1O God, You have cast us off;
You have broken us down;
You have been displeased;
Oh, restore us again!
2You have made the earth tremble;
You have broken it;
Heal its breaches, for it is
shaking.
3You have shown Your people hard things;
You have made us drink the
wine of confusion.
4You have given a banner to those who fear You,
That it may be displayed
because of the truth. Selah
5That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and
hear me.
6God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice;
I will divide Shechem
And measure out the Valley of
Succoth.
7Gilead is Mine,
and Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the helmet for
My head;
Judah is My lawgiver.
8Moab is My washpot;
Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
Philistia, shout in triumph
because of Me.”
9Who will bring me to the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did not go
out with our armies?
11Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is
useless.
12Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
Preamble: This Psalm comes on the heels of Israel suffering military defeat at the hands of Syria and Edom. From this David sees their defeat as God’s displeasure at the nation, for as history has shown when the nation rebels against the Lord He very often will give them to defeat before their enemies to return them to Himself (consider Joshua 7:10-15; Judges 2:1-5; 2 Chr. 14:8-15; Psalm 106:34-38 etc.). Therefore, when necessary, God has withdrawn His hand from helping them. This Psalm then is David seeking to have the favor of our Lord restored to them, because God is not beholding to either a man or a nation, no matter who they are, never forget that!
Vs. 1 “O God, You have cast us off;
You have broken us down;
You have been displeased;
Oh, restore us again!”
In seeking understanding and ultimately God’s restoration, David does not come to the Lord from a place of privilege or entitlement, as if God must always act for Israel’s (or anyone else’s defense). Instead, he comes humbled and broken before the Lord acknowledging that their defeat is because the Lord had cast them off, that through the hands of their enemies God has broken them, because He has been displeased with them. Therefore, David asks that He restore them again.
Vs. 2 “You have made the earth tremble;
You have broken it;
Heal its breaches, for it is
shaking.”
God’s Sovereignty and Power is now declared, for He alone makes the earth tremble, for He alone can break it, and He alone can heal it. This then is symbolic of the nation of Israel as a whole.
Vs.
3
“You have shown Your people hard things;
You have made us drink the
wine of confusion.
Yes, not just then, but throughout their history God has shown Israel hard things, for when they stiffen their necks and harden their hearts towards Him, He has made them drink the wine of confusion, as chastisement yes, but also to return them to Himself, so that they may come to see that their ways are not always His ways!
Vs. 4-5 4You have given a banner to those who fear You,
That it may be displayed
because of the truth. Selah
5That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and hear me.
In
contrast then to being stiff necked and rebellious and reaping that, there is the Lord’s banner which
He unfolds before all who fear Him, who believe Him and seek to obey Him, that it
may be displayed before all because of the truth. For that was God’s purpose in
creating the nation of Israel to bring forth His truth into the world through
them which culminated through His Son Jesus Christ, who has come! Therefore, God’s
banner, Yahweh Nissi; which means the Lord is my banner; now flies over all His
beloved, over all who believe and have received His Son. This David then claims for
himself as a beloved servant of God, who then did not have full access too his
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but was living in great anticipation of Him, therefore as a faithful servant of God; appointed then as ruler of the nation, he asks that He save them with His right hand, that He hear his prayer and help
them.
Vs. 6 God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice;
I will divide Shechem
And measure out the Valley of
Succoth.
God’s response to David’s prayer for help is now heard in verses six to eight. God speaking in His Holiness now declares that He will rejoice, (for He Himself will make Himself victorious over all His enemies), therefore He will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth, meaning He will retake all of Israel’s territory that their enemies have now captured and occupied.
Vs. 7 “Gilead is Mine,
and Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the helmet for
My head;
Judah is My lawgiver.”
Therefore, God now declares that Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine, thus the entire trans Jordan region and the entire region of Manasseh on either side of the Jordan, God will now take back from their enemies, for all of it is His! And in this Ephraim, Manasseh’s older brother shall lead, for he is the helmet for My head say’s God. Judah then according to Jacob’s prophecy (Gen. 49:10) shall then be the seat from where His Government shall rule, for it shall be from there that the Lord Jesus Christ’s Reign shall forever be!
Vs. 8 Moab is My washpot;
Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.”
God now declares His contempt for Moab and Edom, declaring to Moab that it shall be His washpot, that is a place for washing of ones dirtied hands and feet. And next door is Edom, the nation descended from Esau, which has always been a thorn in the side of Israel, therefore over it, God says He will cast His shoe, thus He will have victory over it and keep it in perpetual subjugation as long as it exists. Interestingly though God tells Philistia to shout in triumph because of Me, because of God’s most just judgments being rendered in the earth.
Vs. 9-12 9Who will bring me to the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10Is it not You, O God, who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did not go
out with our armies?
11Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is
useless.
12Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread
down our enemies.
The speaker now changes back to David, who upon understanding God’s intentions on Israel's enemies now desires to see them all fulfilled! Therefore, he says who will bring me to the strong city, who will lead me to Edom? (vs.9) Which is not a question, so much as it is a supplication, for as David acknowledges in verses 10-11 unless our God goes out with them, they can do nothing in of themselves. Therefore, David asks that God would give them help, for the help of man is useless. Which is a profound and true statement, for turning to individuals, or nations, or their armies, or anything else for one’s defense, for Israel’s defense, has been its archils heal throughout its history. Don’t let it then be yours! Therefore, with his eyes focused on our God as his leader, as the nations Commander, Leader and King (Joshua 5:14; Hosea 13:9-11; Psalm 74:12), David closes by saying: “Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.”
Scripture Quotations
New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.
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