PSALMS LESSON 58
We will begin this lesson by giving Psalm chapter 60 in metre.
THE PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE
Chapter 60
Verse 1 "O Lord, thou hast rejected us, And scattered us abroad; With
us thou hast offended been. Return to us, O God."
Verse 2 "The earth to tremble thou hast made, In it didst breaches
make; Do thou thereof the breaches heal Because the land
doth shake."
Verse 3 "To thy own people thou hard things Hast shown, and on them
sent; And thou hast caused us drink the wine of sore
astonishment."
Verse 4 "And yet a banner thou hast given To those who thee do fear,
That for the sake of truth by them Displayed it may appear."
Verse 5 "That thy beloved people, Lord, May all delivered be, Save
with the power of thy right hand, And answer give to me."
Verse 6 "God in his holiness did speak, In this rejoice I will: I
Shechem will divide, and I will measure Succoth's vale."
Verse 7 "I Gilead claim as mine by right; Manasseh mine shall be; Of
my head Ephraim's the strength; Judah gives laws for me."
Verse 8 "In Moab I will wash; my shoe I will to Edom throw; And o'er
the land of Palestine I will in triumph go."
Verse 9 "O who is he will bring me to The city fortified? And who is
he that to the land Of Edom will me guide?
Verse 10 "O God, who hadst rejected us, This thing wilt thou not do?
Even thou, O God, thou who didst not Forth with our armies
Go?
Verse 11 "Help us from trouble; for the help is vain which man
supplies. Through God we'll do great acts; he will Tread
down our enemies."
We will now begin the verse by verse study of Psalms chapter 60.
Psalms 60:1 "{To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of
David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-
zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt
twelve thousand.} O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered
us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again."
Even though this battle has been a victorious one and 12,000 of
the enemy have fallen, David still is praying that God will come back
to them with His blessings. It seems that when Saul took over the land
as their king, God was displeased with them. He remained displeased
with them and had scattered them. We do know that God did not want
Israel to have an earthly king. He wanted to be their only King. The
people sinned greatly, when they insisted on being like all the other
countries around them, and insisted on having an earthly king. God did
not want them to be like other countries, He wanted them to be a
peculiar people, worshipping only Him. This is exactly what God
expects from His people today. He wants us to be a peculiar people,
separated from the world. He wants our worship all focused on Him.
One of the troubles in the church today, is that you can hardly tell
any difference in them and the world. Worldliness has crept into the
church. Desiring to be like the rest of the world caused God to be
displeased with His chosen family then, and wanting to be like the
world around us can cause God to be displeased with the church today.
Psalms 60:2 "Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast
broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh."
When God shakes the earth, anything that can be shaken will be
shaken. In David's time here, the priests had been murdered. The
church and in fact, the very foundation of there belief had been
shaken as well. It seemed as if everything was crumbling around them.
Even though, God had been with them and they had won this battle,
there was unrest in the land. David felt as if God had turned away.
It is very much like that now in our land. Those who are sold out to
God are truly concerned about the condition of our land, and more than
that, they are concerned by what they see and hear the church as a
whole doing. The uncertainties in our world today have many thinking
that the end of the world is very near. Perhaps, the return of the
Lord is near. David is asking God to heal the wounds. I truly believe
that it is necessary for our people to do what the following Scripture
says. II Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name,
shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from
their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land." The shaking has begun. It is
time for all of us to repent and turn from our wicked ways.
Psalms 60:3 "Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast
made us to drink the wine of astonishment."
Hard times come to cause people to repent and come to God. Even
believers are astonished at the happenings around us.
Psalms 60:4 "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,
that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah."
The banner, that those who fear God have been given, is the
banner of righteousness. We should go forth with this banner
proclaiming truth to all who will listen. This banner should be red,
white, and blue. The red symbolizes the life that Jesus' precious
blood has purchased for us. The white should proclaim righteousness
throughout the land. The blue is for the heavenly calling. Do you fear
the Lord? If you do, start waving your banner and bring the truth. We
are in a war for the souls of the people. Selah, means pause and think
on these things.
Psalms 60:5 "That thy beloved may be delivered; save [with] thy
right hand, and hear me."
The Right hand, here, is prophetically speaking of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, who is the Right Hand of God. David means
beloved of God, so perhaps, the beloved here is him. Just as Moses
delivered the children of Israel from Egypt {type of the world}, Jesus
is the great Deliverer, who saves us from this world.
Psalms 60:6 "God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I
will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth."
The fact that God spoke in His holiness means, that He who cannot
lie, spoke the truth. Since David has won this battle, it would be up
to him to divide the land into whatever parcels he desired. I am sure
that David's division would be based upon the original division of the
land when God gave it to the Israelites. God set the boundaries, and I
am sure He wanted the boundaries to stay the way He set them. Some of
the people trying to change the boundaries today, need to go back and
look at the boundaries that God set.
Psalms 60:7 Gilead [is] mine, and Manasseh [is] mine; Ephraim
also [is] the strength of mine head; Judah [is] my lawgiver;
This is speaking of the different separations. All belongs to God
and whoever He desires to give it to. Judah is my lawgiver. We know
that Jesus was the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The King of kings and
Lord of lords will reign from the city of Jerusalem.
Psalms 60:8 "Moab [is] my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my
shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me."
Moab was the land of the Gentiles that Ruth had lived in, before
she came and married Boaz. Edom had been a reproach. God has no
difficulty in subduing all nations, and Edom is no exception. He
thought so little of it, that He threw His shoe. David had defeated
Philistia so uttterly that they deemed no problem to him.
Psalms 60:9 "Who will bring me [into] the strong city? who will
lead me into Edom?"
This strong city in Edom was a stronghold and had not been
defeated, even though David had defeated their army in the battle.
David would have to go into the center of the land to defeat this
city. The only answer to David's question, here, is God Almighty.
Psalms 60:10 "[Wilt] not thou, O God, [which] hadst cast us off?
and [thou], O God, [which] didst not go out with our armies?"
David was fully aware that when God went with them into battle,
there was always victory. He, also, knows that God had been displeased
with this people when they wanted an earthly king to rule over them.
He was not sure that God had forgotten and forgiven them. He wanted
to be certain God was the One sending him into this battle, before he
went. In God's anger, God had not gone into battle with them, and
David wanted to take no chance that that would be the case now. He
would go in only if God sends him.
Psalms 60:11 "Give us help from trouble: for vain [is] the help
of man."
David knows that no mere man can go into the city of Petra {the
city of the rock} and come out a winner. He will go on one condition;
that God sends him and leads the way. David asks God to help him.
Psalms 60:12 "Through God we shall do valiantly: for he [it is
that] shall tread down our enemies."
Notice that, David is not saying to stand back and let God do it.
David is not jumping headlong into the battle on his own, either.
David will go into the battle, doing what he can, if God leads the
way. The only time victory is assured is when God sends the person to
the battlefront. Just as David killed Goliath in the name of the Lord,
He will fight this battle in the name of the Lord. What lesson can we
Christians get from this? We must not sit back and do nothing and
expect God to do all of the work for us. We better not get out on a
limb trying to do a task that God has not sent us to do, either. The
only way for it to work is to do the task that the Lord has set before
you knowing that He is leading the way.
Questions 58
1. How many of Edom were killed in the valley of salt?
2. O God, thou hast ______ __ ___.
3. Why was God displeased with these Israelites?
4. What was the great sin that these people had sinned against God?
5. What does God want from His people today?
6. Who made the earth to tremble?
7. What terrible thing had been done, in the time of David, that
shook the foundation of their belief?
8. Who is really concerned about the condition of our land today?
9. What does the author believe is necessary to do in our land today
to get right with God?
10. Why does God allow hard times to come?
11. What is the banner that has been given to those who fear God?
12. What color should this banner be?
13. Tell me what the different colors of the banner symbolize.
14. Who is the Right Hand of God?
15. What does the name David mean?
16. What is Egypt a type of?
17. Who is the great Deliverer, who saves us from the world?
18. What does it mean, God hath spoken in His holiness?
19. In verse 7, ______is my lawgiver.
20. Where had Ruth lived before she met and married Boaz?
21. Where was the strong city in Edom?
22. Who was David dependent on for victory?
23. What opinion did David have of man's help?
24. What was the city of the rock?
25. Who shall tread down their enemies?
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