Commentary - Psalm 60:9-12

Bird's-eye view

This final section of Psalm 60 is a turn. The first part of the psalm is a lament over a military defeat, a recognition that God had, for a time, rejected His people and allowed them to be broken. But here, in these closing verses, the psalmist pivots from lament to a faith-filled, rhetorical questioning. He knows where his help must come from. The questions are not born of despair, but are rather a way of reasoning his way back to God. It is a profound display of how a believer wrestles in prayer. He acknowledges the hard providence of God's rejection, but then appeals to that same God as the only possible source of victory. The central theme is the utter worthlessness of human strength and the absolute necessity of God's intervention for any success in the battles of life. This is not just about ancient warfare; it is a paradigm for all Christian conflict.

The movement is from a question of human instrumentality, "Who will bring me?", to a confession of divine agency, "it is He who will tread down our adversaries." This is the gospel logic that must govern our lives. We are defeated and cast off in ourselves, but in God, we are led into the strong city. The psalm concludes on a note of robust confidence, not in the army of Israel, but in the God of Israel. This is where all our battles are won or lost, not on the field, but in our hearts, in the turning from self-reliance to God-reliance.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 60 is a "Miktam of David," a term of uncertain meaning, but likely indicating a psalm of particular value or instruction. The historical superscription places it in the context of David's wars with Aram-naharaim, Aram-zobah, and his subsequent victory over Edom in the Valley of Salt. This psalm is therefore rooted in a real, historical military crisis. It is not an abstract poem about trouble, but a prayer forged in the heat of national peril and defeat. The psalm begins with a raw complaint to God for having been cast off (vv. 1-3), moves to a remembrance of God's promises (vv. 4-8), and then culminates in this section (vv. 9-12), which is a desperate but believing cry for God to act on those promises. It shares themes with Psalm 108, which actually incorporates verses 5-12 of this psalm. This tells us that this prayer was not a one-off cry, but a settled conviction to be repeated and relied upon in future conflicts.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

Verse 9: Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

The psalmist begins with a pair of rhetorical questions. He is looking at the military objective. Edom was a notoriously difficult enemy, their capital, Petra, being a city carved out of rock, a literal "fortified city." The question "Who will bring me?" is not a survey of his generals. It is not a question directed to his allies. It is a question directed to Heaven, and the implied answer is "no one but God." He is stating the impossibility of the task from a human standpoint. This is the first step in true faith. We must see the towering walls of the fortified city, we must recognize the strength of the enemy, and we must confess our own inadequacy. Until we are brought to the end of our own resources, we will not truly look for God's. This is true whether the "fortified city" is a literal enemy, a besetting sin, or an impossible circumstance. The question is designed to eliminate all other options, leaving only God.

Verse 10: Have You Yourself, O God, not rejected us? And will You, O God, not go forth with our armies?

Here is the painful honesty of a covenant relationship. The psalmist does not pretend that everything is fine. He brings his complaint directly to God. "Have You Yourself...not rejected us?" He traces their recent defeats not to bad luck, or a failure of intelligence, or the superior strength of the enemy, but to the hand of God. This is a profound theological insight. God is sovereign over defeats as well as victories. He had rejected them, He had scattered them. The second question flows from this reality: if God has rejected them, then He will not "go forth with our armies." An army without God is just a collection of men with sharp pieces of metal. They are a parade, not a conquering force. This is not despair, but rather the necessary groundwork for a true appeal. He is saying, in effect, "God, we know why we are losing. It is because You are not with us. And because You are the only one who can give us the victory, we are appealing to You to reverse Your stance toward us." It is an argument based on God's own character and necessity.

Verse 11: Oh give us help against the adversary, For salvation by man is worthless.

This verse is the heart of the passage, the pivot point. Having established the impossibility of the task and the reason for their failure, the psalmist now makes his direct plea: "Oh give us help." The word for help here is not a mild request for a little assistance. It is a desperate cry for deliverance. And it is grounded in a bedrock theological principle: "For salvation by man is worthless." The Hebrew word for "worthless" is strong; it means vanity, emptiness, a thing of nought. Whether it is the "salvation" offered by political alliances, military technology, psychological self-help, or our own strenuous efforts, it all comes to nothing. This is a truth that God is constantly teaching His people, often through the painful experience of defeat. We try to build our own towers of Babel, and they always end in confusion. We trust in horses and chariots, and they end up in the sea. The confession that human help is worthless is the prerequisite for receiving divine help. It is the empty hands of faith being lifted up to a God who alone can save.

Verse 12: Through God we shall do valiantly, And it is He who will tread down our adversaries.

The psalm ends not with a question, but with a declaration of faith. Notice the structure. "Through God we shall do valiantly." It does not say, "God will do valiantly and we will watch." No, God's power enables and ennobles our action. We are the ones who will act, but the valor, the strength, the courage, comes "through God." This is the biblical synthesis of divine sovereignty and human responsibility. We fight, but He gives the victory. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in us. Then, the final clause clarifies where the ultimate power lies. "And it is He who will tread down our adversaries." Our valiant deeds are the fruit of His power, but the decisive, crushing victory belongs to Him alone. He is the one who tramples the enemy underfoot. The image is one of total and complete subjugation. The Christian life is a fight, and we are called to be valiant soldiers. But our confidence is never in our own sword or our own strength. Our confidence is in our King, who has already won the decisive victory on the cross, and who, by His Spirit, empowers us to fight until He brings all His enemies, and ours, under His feet.

Application

This psalm is a manual for Christian warfare. We all face fortified cities and hostile regions of Edom in our lives. It may be a rebellious child, a collapsing business, a deep-seated sin, or a hostile culture. The first lesson is to stop surveying our own troops and resources. The question is not "What can I do?" but "Who will lead me?" We must begin with an honest assessment of our own weakness and the enemy's strength, which drives us to God.

Second, we must be honest with God in our prayers. If we feel rejected or abandoned by God because of our sin or His chastening hand, we must say so. He is not fragile. He invites us to wrestle with Him. Acknowledging that our defeats are because He has withdrawn His blessing is the first step to asking Him to return and go forth with our armies once more.

Third, we must come to a settled conviction in our bones that "salvation by man is worthless." We are constantly tempted to trust in the arm of the flesh, a new political strategy, a new self-improvement program, a new financial plan. These things are not necessarily evil, but they are worthless as a source of ultimate salvation. Our help must come from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. We must learn to despise the empty promises of the world and our own flesh.

Finally, our confidence must be in God alone. It is "through God" that we do anything of value. Our courage, our perseverance, our small victories, they are all gifts of His grace. And the final victory is His. He will tread down our adversaries. This frees us from the burden of having to be strong enough. We are not strong enough. But He is. Our job is to trust Him, obey Him, and fight valiantly in the strength that He supplies, knowing that the outcome is secure in His powerful hands.