For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 60

1 You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
    you have been angry – now restore us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open;
    mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
3 You have shown your people desperate times;
    you have given us wine that makes us stagger.
4 But for those who fear you, you have raised a banner
    to be unfurled against the bow.

5 Save us and help us with your right hand,
    that those you love may be delivered.
6 God has spoken from his sanctuary:
    ‘In triumph I will parcel out Shechem
    and measure off the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
    Ephraim is my helmet,
    Judah is my sceptre.
8 Moab is my washbasin,
    on Edom I toss my sandal;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.’

9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not you, God, you who have now rejected us
    and no longer go out with our armies?
11 Give us aid against the enemy,
    for human help is worthless.
12 With God we shall gain the victory,
    and he will trample down our enemies.

A. Find Out:

1. What does David say God has done? v.1-3
2. Yet for those who fear Him what has He done? v.4
3. Then what does he pray? v.5
4. What was God’s answer? v.6-8
5. What does David pray? v.11
6. What conclusion does he reach? v.9,10,12

B. Think:

1. What do the notes at the beginning indicate about this Psalm?
2. Yet what has been David’s feeling about Israel ?
3. How did he come to a place of assurance?

C. Comment:

According to the notes at the beginning of the Psalm, David wrote this Psalm during the fighting phase of his rule. In 2 Sam 8 we find a long list of victories given to David but we need to remember two things: 1) He needed to fight because his enemies were prevailing and had been encroaching into Israel, 2) Although we only hear of his victories, in the early days at least there must have been some defeats, for that is the tone of his psalm.

First of all there is a SENSE OF REJECTION (v.1-3) of Israel by God. Why else would the enemy prevail? Yet within that there is also a small SENSE OF HOPE (v.4), so we then see David PRAY (v.5) and ask for God’s deliverance.

To this comes a PROPHETIC RESPONSE (v.6-8) from God that He has decreed that He will take back all the land that belongs to Israel which the enemy had taken. This enables David to come to a FAITH DECLARATION (v.9-12) where he declares that it will be God who will rise up again against the enemy for them. This order seen here in this Psalm is simple and vital. We must hold onto it.

D. Application:

1. Where there is a sense of the absence of God, declare the truth to maintain hope, and pray!
2. As you pray, look for a sense of response from God and hold onto that response in faith and declare it out loud!