Psalm 60

Read Psalm 60 ESV

Who - David speaking to the LORD, then to the people as a choir song.  

What - This is a national lament.  It is a lament over a national crisis that has come upon Israel by the opposing armies threatening Israel.  It is a cry to the LORD for His help and deliverance.  

When - The title gives the occasion of this psalm when Aram, Syria, Edom and Ammon assembled together to battle David and Israel in 2 Samuel 8:3-14 and 10:1-19.  What we discover in those passages were multiple engagements with a very large fighting force arrayed against Israel.  Not only was David and the army out numbered, but the Syrians had chariots while the Israelites did not.  So it was both a technological and numerical disadvantage for David.  

Where - Where this psalm was written is difficult to determine.  Most likely it was written out in the field where David and his army were encamped in Ammon.  If so, David was in a foreign land, outnumbered and overpowered by his enemies.  

Why - David and the army were in a desperate situation.  They were in a foreign land outnumbered and under-armed.  All the advantages went to David's enemies.  David calls upon the LORD to deliver and save Israel from these threats.  If David and Israel lose this battle, the Davidic Dynasty never happens.  

How - David opens with a declaration of desperation and dismay.  He sees his and Israel's current plight as an abandonment by the LORD.  David describes the situation where the land of Israel has been assaulted and all the people have suffered (1-3).  In verse four David laments to the LORD that He has even given Israel's enemies protection and success.  In verse five David pivots to his request for deliverance by the LORD.  He calls upon Israel's status, as the LORD’S beloved, as justification and the basis for the LORD coming to Israel’s and David's rescue.  

Verses 6-8 are calls upon the LORD’S previous decrees and promises concerning Israel and the Gentiles.  Verse six describes territory the LORD specifically said he would give to Abraham's descendants (Gen 12:6 & 33:18) and were part of the distribution of the lands in Joshua (Joshua 17:7).  Verse seven are the promises to Manasseh, Ephraim and Judah in Jacob's blessing upon them before his death (Gen 48:8-22 & 49:10).  Verse eight seems to be a declaration of what will happen as a continuation of the promises in six and seven, like a prophetic utterance.  All of these are tied to and founded upon the LORD’S promise to Abraham to bless the nations through his descendants.  Therefore, David’s hope for deliverance now is more than military success or expanding his territory (though those are included in his request); it is a request to fulfill the Abrahamic promise to bless the nations.  In this case the blessing of the nations occurs by them becoming subjects of the Davidic kingdom.  

Verses 9-12 are David's declaration of his hope in the LORD’S deliverance and help.  The context here it is important.  All these nations that have assembled to oppose Israel have come to “save” Ammon.  The Ammonites have trusted in salvation by man.  In contrast, now the tables have turned and it is David and Israel that needs a Savior.  David places his hope and trust for salvation in the LORD, not man.  

So What 

1. Our hope and trust of salvation is in the LORD, not man.  When we face personal or corporate crises, our hope and trust is not in a human savior or deliverer, but in the LORD God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.  The LORD will most likely use a human means for our deliverance, but He is the one who equipped, empowered and sent our rescuer.  
2. Our expectation of deliverance is based upon the promises of God.  Like David in this psalm, our request and expectation of deliverance from trouble is because of a promise or promises the LORD has made, a promise which is fulfilled in His delivering us from our current trouble.  For example, “LORD, I am trusting in Your deliverance from this trouble because of Your steadfast love for me in Jesus and the calling You have for me which has not be fulfilled yet.”  
3. This song is an image of the Christian campaign to spread the gospel to the whole world.  As disciples of Christ seeking to spread the gospel of forgiveness of sins and reconciliation to God through faith in Christ, we face crises and obstacles in fulfilling the promise that the nations are blessed through the spiritual descendants of Abraham.  Like David we pray for the LORD to intervene and deliver so that His promise is fulfilled.  
4. See God's providence in the crisis David faced.  David and Israel’s situation was desperate, they really faced the threat of annihilation and the Davidic Dynasty never coming to be.  However, in the LORD’S providence, He provoked the regional powers and the superpower of that day, Syria, to assemble against Israel.  This allowed David to defeat all the world and regional powers in one campaign, so he and Israel become the new world power and established the Davidic Dynasty.  While it looked bad for David and Israel on the day David wrote this psalm, the LORD had them right where He wanted them.  
5. Just as then, now the nations are blessed by becoming subjects of Christ’s Kingdom.  The gentiles of that day becoming subjects of the Davidic kingdom was a partial fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise to bless the nations through Abraham’s descendants.  The nations becoming subjects of Christ’s Kingdom is a complete fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise.  

Source ESV Study Bible Notes