to exhibit holy fear, and then being
fitted for the Lord's favour, he gave them an ensign, which would be both a
rallying point for their hosts, a proof that he had sent them to fight, and a
guarantee of victory. The bravest men are usually intrusted with the banner,
and it is certain that those who fear God must have less fear of man than any
others. The Lord has given us the standard of the gospel, let us live to uphold
it, and if needful die to defend it. Our right to contend for God, and our
reason for expecting success, are found in the fact that the faith has been
once committed to the saints, and that by the Lord himself. That it may be
displayed because of the truth. Banners are for the breeze, the sun, the
battle. Israel might well come forth boldly, for a sacred standard was borne
aloft before them. To publish the gospel is a sacred duty, to be ashamed of it
a deadly sin. The truth of God was involved in the triumph of David's armies,
he had promised them victory; and so in the proclamation of the gospel we need
feel no hesitancy, for as surely as God is true he will give success to his own
word. For the truth's sake, and because the true God is on our side, let us in
these modern days of warfare emulate the warriors of Israel, and unfurl our
banners to the breeze with confident joy. Dark signs of present or coming ill
must not dishearten us; if the Lord had meant to destroy us he would not have
given us the gospel; the very fact that he has revealed himself in Christ Jesus
involves the certainty of victory. Magna est veritas et praevalebit.
Hard
things thou hast upon us laid,
And made us drink most bitter wine;
But still thy banner we have displayed,
And borne aloft thy truth divine.
Our courage fails not, though the night
No earthly lamp avails to break,
For thou wilt soon arise in might,
And of our captors captives make.
Selah.
There is so much in the fact of a banner being given to the hosts of Israel, so
much of hope, of duty, of comfort, that a pause is fitly introduced. The sense
justifies it, and the more joyful strain of the music necessitates it.
Verse
5. That thy beloved may be delivered. David was the Lord's
beloved, his name signifies "dear, or beloved, "and there was in
Israel a remnant according to the election of grace, who were the beloved of
the Lord; for their sakes the Lord wrought great marvels, and he had an eye to
them in all his mighty acts. God's beloved are the inner seed, for whose sake
he preserves the entire nation, which acts as a husk to the vital part. This is
the main design of providence, That thy beloved may be delivered; if it
were not for their sakes he would neither give a banner nor send victory to it.
Save with thy right hand, and hear me. Save at once, before the prayer is over;
the case is desperate unless there be immediate salvation. Tarry not, O Lord,
till I have done pleading: save first and hear afterwards. The salvation must
be a right royal and eminent one, such as only the omnipotent hand of God
linked with his dexterous wisdom can achieve. Urgent distress puts men upon
pressing and bold petitions such as this. We may by faith ask for and expect
that our extremity will be God's opportunity; special and memorable
deliverances will be wrought out when dire calamities appear to be imminent.
Here is one suppliant for many, even as in the case of our Lord's intercession
for his saints. He, the Lord's David, pleads for the rest of the beloved,
beloved and accepted in him the Chief Beloved; he seeks salvation as though it
were for himself, but his eye is ever upon all those who are one with him in
the Father's love. When divine interposition is necessary for the rescue of the
elect it must occur, for the first and greatest necessity of providence is the
honour of God, and the salvation of his chosen. This is fixed fate, the centre
of the immutable decree, the inmost thought of the unchangeable Jehovah.
Verse
6. God hath spoken in his holiness. Faith is never happier
than when it can fall back upon the promise of God. She sets this over against
all discouraging circumstances; let outward providences say what they will, the
voice of a faithful God drowns every sound of tear. God had promised Israel
victory, and David the kingdom; the holiness of God secured the fulfilment of
his own covenant, and therefore the king spake confidently. The goodly land had
been secured to the tribes by the promise made to Abraham, and that divine
grant was an abundantly sufficient warrant for the belief that Israel's arms
would be successful in battle. Believer make good use of this, and banish
doubts while promises remain. I will rejoice, or "I will triumph."
Faith regards the promise not as fiction but fact, and therefore drinks in joy
from it, and grasps victory by it. "God hath spoken; I will rejoice:"
here is a fit motto for every soldier of the cross.
I
will divide Shechem. As a victor David would allot the conquered territory to
those to whom God had given it by lot. Shechem was an important portion of the
country, which as yet had not yielded to his government; but he saw that by
Jehovah's help it would be, and indeed was all his own. Faith divides the spoil,
she is sure of what God has promised, and enters at once into possession. And
mete out the valley of Succoth. As the east so the west of Jordan should be
allotted to the proper persons. Enemies should be expelled, and the landmarks
of peaceful ownership set up. Where Jacob had pitched his tent, there his
rightful heirs should till the soil. When God has spoken, his divine shall,
our I will, becomes no idle boast, but the fit echo of the Lord's
decree. Believer, up and take possession of covenant mercies. Divide
Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Let not Canaanitish doubts and
legalisms keep thee out of the inheritance of grace. Live up to thy privileges,
take the good which God provides thee.
Verse
7. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. He claims the whole
land on account of the promise. Two other great divisions of the country he
mentions, evidently delighting to survey the goodly land which the Lord had
given him. All things are ours, whether things present or things to come; no
mean portion belongs to the believer, and let him not think meanly of it. No
enemy shall withhold from true faith what God has given her, for grace makes
her mighty to wrest it from the foe. Life is mine, death is mine, for Christ is
mine. Ephraim also is the strength of mine head. All the military power of the
valiant tribe was at the command of David, and he praises God for it. God will
bow to the accomplishment of his purposes all the valour of men; the church may
cry, "the prowess of armies is mine, " God will overrule all their
achievements for the progress of his cause. Judah is my lawgiver. There the
civil power was concentrated: the king being of that tribe sent forth his laws
out of her midst. We know no lawgiver, but the King who came out of Judah. To
all the claims of Rome, Or Oxford, or the councils of men, we pay no attention;
we are free from all other ecclesiastical rule, but that of Christ: but we
yield joyful obedience to him: Judah is my lawgiver. Amid distractions
it is a great thing to have good and sound legislation, it was a balm for
Israel's wounds, it is our joy in the Church of Christ.
Verse
8. Having looked at home with satisfaction, the hero king now looks
abroad with exultation. Moab, so injurious to me in former years, is my
washpot. The basin into which the water falls when it is poured from an
ewer upon my feet. A mere pot to hold the dirty water after my feet have been
washed in it. Once she defiled Israel, according to the counsel of Balaam, the
son of Beor; but she shall no longer be able to perpetrate such baseness; she
shall be a washpot for those whom she sought to pollute. The wicked as we see
in them the evil, the fruit, and the punishment of sin, shall help on the
purification of the saints. This is contrary to their will, and to the nature
of things, but faith finds honey in the lion, and a washpot in filthy Moab.
David treats his foes as but insignificant and inconsiderable; a whole nation
he counts but as a footbath for his kingdom. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe.
As a man when bathing throws his shoes on one side, so would he obtain his
dominion over haughty Esau's descendants as easily as a man casts a shoe.
Perhaps he would throw his shoe as nowadays men throw their glove, as a
challenge to them to dare dispute his sway. He did not need draw a sword to
smite his now crippled and utterly despondent adversary, for if he dared revolt
he would only need to throw his slipper at him, and he would tremble. Easily
are we victors when Omnipotence leads the way. The day shall come when the
church shall with equal ease subdue China and Ethiopia to the sceptre of the
Son of David. Every believer also may by faith triumph over all difficulties,
and reign with him who hath made us kings and priests. "They overcame
through the blood of the Lamb, "shall yet be said of all who rest in the
power of Jesus.
Philistia,
triumph thou because of me. Be so subdued as to rejoice in my victories over my
other foes. Or does he mean, I who smote thy champion have at length so subdued
thee that thou shalt never be able to rejoice over Israel again; but if thou
must needs triumph it must be with me, and not against me; or rather is it a
taunting defiance, a piece of irony? O proud Philistia, where are thy vaunts?
Where now thy haughty looks, and promised conquests? Thus dare we defy the last
enemy, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
So utterly hopeless is the cause of hell when the Lord comes forth to the
battle, that even the weakest daughter of Zion may shake her head at the enemy,
and laugh him to scorn. O the glorifying of faith! There is not a grain of vain
glory in it, but yet her holy boastings none can hinder. When the Lord speaks
the promise, we will not be slow to rejoice and glory in it.
Verse
9. As yet the interior fortresses of Edom had not been subdued.
Their invading bands had been slain in the valley of salt, and David intended
to push his conquests even to Petra the city of the rock, deemed to be
impregnable. Who will bring me into the strong city? It was all but inaccessible,
and hence the question of David. When we have achieved great success it must be
a stimulus to greater efforts, but it must not become a reason for self
confidence. We must look to the strong for strength as much at the close of a
campaign as at its beginning. Who will lead me into Edom? High up among the
stars stood the city of stone, but God could lead his servant up to it. No
heights of grace are too elevated for us, the Lord being our leader, but we
must beware of high things attempted in self reliance. EXCELSIOR is well enough
as a cry, but we must look to the highest of all for guidance. Joab could not
bring David into Edom. The veterans of the valley of salt could not force the
passage, yet was it to be attempted, and David looked to the Lord for help.
Heathen nations are yet to be subdued. The city of the seven hills must yet
hear the gospel. Who will give the church the power to accomplish this? The
answer is not far to seek.
Verse
10. Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? Yes, the chastising
God is our only hope. He loves us still. For a small moment doth he forsake,
but with great mercy does he gather his people. Strong to smite, he is also
strong to save. He who proved to us our need of him by showing us what poor
creatures we are without him, will now reveal the glory of his help by
conducting great enterprises to a noble issue. And thou, O God, which didst not
go out with our armies? The self same God art thou, and to thee faith cleaves.
Though thou slay us, we will trust in thee, and look for thy merciful help.
Verse
11. Give us help from trouble. Help us to overcome the
disasters of civil strife and foreign invasion; save us from further incursions
from without and division within. Do thou, O Lord, work this deliverance, for
vain is the help of man. We have painfully learned the utter impotence of
armies, kings, and nations without thine help. Our banners trailed in the mire
have proven our weakness without thee, but yonder standard borne aloft before
us shall witness to our valour now that thou hast come to our rescue. How
sweetly will this verse suit the tried people of God as a frequent ejaculation.
We know how true it is.
Verse
12. Through God we shall do valiantly. From God all power
proceeds, and all we do well is done by divine operation; but still we, as
soldiers of the great king, are to fight, and to fight valiantly too. Divine
working is not an argument for human inaction, but rather is it the best
excitement for courageous effort. Helped in the past, we shall also be helped
in the future, and being assured of this we resolve to play the man. For he it
is that shall tread down our enemies. From him shall the might proceed, to him
shall the honour be given. Like straw on the threshing floor beneath the feet
of the oxen shall we tread upon our abject foes, but it shall rather be his
foot which presses them down than ours; his hand shall go out against them so
as to put them down and keep them in subjection. In the case of Christians
there is much encouragement for a resolve similar to that of the first clause.
We shall do valiantly, we will not be ashamed of our colours, afraid of our
foes, or fearful of our cause. The Lord is with us, omnipotence sustains us,
and we will not hesitate, we dare not be cowards. O that our King, the true
David, were come to claim the earth, for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is
the governor among the nations.
EXPLANATORY
NOTES AND QUAINT SAYINGS
TITLE. There are some
difficulties attendant upon the title of this Psalm, when it is compared with
the contents. We naturally expect after such as inscription, joy,
congratulation, and praise for victory; but the psalmist breaks out into
lamentations and bitter complaints: his strains are, however, changed, when he
has proceeded as far as verse three, where he begins to feel confidence, and to
employ the language of exultation and triumph. The best means of removing this
discrepancy seems to be by remarking, that this Psalm was written after some of
the battles of which mention is made in the title, but that the author does not
restrict himself to those events without taking a wider range, so as to embrace
the afflictive conditions both of Israel and Judah during the latter part of
Saul's life, and the former years of David's reign. In the concluding years of
Saul, the Philistines obtained a superiority over him, and finally destroyed
him with his army. Subsequently to these events the whole land was in a very
disturbed and agitated condition, arising out of the contentions between the
partisans of Saul's family, and those who were attached to David. The nations
which inhabited the regions adjacent to the land of Canaan were at all times
inimical to the Jews, and seized every opportunity of attacking and injuring
them. But when David had succeeded in uniting the whole nation under his
authority, he proceeded to avenge the injuries and insults that had been
inflicted upon his countrymen by the Philistines, Edomites, Moabites, and
Syrians; and God was pleased to give him signal success in his undertakings. He
appears, therefore, to have combined all these transactions, and made them the
subject of this Psalm. William Walford.
Title. Shushaneduth.
The lilies of the testimony—means, that this Psalm has for its chief
subject something very lovely and cheering in the law; namely, the words of
promise quoted in the beginning of verse six, according to which the land of
Canaan belonged to the Israelites, upon which is thus established the
confidence expressed in Ps 60:6-8, with respect to their right of property over
the land, and their possession of it. This promise, not to cite many other
passages, which occur in the Five Books of Moses, and even so early as the
patriarchs, is contained in Genesis 49, and Deuteronomy 33. It is evident of
what value and importance this promise was, and particularly the remembrance of
it at this time. T. C. Barth's "Bible Manual, "1865.
Title. The only other
eduth or "testimony" in the Psalter, Psalm 80, makes
mention by name of the tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, and is a
witness against those tribes for forsaking the Shepherd of Israel who had
brought them up out of the land of Egypt. Joseph Francis Thrupp, M.A., in
"An Introduction to the Study and Use of the Psalms, "1860.
Title. Aramnaharaim.
The name Aram corresponds to Syria in its widest and vaguest
sense, and is joined with other names to designate particular parts of that
large country. It even includes Mesopotamia, which is a term of physical rather
than political geography, and denotes the space between the Tigris and
Euphrates, corresponding to Aram Naharaim, or Syria of the Two
Rivers, in the verse before us. The king of this country was tributary to
the king of Aram Zobah, as appears from the account of David's second Aramean
war (2Sa 10:16,19). Joseph Addison Alexander.
Title. When he
strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah. An insult offered to David's
ambassadors by Hanun, king of the Ammonites, led to a serious war. Hanun
obtained mercenaries from Syria to reinforce his army, Joab and Abishai his brother,
David's generals, gave them battle. Joab, opposed to the Syrians, gained the
first success, and the Ammonites, seeing their allies routed, took to flight
into their town. But this defeat provoked a great coalition, embracing all the
people between the Jordan and the Euphrates. David, however, fearlessly marched
against them at the head of his army; he vanquished all his enemies, and made
himself master of the small Aramaean kingdoms of Damascus, Zobah, and Hamath,
and subjugated the Eastern Idumaeans, who met their final defeat in the Valley
of Salt. Francois Lenormant and E. Chevallier, in "A Manual of the
Ancient History of the East, "1869.
Title. Joab
returned and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand, compared
with 2Sa 8:13, "David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the
Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men, "and 1Ch
18:12, where this very service was performed by Abishai. Answer. It is
one thing to attribute the victory for the honour of the king that was the
cause. But the mentioning of these chief generals, by whom the service was
performed, is another. David, under God, must have the honour of the work, for
the increase of his name, being set for the typing out of Christ, who must have
all the glory of the day, whatever conquest he gets by instruments of that
service here, who likewise are typed out in David's worthies, of whom Joab and
Abishai were chief. By these he obtained that great victory over Hadadezer. In
returning from which service Joab found his brother Abishai engaged in the
valley of salt against eighteen thousand Edomites or Syrians (all one),
whose valour the Almighty looked on, as he attributes the whole slaughter to
him, because first attempting it. Joab, it seems, took this in his return from
the former slaughter, and fell in for the assistance of his brother Abishai
(for that was their usual course: though they divided their armies, they did
not divide their hearts). But if the enemies were too strong, one would help
the other. 1Ch 19:12. And of this eighteen thousand attributed to David and
Abishai before, Joab slew twelve thousand of them; the memory of which service
is here embalmed with a Psalm; first showing the extremes they were in,
doubtful at first they should not get the victory. Secondly, applying it to the
kingdom of Christ. Lastly, ascribing all the honour of the conquest to God;
saying, through God this valiant service was done; it was he that trod down our
enemies; and will do (last verse). William Streat, in "The Dividing of
the Hoof, "1654.
Title. The Valley
of Salt. The ridge of Usdum exhibits more distinctly its peculiar
formation; the main body of the mountain being a solid mass of rock salt...
We could at first hardly believe our eyes, until we had several times
approached the precipices, and broken off pieces to satisfy ourselves, both by
the touch and taste. The salt, where thus exposed, is everywhere more or less
furrowed by the rains. As we advanced, large lumps and masses broken off from
above, lay like rocks along the shore, or were fallen down as debris.
The very stones beneath our feet were wholly salt... The position of this
mountain at the south end of the sea, enables us also to ascertain the place of
The Valley of Salt mentioned in Scripture, where the Hebrews under
David, and again under Amaziah, gained decisive victories over Edom. This
valley could have been no other than the Ghor south of the Dead Sea, adjacent
to the mountain of salt; it separates indeed the ancient territories of Judah
and Edom. Edward Robinson's "Biblical Researches in Palestine, "1867.
Title. The historic
record mentions eighteen thousand slain, and here but twelve
thousand. The greater of course includes the less. The discrepancy may be
explained by supposing that the title contains the numbers slain by one
division of the army, or that the twelve thousand were slain in the
battle, and the residue in the flight. Or an error may have crept into the
text. Every scholar admits that there is sometimes serious difficulty in
settling the numbers of the Old Testament. In this place Calvin has two and
twenty thousand, the common version twelve thousand, while the
original is two ten thousand, which taken in one way would mean twenty
thousand, i.e., two tens of thousands. Hammond refers the number slain to
different battles, and so avoids the difficulty. William S. Plumer.
Verse
1. O God, thou hast cast us off. The word here used means
properly to be foul, rancid, offensive; and then, to treat anything as if
it were foul or rancid; to repel, to spurn, to cast away. It is strong
language, meaning that God had seemed to treat them as if they were loathsome
of offensive to him. Albert Barnes.
Verse
2. Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. They pray that
this may be done with the utmost speed, because there was a danger in delay,
for the kingdom was already pressed down with a heavy calamity, and on the
brink of ruin, which is signified by the word hjm whose origin is in a very
strong and tremulous inclination to one side, properly from the application of
a lever, and is applied to those who are leaning so far to one side that
they are just on the point of falling; figuratively, therefore, it expresses a most
perilous condition, in which one is on the edge of destruction. Hermann
Venema.
Verse
2. Heal the breaches thereof. Even Israel is subject to breaches.
So it was with the literal typical Israel, David's kingdom; so it may be with
spiritual mystical Israel, the kingdom of Christ, the church of God upon earth.
There are breaches from without, and breaches from within.
I will invert the order. From without, by open persecution; from within,
by intestine and homebred divisions. Of both these the church of God in
all ages hath had sufficient experience. Look we upon the primitive
times, during the infancy of the church, however the soundest and most
entire church that ever was, yet how was it broken! Broken, as by
foreign persecutions, so by homebred divisions. Both these ways was the church
during the apostles' time broken, distressed by enemies from without who
persecuted it. John Brinsley (1600-1665), in "The Healing of Israel's
Breaches."
Verse
2. It shaketh. That is, presaging nothing but ruin and
downfall, unless it be speedily underpropped, and the breaches
thereof made up and healed. Thus did David look upon Israel's
disease, and hereupon it was that he was so deeply affected with it, so
earnestly desiring the cure of it. The reference, as interpreters conceive, is
to those homebred divisions, those civil wars betwixt the two houses of
Saul and David, after the death of Saul: then did the "earth, "the
land, that land of Israel (as the Chaldee explains it), quake and tremble,
being broken, riven (as the word in the original signifieth): even as
the earth sometimes by earthquakes is riven, and torn asunder with prodigious
chasms, openings, or gapings: so was that kingdom divided in those civil
commotions, the nobles and commons taking parts and siding, some with David,
some with Ishbosheth. John Brinsley.
Verse
3. Thou hast showed thy people hard things. God will be sure
to plough his own ground, whatsoever becometh of the waste; and to weed his own
garden, though the rest of the world should be let alone to grow wild. John
Trapp.
Verse
3. Thou hast given us to drink infatuation, or bewilderment, as
men drink wine. So Hupfeld explains the constructions, referring to Ps
80:5, "Thou hast made them feed upon weeping like bread; "1Ki 22:27,
"Feed him with affliction as bread, and with affliction as water" uxl
mymw; Isa 30:20. But the apposition is capable of being explained in another
way, for the second noun may in fact be a predicate further defining the first:
"Thou hast given us wine to drink which is (not wine, but)
bewilderment." J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
3. The wine of astonishment. "Intoxicating wine."
Hebrew, "Wine of staggering, "that is, which causeth staggering, or,
in other words, intoxicating. Some render, "wine of stupor, "or
stupefying. Symmachus, "wine of agitation, "and this sense I have
adopted which is also that of the Syriac. Benjamin Boothroyd.
Verse
4. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee. Perhaps
the delivery of a banner was anciently esteemed an obligation to
protect, and that the psalmist might consider it in this light, when, upon a
victory over the Syrians and Edomites, after the public affairs of Israel had
been in a bad state, he says, Thou hast shewed thy people hard things,
etc. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee. Though thou didst
for a time give up thine Israel into the hands of their enemies, thou hast now
given them an assurance of thy having received them under thy protection. Thomas
Harmer (1715-1788), in "Observations on Divers Passages of
Scripture."
Verse
4. Thou hast given a banner, etc. 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. Truth
here answers to God's holiness (Ps 60:6). 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. A. R. Faussett.
Verse
4. Thou hast given a banner, etc. The psalmist compares the salvation
which the Lord bestows upon his people to a highly excellent banner,
which serves as a signal, to one lying prostrate in his misery, to rise up,
with an allusion perhaps to Nu 21:8. "And the Lord said to Moses, Make
thee a serpent, and set it upon a standard pole; and it happened that
every one who was bitten, and looked at it, lived." At any rate, that
passage in which the serpent is a symbol of the healing power of God, may serve
to illustrate the passage before us. Compare heal its breaches. E. W.
Hengstenberg.
Verse
4. A banner, which is a sign or instrument:
1.
Of union. This people, who were lately divided and under several banners, thou
hast now gathered together and united under one banner; to wit, under my
government.
2.
Of battle. Thou hast given us an army and power to oppose our enemies. We had
our banner to set against theirs.
3.
Of triumph. We have not lost our banner but gained theirs, and brought it away
in triumph. Compare Ps 20:5. Matthew Poole.
Verse
6. God hath spoken in his holiness. That is, by Samuel he
hath promised, as he is an holy God, and true of his word, that I should be
king of all Israel, and now he hath performed it. (2 Samuel 5.) Yet Calvin
speaks of it as not yet performed; but the course of the history makes it plain
that David was now king over the parts of which he here speaketh. I will
divide Shechem, as subjects to me as Joshua having the land under him,
divided it amongst his people: so David being king over all the parts of the
land, divides to his followers such portions as belonged unto them by
inheritance, from which happily some of them had been expelled by the time of
Ishbosheth his reign; or some families in the time of those wars might be
utterly wasted away, and so the king having free power to dispose of their
lands, might give them amongst his men, and take part to himself. John
Mayer.
Verse
6. God hath spoken in his holiness. That is, he hath given
out his word from heaven, the habitation of his holiness and of his glory; or,
he hath spoken it certainly, there is nothing but holiness in his word (and
that is the strength of words). David having received this word stands assured,
that as Shechem and Succoth, Gilead and Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah would
willingly submit to him and yield obedience; so, also, that Moab, Edom, and Philistia,
who were his professed enemies, should be subdued to him. He expected to
conquer and triumph over them, to put them to the basest offices, as his
vassals, because God had decreed and spoken it in his holiness. God hath spoken
the word, saith he, therefore is shall be done, yea, it is done; and therefore
David cried, All's mine, Gilead in mine, Manasseh is mine, Moab and Edom are
mine, as soon as God had spoken the word. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
6. I will divide Shechem. It is as much as if he should say,
I will not look to have my share measured out by others, but I will divide it,
and measure myself, and will be the right owner and possessor thereof. Thomas
Wilcocks.
Verse
6. I will divide Shechem, etc. Of Shechem and the Valley
of Succoth, or booths, so called from Jacob's making booths, and feeding
his cattle there. (See Ge 33:17-18.) By these are meant Samaria; and David's
dividing or meting them out, is a phrase to express his dominion
over them, in being part of the regal power to distribute his
province into cities and regions, and place judges and magistrates over them.
To these the addition of Gilead (which contained the whole region of Bashan,
etc., on the other side of Jordan), and then the mention of Manasseh
and Ephraim, are designed, as by so many parts, to denote the kingdom of
Israel, or the ten tribes; and their being his, and the strength of
his head, notes him to be the Lord over them, and to make use of
their strength in his wars, for the defending or enlarging his dominions. And
then Judah yqqwxm is my lawgiver; as it refers to Jacob's prophecy of
the sceptre and lawgiver not departing from Judah, denoting that to be
the royal tribe; so by it is signified the kingdom of Judah
(under which Benjamin is comprehended), that David is possessed of that
also. Henry Hammond.
Verse
6. Succoth. If the preceding views are correct, we may rest
in the result, that the present Sâkût represents the name and site of the
ancient Succoth...We passed obliquely along the northern slope of the same
broad swell, where the ground was covered only by a thick crop of thistles. On
our right was a region of lower ground to which we gradually descended; full of
grass, wild oats, and thistles, with an occasional thornbush. The soil was like
that of an Ohio bottom. The grass, intermingled with tall daisies, and the wild
oats reached to the horses backs; while the thistles sometimes overtopped the
rider's heads. All was now dry; and in some places it was difficult to make our
way through the exuberant growth. At last we came to the cause of this
fertility, a fine brook winding along the bottom. We crossed it, and passed up
again obliquely over another like swell, covered as before only with thistles.
Here was an ancient oil vat, very large and of a single stone; it was evidently
brought hither, and indicates the former growth of the olive in these parts. We
struck the same stream again at its source, called Ain el Beida, a large and
fine fountain, surrounded with gardens of cucumbers, and watering an extensive
tract. We were here on the edge of the higher portion of the Ghôr, where low
ridges and swells project out from the foot of the western mountains, and form
a rolling plain or plateau, which is well watered, arable and very extensively
cultivated for wheat. The tract further east, which we had now crossed, may be
said to extend to the high bank of the lower Jordan valley. It is less
elevated, is more generally level, though crossed by low swells between the
water courses, and has little tillage. The inhabitants of Tûbâs are divided
into three hostile parties; and they carry their divisions into their
agriculture in the Ghôr. One party sows at Ain el Beida, where we now were;
another around Ain Makhûz, more in the north; and the third at Ridghah, Sâkût,
and further south. The people of Teyâsîr also sow on the south of Mâlih; the
water of which is used for irrigation. The whole tract north of Wady Mâlih was
said to be farmed from the government by one of the Sheiks of the Jenâr family,
who live at Jeba and in its neighbourhood. By him it is again let to the
different villages. Robinson's "Biblical Researches in Palestine."
Verses
6-7. The chief and principal places where the seditious party had
their residence and abode, were those which the psalmist mentions in the sixth
and seventh verses, namely, Shechem, a city in the tribe of Ephraim; Succoth,
a city in the tribe of Gad; Gilead and Manasseh, the utmost
borders of the land of Canaan beyond Jordan. These were some of the chief
places, which sided with Ishbosheth whilst he lived, as you may see, 2 Samuel
2; and, as it seemeth, they still cleaved to the house of Saul after he was
dead, not acknowledging David for their king. John Brinsley.
Verse
7. Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine. That is to say, I
will possess myself of them and rule over them; not as a conqueror over slaves,
but as a lord over subjects, as a father over children, owning and
acknowledging them as mine. They are my inheritance, and shall be my
people, my subjects. John Brinsley.
Verse
7. Ephraim also is the strength of mine head. The strong and
warlike tribe of Ephraim being to the state what the helmet is to the warriors
in battle; or, perhaps the allusion is to De 33:17: "His glory is like the
firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with
them he shall push the nations." J. J. Stewart Perowne.
Verse
7. Judah is (or shall be) my lawgiver, i.e., all his subjects
should be brought under one Head, one governor, who should give them
laws, according to which they should be ordered or governed, which power and
authority belonged to the tribe of Judah, according to that prophecy of
Jacob (Ge 49:10), to which the psalmist here alludes. No way, no means to bring
the people unto unity, to bring them into one body, but by bringing them
under on head, one law giver, by whose laws they may be regulated
and governed. Now in the church, and in matters of religion, this one Head
is Christ, even that Lion of the tribe of Judah, as he is called
(Re 5:5). He is the Law giver of his church, and let him so be. This
will be found one, aye, and the only means to breed an holy and religious
unity, and bring home straying, wandering sheep. John Brinsley.
Verse
7. No government could stand which was not resident in Judah. John
Calvin.
Verse
8. Moab is my washpot. Implying that Moab should be reduced
to slavery, it being the business of a slave to present the hand washing basin
to his master. With the Greeks, plunein tina, to wash down any one, was
a slang term, signifying to ridicule, abuse, or beat; hence we have the word washpot
applied to the subject of such treatment. "You do not appear to be in your
right senses, who make a washpot of me in the presence of many men." Aristophanes.
Thomas S. Millington, in "The Testimony of the Heathen to the Truths of
Holy Writ," 1863.
Verse
8. (second clause). When, keeping in view the idea of washing
the feet, a person throws his shoes, which he has taken off, to any one to be
taken away or to be cleaned—kylvh with le and also with la, 1Ki 19:19, is "to
throw to any one"—the individual to whom it belongs to perform such an
office must be a slave of the lowest kind. E. W. Hengstenberg.
Verse
8. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe, which notes either
contempt of them, as if he had said, O look upon them as worthy only to scrape
and make clean my shoes. Or secondly, conquest over them—I will walk through
Edom and subdue it. Joseph Caryl.
Verse
8. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe. By extension,
immission, or projection of the shoe, either upon the necks of people, or over
their countries, is meant nothing else but to overcome, subdue, bring under
power, possess, and subject to vileness such men and such countries. The very
vulgar acceptation of the word possession, in the grammatical sense,
imports as much; for the etymology of possessio is no more but pedum
positio. This manner of speaking hath also allusion to the positive law
recorded in De 25:6-10; for the letter of the law is, that is the kinsman would
not marry the brother's widow and raise up seed unto his brother; the widow
loosing his shoe, and spitting in his face, he lost the claim and interest of
such possessions as belonged to the woman in right of her husband. And the
house of such a man was called domus discalceati, that is to say,
"The house of him that hath his shoe loosed." The practice also of
this law we find recorded in the book of Ruth, in the case of Elimelech's land,
between Boaz and the kinsman, about the widow Ruth, who had her interest by
right of her husband in the said land. Moreover, the frequent use of this
phrase meeting us very often in the book of God, makes this to be the meaning
of the words, as clear as the day. This king elsewhere singing his trophies,
saith, "They are fallen under my feet." "Caleb the son of Jephunneh;
he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden
upon." But the people must "not meddle with Mount Seir; for God would
not give them thereof so much as a foot's breadth; "yet ever the place
whereon the soles of their feet should tread, from the wilderness of Lebanon
and from the river Euphrates unto the utmost sea, should be theirs. Ps 18:38 De
1:36 2:5. William Loe, in "A Sermon before the King at Theobalds,
"entitled, "The King's Shoe, made and ordained to trample on, and to
tread down enemies," 1623.
Verse
8. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe. Turnus, having slain
Palias,—"Bestrode the corpse, and pressed it with his foot." Virgil.
Verse
8. Of the Philistines he says, Over Philistia it is mine to
boast; for so I would translate, and not, as is usual, Philistia,
triumph thou over me, which does not yield a consistent meaning. Hermann
Venema.
Verse
8. (last clause). Let not our adversaries triumph over our breaches.
"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy." Or, if they will, let them
triumph: Triumph thou, O Philistia, because of me, or over me. John
Brinsley.
Verses
8-10. Moab in the East, Edom in the South, and Philistia in the West
(the North is not mentioned, because the banner of David had already been
victorious there.) Augustus F. Tholuck.
Verse
11. For vain is the help of man. As they had lately
experimented in Saul, a king of their own choosing, but not able to save
them from those proud Philistines. John Trapp.
Verse
11. So long as sight and reason find footing in matters, there is no
place for faith and hope; the abundance of human helps puts not grace to proof,
but the strength of faith is in the absence of them all. A man is stronger when
he goeth on his feet alone, than when he standeth by a grip in his infancy, or
leaneth on a staff in his old age: the two feet of faith and hope serve us best
when we are fixed on the Rock of Sion alone. William Struther.
Verse
12. Through God we shall do, etc. In war these two must be
joined, and indeed in all actions: HE, we; God and man.
1.
"We shall do valiantly, "for God helps not remiss, or cowardly, or
negligent men.
2.
And yet, that being done, the work is his: "He shall tread down;
"the blow and the overthrow are not to be attributed to us, but to him.
Adam Clarke.
HINTS TO THE
VILLAGE PREACHER
Verse
1. Prayer of a church in low condition.
1. Complaint.
(a)
Left of God's Spirit.
(b) Scattered.
2. Cause.
Something displeasing to God. Neglect or actual sin; a subject for self
examination.
3. Cure.
The Lord's return to us and ours to him. In our version it is a prayer; in the
Septuagint an expression of faith—"Thou wilt return."
Verse
2. The perturbation, the prayer, the plea. G. R.
Verse
3. That God does afflict his people severely, and that he has good
reason for the same.
Verse
3. The wine of astonishment. A purgative, a tonic.
Astonishing sin followed by astonishing chastisements, discoveries of
corruption, of the spirituality of the law, of the terrors of divine wrath, and
by astonishing depressions, temptations, and conflicts.
Verse
4. The banner of the gospel.
1.
Why a banner? A rallying point, meant to fight under, etc.
2.
By whom given. Thou.
3.
To whom. To them that fear thee.
4.
What is to be done with it. To be displayed.
5.
For what cause. Because of the truth. Truth promotes truth.
Verse
5. The deliverance of the elect needs a saving God, a mighty God (right
hand), and a prayer hearing God.
Verse
5. (last clause). Save... and hear. The remarkable
order of these words suggests that—
1.
In the purpose of God.
2.
In the first works of grace.
3.
Often under trial.
4.
And specially in fierce temptations, Gods saving precedes man's praying.
Verse
6. God's holy promise, ground for present joy, and for boldly taking
possession of the promised good.
Verse
7. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. How, and in what
respect this world is the Christian's.
Verse
7. Judah is my lawgiver. The believer owning no law but that
which comes from Christ.
Verse
8. Moab is my washpot. How we may make sinners subservient to
our sanctification. We are warned by their sin, and punishment, etc. See
"Spurgeon's Sermons, "No. 983, "Moab is my washpot."
Verse
9. The soul winner's question.
1.
The object of attack; the strong city of man's heart, barricaded by depravity,
ignorance, prejudice, custom, etc.
2.
Our main design. To penetrate, to reach the citadel for Jesus.
3.
Our great enquiry. Eloquence, learning, wit, none of these can force the gate,
but there is One who can.
Verse
12. Divine operation a reason for human activity.
── C.H. Spurgeon《The Treasury of David》