Psalm 60
Let’s read together from Psalm
60. It has a rather lengthy title
that in the Hebrew Bible is verses one and two, but for us in the
English Bible, it’s just a little addition. It says, to the choir
master, according to Shushan Edith, a Mictam of David, for
instruction when he strove with Aram Naharim and with Aram Zobah,
and when Joab on his return struck down 12,000 of Edom in the Valley
of Salt. Notice the title has victory
in it, but as we walk into the psalm, it has defeat. It says,
Oh God, you have rejected us. You have broken our defenses.
You have been angry. Oh, restore us. You have made
the land to quake. You have torn it open. Repair
its breaches for it totters. You have made your people see
hard things. You have given us wine to drink
that has made us stagger. You have set up a banner for
those who fear you that they may flee to it from the bow,
that your beloved ones may be delivered. Give salvation by
your right hand and answer us. God has spoken in his holiness.
With exultation, I will divide up Shechem and portion out the
veil of Sukkoth. Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim is my helmet. Judah is
my scepter. Moab is my washbasin. Upon Edom
I cast my shoe, and over Philistia I shout in triumph. Who will
bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom? Have
you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with
our armies. O grant us help against the foe,
for vain is the salvation of man. With God, we shall do valiantly. It is he who will tread down
our foes. Amen. This is God’s word for
us. Well, who would dare to fight
against America? Who would be crazy enough to
take on the United States and our military and our president?
Who would dare come up against us? Well, that’s a question that
ought to be asked in this case, because the same might could
be said of David in a similar way. David was a mighty man,
a mighty nation. His kingdom had been established.
He had expanded the borders of Israel. And every nation that
went rogue against the country, the nation of Israel got defeated. So who in their right mind would
fight against Israel? Well, This psalm speaks of a
historical occasion where some, after David had been established
and was mighty and strong, some thought it might be wise and
maybe even profitable to them to fight against David and against
Israel. The nation of Israel was big,
it was united, it was mighty, they had proven themselves. And
now these couple of nations, the Arameans of the Mesopotamian
Valley and the Edomites from the Valley of Salt came up against
David. And from the historical information
we know behind the title of Psalm 60, we know that David defeated
22,000 Arameans. of the Mesopotamian Valley. Now
that’s a lot of Arameans. And then with the Edomites in
the Valley of Salt, they defeated, that means killed 18,000. So
here in this particular setting, David has taken care of business
and he and his armies have killed 40,000 soldiers who would fight
against Israel. Who would fight against the church?
Who would fight against the people of God? Well, the answer is somebody
always will until God gets the final victory in Christ at the
second coming and at the last day. But some in this little
story about David had the nerve to fight against Israel. And
it’s very interesting how in the title it speaks of victory,
but in the Psalm it speaks of defeat. Well, As best we can
tell, at some point in time, when David and his armies were
out, and they were out fighting against enemies, they were on
campaigns that were elsewhere, the Edomites played a little
ruse on Israel. The city of Jerusalem was back
home, it was empty, the king wasn’t there, the army was out
at battle, and something happened, and David had to put it, He had
to extinguish it, but it took some time to get there. It took
some time to launch an attack and to defend and some damage
had already been done. And so you see in the first couple
of verses in the lament of Psalm 60, David speaks in two ways
about the defeat of Israel, at least in some small way. He says
in verse one here, that’s 61. Let me go back. Oh God, you have
rejected us. You’ve broken our defenses. You’ve
been angry. Restore us. You have made the
land to quake. You’ve torn it open. Repair its
breaches for it totters. You’ve made your people see hard
things. You have given us wine to drink that has made us stagger. Apparently in this attack from
the Edomites, if that is indeed the situation. It has been such
a blow to David and to the people of God that he describes it in
two ways using two natural disasters. He describes it first as like
an earthquake. The land has shaken. It has opened up. It’s breached. And he says the land totters. And then he says, it’s like you’ve
put us into a drunken stupor. Now, It’s one thing to drink
yourself and become drunk, but it’s another to be made to drink
a cup of wrath and for that cup of wrath to intoxicate you, not
in a joyful way, a mirthful way, a celebratory way, but to put
you into a funk as it were. And so what has happened here?
The people of God in some way have been judged. God has not
gone out with their armies, an opening, for the enemies was
made and those enemies came in and while David was off at war,
Joab as well, this little group. came in this breach and attacked
the people of God. And so what do we think about
this? What do we think about doing the work of God, building
the kingdom of God, expanding our borders, preaching the gospel?
In the case of David, it was a physical land. In our case,
it’s spiritual. We’re taking spiritual ground.
We’re advancing the kingdom. What do we think about with the
success of the church? Well, one thing that comes to
mind is that God is with us when we are with him. Think about
the people of God when they entered the promised land and they went
to fight against Jericho. It was all great, it was all
good, but what did God say? Don’t take anything. Devote it
all to destruction. But what did one fellow in Israel
do? He took something and what did
he do with it? He buried it under his rug and he hid it from others,
but he did not hide it from God and so the next day they went
out into battle and what did God do? He withheld his success
from the people. And so we have to remember in
a case like this, or the case of Aachen in the Old Testament,
that we have to be obedient. We have to be godly. As laborers
in the gospel ministry, we have to follow after God in order
to seek his blessing and his presence with us. Now, as we
think about being in gospel ministry, a church is a, what do we say? It’s a declarative, it’s a prophetic
ministry. We speak to the world about Jesus.
And so in verse four, it says, you have set up a banner for
those who fear you that they may flee to it from the bow. Some of you maybe have seen old
movies about old kings like King Arthur the knights and the kings
in their old battle, and they raised a banner. And that banner
was a rallying point. Let’s go with the king. Let’s
go fight for the king. And that’s the picture that David
gives us here in this psalm, that there is a banner, and we
gather at that banner to fight for the cause of God and his
kingdom. Here, it would be the army of Israel. But for us, it’s
the banner of the gospel. It’s the banner of the gospel
of Jesus and it goes forward. But there’s something else about
that rallying point. For us, it’s a sign of hope.
It’s a sign of hope that we look to it and we run to it and we
walk under that banner together with other Christians as we march
through the world. But there’s another use for that
word banner. Remember in Exodus chapter 17, when Israel was making
their way through the desert and they were making their way
to the promised land, a little band of people came up to fight
against the Israelites. And in Exodus chapter 17, we
have the story of Moses standing on the mountain, holding up his
hands as if a banner, and he holds up his arms literally in
prayer for the army of God’s people. And as he prays, his
arms get weak. And as they’re fighting the battle
and his arms get weak and go down, the enemy is able to see
some success on their side. They’re fighting the Amalekites.
And so Aaron on one side holds up Moses’ arm and her on the
other holds up Moses’ arm. And they literally raise a banner
above themselves to the sky with the outstretched arms of Moses. And so it’s a reminder to us
not to let down our guard as we are advancing and laboring
in the vineyard of God’s kingdom, not to quit, not to give up,
but to stand under that banner of the gospel ministry and under
the strength of prayer. There’s a lament there. Now,
in verses five through eight, we find an appeal to God. He
says that your beloved ones may be delivered. Give salvation
by your right hand and answer us. God has spoken in his holiness. With exultation I will divide
up Shechem and portion out the veil of Sukkoth. Gilead is mine,
Manasseh is mine, Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter,
Moab my washbasin. Upon Edom I cast my shoe, and
over Philistia I shout in triumph. This is a statement of faith
by David. He’s not yet won a victory. He’s
not yet taken care of the enemies that have snuck in to Israel.
sort of laid a charge against them, but he trusts in God, and
verses five through eight show us that trust. Now, in verse
five, he himself is speaking, but notice who’s speaking starting
in verse six. It says, God has spoken in his
holiness. Some would call this a special
word from God, an oracle, as it were. Maybe it was given to
Nathan, the prophet, And Nathan came and gave it to David. He
came and gave it to Joab and to the army. God has said, he’s
spoken in his holiness. He won’t lie. He cannot speak
an untruth. Don’t worry about these enemies. They’re mine.
I take my shoe off and toss it at one. Another is my wash basin. Another is my scepter. Another
is my helmet. God is using language there of being Lord and master
over these areas. But David appeals to his faith. I’ll rally behind the banner
of God. I can take God at his word because
I know his word is true. And that was true for Abraham.
Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteous.
Moses believed God and they saw success in their faith and journeys. So how does this apply to us
this appeal. Can we trust God in gospel ministry?
Can we trust God in 2018? That’s what year it is now, right?
Can we trust God in 2018 that God will sustain his church?
And we may read the headlines, maybe a little more than we do
our Bible sometimes. And we may look at the headlines and say,
look at the facts, look at the figures, look at the changing
world and the tide and how it has washed in upon us, but we
have to not lose heart and remember that in the gospel ministry,
God’s word is true, God’s promises are great. And we have to be
careful as Christians, just like King David would have to have
been careful not to quit, not to give up, not to say we can’t
or not to say we won’t or to not do the work of the kingdom.
And so there’s an appeal there to God’s character. and his word. Now the last little section here,
what, what do we learn? What do we learn from a story
about David and his ancient battle escapades? Well, we learn a couple
of things. One is victory belongs to the
Lord. How do you, how do you route
22,000 or 18,000? Well, sometimes it’s by the might
of the sword, but with the blessing of God. But how else has God
sent enemies into flight? He sent his angels. Sometimes
he used little armies like the army of Gideon. God does it in
all kinds of different ways, but every single time the victory
is from the Lord. Now there’s an interesting thing
about this story, about this psalm, about its setting. I know.
Every one of you who’s lived through the 80s have seen Raiders
of the Lost Ark, right? And you’ve seen that city of
Petra, the city of Petra, where it’s got a two-mile, pretty narrow
channel, maybe about 10 feet wide. It’s a two-mile channel
with a canyon that goes way up into the sky, and that is the
only way into that territory. That is where David is gonna
have to go to fight this battle. And there’s only one way in,
and it’s through that narrow channel. And how can an army
defend its little kingdom back in the open valley? You go back
in there and it opens up and you see that temple treasury
building that Harrison Ford and all those actors went through
in Raiders of the Lost Ark. But you go back in and it opens
up, but there’s only that one way in. It’s ten feet wide, it’s
two miles long. How is it that an enemy from the perspective
of David’s enemies. How is it that David and his
army can get back in there? Well, they really can’t. That’s
one of the easiest passageways to defend. And so David really,
really, really has to trust the Lord. And you can imagine as
he’s making his way there, as he’s riding, as he’s traveling
with his men, He’s just in prayer. We’re going
to hostile territory. I’m going into a situation where
in all human perspective, it’s not winnable. It’s not a fortress
that you can penetrate, that you can enter. And we have to
remember that as children of the kingdom, that victory belongs
to the Lord and it only comes through great prayer. And so
what does David teach us in victory and defeat? Well, he teaches
us in both that comes from the Lord and it comes through great
prayer. So let’s pray for God’s grace
that these things might be deep within our hearts. Pray with
me. Lord, we thank you for this Psalm and we pray that the lessons
that David learned would be our lessons, that we would trust
in you, that we take you at your word, that we would pray without
ceasing so that your kingdom may advance, that your church
may grow. And we pray that we would trust you and that when
our enemies or our circumstances, or our hardships, or our setbacks,
or the task that we face, they may seem insurmountable, that
we always may trust in the Lord, we may not be discouraged, and
that we’ll keep our eyes on heaven, and that the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Solomon,
the God of the prophets, the God of our Father, the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus would be our God, and that in Him we
can do valiantly, in Him we can shine, in Him we can tread down
our foes. Lord, may your name be made famous
to the ends of the earth as we raise up your banner here in
this place and walk forward with it. And we ask for your grace
and mercy in Christ’s name. Amen.