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Psalm 60

Psalm 60 brings national defeat before God and grounds renewed courage in his rule over Israel and its enemies.

Israel’s armies face trouble, and David pleads with God to restore a people shaken by defeat. The heading places this teaching poem amid wars with Aram and Joab’s victory over Edom, though the sequence of events is unclear. The prayer describes a fractured land and a staggering people. God then speaks from his sanctuary, claiming Israel’s territories and dominion over neighboring nations. The closing appeal asks for the help that human strength cannot supply.

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1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A teaching poem by David, when he fought with Aram Naharaim and with Aram Zobah, and Joab returned, and killed twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have been angry. Restore us, again.
2You have made the land tremble. You have torn it. Mend its fractures, for it quakes.
3You have shown your people hard things. You have made us drink the wine that makes us stagger.
4You have given a banner to those who fear you, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
5So that your beloved may be delivered, save with your right hand, and answer us.
6God has spoken from his sanctuary: “I will triumph. I will divide Shechem, and measure out the valley of Succoth.
7Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is the defense of my head. Judah is my scepter.
8Moab is my wash basin. I will throw my sandal on Edom. I shout in triumph over Philistia.”
9Who will bring me into the strong city? Who has led me to Edom?
10Haven’t you, God, rejected us? You don’t go out with our armies, God.
11Give us help against the adversary, for the help of man is vain.
12Through God we will do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our adversaries.
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Key verses
Psalm 60:1The opening names God’s anger as the source of Israel’s collapse and turns to him for restoration.
Psalm 60:3The image of staggering after wine captures the people’s disorientation under hardship they attribute to God.
Psalm 60:12The final confidence rests on God’s action against Israel’s adversaries, following the confession that human help is vain.
Where this chapter reaches

2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles recount David’s wars with Aram and victories over Edom, sharing the people and conflicts named in the heading. Isaiah and Jeremiah also use images of staggering and drinking wine to describe the effects of God’s judgment.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What tension do you notice between God’s claim over the land and Israel’s experience of defeat?

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How does the closing confidence change your reading of the opening plea for restoration?

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Questions people ask about Psalm 60

Why does Psalm 60 say God has rejected Israel?

The speaker understands Israel’s military distress as an expression of God’s anger and withdrawal of help. Images of a torn land and staggering people convey the scale of the crisis. The psalm names no specific offense; it asks God to restore his people and go out with their armies.

What does throwing a sandal on Edom mean in Psalm 60?

The sandal image belongs to God’s declaration of authority over surrounding nations. Alongside Moab as a wash basin and the shout over Philistia, it portrays Edom as subject to God. The precise custom behind the phrase is uncertain, but its place in the speech makes the claim of dominion clear.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).