rescue (literal or figurative · noun, common feminine singular construct
man
אָדָם'a.dam
H120
ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
Psalms 108:12 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
Psalms 124:1-3 If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say;
Psalms 130:8 And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
Isaiah 30:7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
Psalms 62:1 Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
Isaiah 31:3 Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpe…
Psalms 25:22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 60:6–end
David is here rejoicing in hope and praying in hope; such are the triumphs of the saints, not so much upon the account of what they have in possession as of what they have in prospect (Psa 60:6): "God has spoken in his holiness (that is, he has given me his word of promise, has sworn by his holiness, and he will not lie unto David, Psa 89:35), therefore I will rejoice, and please myself with the hopes of the performance of the promise, which was intended for more than a pleasing promise," Note, God's word of promise, being a firm foundation of hope, is a full fountain of joy to all believers.
I. David here rejoices; and it is in prospect of two things: -
1. The perfecting of this revolution…
Hence he closes with a prayer for success, and an assurance of a hearing.
Next: Psalms Chapter 61
John Gill on Psalms 60:11
Give us help from trouble,.... To have trouble is the common lot of all men, but especially of the people of God. They have some troubles which others have not, arising from indwelling sin, Satan's temptations, and the hidings of God's face; and as for outward troubles, they have generally the greatest share of them, which are certain to them by the appointment of God, and the legacy of Christ; though they are needful and for their good, and lie in their way to heaven. But perhaps here is particularly meant the time of trouble, which will be a little before the destruction of antichrist; which will be great, and none like it; will be the time of Jacob's trouble, though he shall be saved out…
Psalm 60:9-12
9. Who will bring me into the fortified city? who will lead me into Edom? 10. Wilt not thou, O God! who hadst cast us off, and thou, O God! who didst not go out with our armies? 11. Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. [398] 12. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city? Anticipating an objection which might be alleged, he proceeds to state that he looked to God for the accomplishment of what remained to be done in the capture of the fortified places of his enemies, and the consolidation of his victories. It might be said, that as a considerable number continued to resist h…
The Church Fathers
Thou therefore, O God, that will not march forth in our powers, "Give to us aid from tribulation, and vain is the safety of man." Go now they that salt have not, and desire safety temporal for their friends, which is empty oldness. "Give to us aid:" from thence whence You were supposed to forsake, thence succour.
Therefore, let the church of God be saluted and let it be taught to say what we were just saying: "Give us help from trouble; for the help of people is worthless." So, perhaps, the meaning of the psalm does not at all permit us to allege weakness, if indeed affliction is a patron of help and not an occasion of infirmity. To those, then, who were rejected through sin but then received again through the kindness of God, it is appropriate to say, "O God, you have cast us off and have destroyed us; you have been angry and have had mercy on us."
For the Spirit of the Lord did not say, he who does the truth, that his works be clearly seen as done in the Holy Spirit but "as done in God," which we say are done not in the Father alone, or in the Son alone or in the Holy Spirit alone. But we confess that the truth is done by a human being in the holy Trinity itself, which is one God, in whom the blessed David indicates is the power of what is done by the faithful, saying, "With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes." For he is the one God concerning whom the blessed apostle says, "For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be glory forever."
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Aram-naharaim — Aram of the two rivers, is Mesopotamia (as it is rendered in Gen. 24:10), the country enclosed between the Tigris on the east and the Euphrates on the west (Ps. 60, title); called also the “field of…
Aram-zobah — (Ps. 60, title), probably the region between the Euphrates and the Orontes.
Salt, Valley of — A place where it is said David smote the Syrians (2 Sam. 8:13). This valley (the’ Arabah) is between Judah and Edom on the south of the Dead Sea. Hence some interpreters would insert the words, “and…
Shushan-Eduth — Lily of the testimony, the title of Ps. 60. (See SHOSHANNIM.)
Zobah — =Aram-Zobah, (Ps. 60, title), a Syrian province or kingdom to the south of Coele-Syria, and extending from the eastern slopes of Lebanon north and east toward the Euphrates. Saul and David had war…
Confidence · FALSE — FALSE
Man · The help of, vain — The help of, vain
Vanity · The help of man is — The help of man is
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The third strophe reverts to prayer; but the prayer now breathes more freely with a self-conscious courage for the strife. The fortified city (עיר מצור) is not Rabbath Ammon; but, as becomes evident from the parallel member of the verse and Kg2 14:7, the Idumaean chief city of Sela' (סלע) or Petra (vid., Knobel on Gen 36:42, cf. Psa 31:22; Ch2 8:5; Ch2 11:5 together with Psa 14:5). The wish: who will conduct me = Oh that one would conduct me (Ges. 136, 1)! expresses a martial desire, joyful at the prospect of victory; concerning מי נחני, quis perduxerit me, vid., on Psa 11:3. What follows is not now to be rendered: Not Thou (who but Thou), Elohim, who...(Hitzig) - for in order to have been u…
Destroying a defeated invader’s capital (the fortified city) would help to ensure that they would not attack again. The capital of Edom was Bozrah, located to the southeast of Israel. Only God could grant victory.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 60:11
Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
Give us help from trouble. Help us to overcome the disasters of civil strife and foreign invasion; save us from further incursions from without and division within. Do thou, O Lord, work this deliverance, for vain is the help of man. We have painfully learned the utter impotence of armies, kings, and nations without thine help. Our banners trailed in the mire have proven our weakness without thee, but yonder standard borne aloft before us shall witness to our valour now that thou hast come to our rescue. How sweetly will this verse suit the tried people of God as a frequent ejaculation. We know how true it is.
