You Are Not the Only One

Psalm Chapter 60: The Battles Rages: With God, We Remain Victorious.

Unless otherwise stated all scriptures in this devotional are from the King James Version of the Bible-which is public domain!

#Victory #Battle

Context

Psalm so is a lament of national proportion. It was written after the military defeat talked about in (2 Sam. 8:13 and 1 Chron. 18:12). The psalm expresses feelings of shock, dismay, and confusion because the undefeated armies of Israel suffered a tragic military defeat. To David that suggested that God had abandoned His people. Verses 9-12 identify the army to whom David suffered the loss as Edom. Joab is said to have killed 12,00 Edomites at the Valley of Salt. David fought against Aram Naharaim of Syria (see 2 Sam. 10:16– 19) and Aram Zobah (2 Sam. 8:3– 6; 10:6– 15). Yes, David did accomplish a victory over the Edomites in the Valley of Salt (killing 18,000 of them) as recorded in 2 Samuel 8: 13.  If one is not reading carefully, they could become confused about who was victorious over the Edomites because 1 Kings 11:15– 16 does say that Joab ‘destroyed all the men in Edom’.  Secondly, further, 1 Chronicles 18:12 attributes the victory to Abishai.  One must remember that all three men (David, Joab, and Abishai) are commanders in the army; therefore, success can quickly be credited to them. Of course, without the hand of God, they would have lost the battle. We must remember who fights for us.

1. The People’s Contemplation of Abandonment (60:1-5).
2.  The Lord’s Control over the Nations (60:6-8).

III.     The People’s Confidence in God (60:9-12).

Lord you have rejected us-please restore your joy to us.

1 O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.  David looks at the thing that caused Israel to be separated and cost of from God. It’s continual sin. We can allow a crack to develop in the edge of protection that God has wrapped around us because we have allowed our sins of anger, hatred, malice, conscious or hidden pride to separate us from the sweet communion of our Lord. The desolation that David was real.  ² Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.  He felt as if he was experiencing a spiritual earthquake. The platetectonics had separated and the gulf between Israel and God was huge.  ³ Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Being aware of the loss of God’s protection left the king amazed ⁴ Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah. Now he acknowledges why they are drinking the wine of wrath and he is just astonished at the truth that God has revealed to him. Today we do not comprehend what it means to experience the cup of God’s wrath. Why? The Cross! Jesus separated us from the immediate punishment for our sins. We ar also in a war. We are so ready to give up the battle and hand it over to others that this war is for the very souls of men. We do not want to wrath of God to fall on us because we were so involved with the things of this world that we forgot what we were called to do: share teh gospel of Jesus Christ with the world.

The cup of God’s wrath is a recurring theme in the books of the prophets (Isa. 19:14; 51:17; Jer. 25:15– 38; Nah. 1:10; 3:11; and also Ps. 75:8). Please note that Selah, means pause and think on these things. So David is telling the reader to just take a minute to think about what they have just read. The first part of the psalm

Our God Is Triumphant

⁵ That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me. Here we see God as using his right hand of power, to destroy the enemy (Exod. 15:6, 12; Ps 20:6; 21:8). David appears to be telling God that ‘I know that you can do it – you have done it before.’ ⁶  God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.  David seems to be speaking about something that happened in Israel’s history as handed down by the words in the Torah about meeting with God in the “temple” or tabernacle (Exod. 25:22). Is he reminding him of his relationship with him? We do not know. However, verses 7-8 clearly shows the cities that God chose for his children from their enemies.  He speaks about the distribution of the land after the victories. ⁷ Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; (Josh. 13:27) Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;  One is reminded that strength and rulership was established as the right of passage for the tribe of Judah. This is a fullfillment Jacob’s blessing on Judah (Gen. 49:10) and coming to realization with David and his descendants. God’s word never returns to him as void. If he promises it it will happen.   ⁸ Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me. All of these lands were given to the children of Israel, under Joshua, after they entered into the promised land.  God keeps his promises. He remains triumphans.

Help us, God!

⁹ Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? ¹⁰ Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies? ¹¹ Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. ¹² Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies. Verses 9-12 talk bout the history of Israel and God’s intervention against their enemies (Num. 20:14– 21; 2 Sam. 8:14; Ps. 137:7– 9; Jer. 49:7– 22; Lam. 4:22; Ezek. 35:15; Obad. 12– 14)To understand the important of this psalm the reader must know the location of Edom.  Edom is located south of Moab in the area to the south-east of the Dead Sea. It is a rugged mountainous region. It is filled with wadis. These landforms made the area almost impenetrable. The psalms invites us into David’s world and gives us an insight into why David asks God to grant them victory. He was about to fight a battle that everyone else had lost! Friends, Just known that present circumstances may appear as if God has abandoned us, but always remember that it is not over until God shows himself to be mighty.

Prayer: Lord, I will stand my ground and trust in you to make all that is wrong in my life right.