How ready God is to give us another chance! Like His wisdom, He is “easy to be entreated” (Jas 3:17, KJV).
The psalmist clearly thinks that Psalm 60 should be kept for posterity, hung on our walls and hidden in our hearts. It’s given to the Concert Master for public use. He calls it “A Michtam of David. For teaching,” where the word miktâm refers to an engraving, perhaps on a golden plate. There are three stanzas of four verses each. The first theme (vv 1-4) pictures the sad condition of God’s people when they face the foe alone. David piles on the symptoms of the condition: “You have cast us off…broken us down…been displeased…made the earth tremble…for it is shaking…hard things…confusion” (vv 1-3). The best strategies for victory—without the Lord—are pure folly. The story behind the poem can be read in 2 Samuel 8 and 1 Chronicles 18. With David extending his borders to the northeast as far as the Euphrates River, the Edomites in the far southeast decided to take advantage of his absence by attacking Judah. Things looked bad for the nation, but David sent his cousins, Abishai and Joab, with a part of the army to intercept Edom. They did this at Es-Salt, south of the Dead Sea. It was a complete rout, and the Edomites became David’s servants. Thus the seeming defeat in the first part (vv 1-4) leads to God’s declaration to His people in the second part (vv 5-8). It will be when we align ourselves with “His holiness” (v 6) that we will share in His triumph. There’s no question that God will win. The only issue is—will we ride in triumph with Him? There’s no reason not to have total victory (vv 6-8) if we march in step with our Commander. We need not be clever but clean, not mighty but meek, not fierce but faithful. Bluntly put, “the help of man is useless” (v 11), but “through God we will do valiantly” (v 12).