Psalms 60
1 To the chief Musician. On Shushan. Testimony. Michtam of David; to teach: when he strove with the Syrians of Mesopotamia, and the Syrians of Zobah, and Joab returned, and smote the Edomites in the valley of salt, twelve thousand. O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased: restore us again.
[I prayed], “God, you have rejected us [Israelis]! Because you have been angry [with us], you have [enabled our enemies] to break through our ranks. [Please] enable us to be strong again!
2 Thou hast made the earth to tremble, thou hast rent it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
[When we were defeated, it was as though] [MET] there was a big earthquake in our land that caused the ground to split open. So now, [just as only you can] cause the cracks in the land to disappear, [help our army to be strong again], because [it is as though] our country is (falling apart/being destroyed).
3 Thou hast shewn thy people hard things; thou hast made us to drink the wine of bewilderment.
You have caused [us], your people, to suffer very much; [it is as though] you forced us to drink [strong] wine that caused us to stagger around [after we became drunk].
4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth, (Selah)
But you have raised a battle flag for those who revere you in order that they can gather around it and not [be killed by the enemies’] arrows.
5 That thy beloved ones may be delivered. Save with thy right hand, and answer me.
Answer our [prayers] and enable us by your power [MTY] to defeat [our enemies] in order that we, the people whom you love, will be saved.”
6 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
[Then] God [answered my prayer and] spoke from his temple, saying, “Because I have conquered [your enemies], I will divide up [everything in] Shechem [city], and I will distribute it among my people [the land in] Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine, and Ephraim is the strength of my head; Judah is my law-giver;
The Gilead [region] is mine; the [people of the tribe of] Manasseh are mine; [the tribe of] Ephraim is [like] my helmet [MET]; and [the tribe of] Judah is [like] the (scepter/stick [that I hold which shows that I am the ruler]) [MET];
8 Moab is my wash-pot; upon Edom will I cast my sandal; Philistia, shout aloud because of me.
but the Moab [region] is [like] my washbasin [MET]; I throw my sandal in the Edom [area to show that it belongs to me]; I shout triumphantly because I have defeated [the people of] the Philistia [area].”
9 Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me unto Edom?
[Because I want to defeat the people of] Edom, (who will lead my [army triumphantly] to their [capital] city that has strong walls around it?/I want someone to lead my [army triumphantly] to their [capital] city that has strong walls around it.)” [RHQ]
10 [Wilt] not thou, O God, who didst cast us off? and didst not go forth, O God, with our armies?
So, God, we [desire/hope that] [RHQ] you have not truly abandoned us, and that you will go with us when our armies march out [to fight our enemies].
11 Give us help from trouble; for vain is man's deliverance.
[We need you to] help us when we fight against our enemies, because the help that humans can give us is worthless.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly; and he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
But with you [helping us], we shall win; you will enable us to defeat our enemies.
