the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
truth
קֹ֣שֶׁטKo.shet
H7189
equity (as evenly weighed) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
Selah
סֶֽלָהSe.lah
H5542
suspension (of music) · interjection
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 20:5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions.
Exodus 17:15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi:
Isaiah 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from th…
Isaiah 5:26 And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with…
Song of Solomon 2:4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Isaiah 13:2 Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.
Isaiah 49:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy so…
Isaiah 59:14-15 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 60:1-5
The title gives us an account, 1. Of the general design of the psalm. It is Michtam - David's jewel, and it is to teach. The Levites must teach it to the people, and by it teach them both to trust in God and to triumph in him; we must, in it, teach ourselves and one another. In a day of public rejoicing we have need to be taught to direct our joy to God and to terminate it in him, to give none of that praise to the instruments of our deliverance which is due to him only, and to encourage our hopes with our joys. 2. Of the particular occasion of it. It was at a time, (1.) When he was at war with the Syrians, and still had a conflict with them, both those of Mesopotamia and those of Zobah. (2.…
Yet to God's banner they will rally, and pray that, led and sustained by His power (right hand, Psa 17:7; Psa 20:6), they may be safe.
John Gill on Psalms 60:4
Thou hast given a banner,.... The word is, by Jarchi, taken to signify "temptation" or "trial" (o); and he interprets it of many troubles which they had, that they might be tried by them, whether they would stand in the fear of God, and so considers these words as a continuation of the account of the distresses of the people of Israel; but they are rather to be considered as declaring a peculiar blessing and favour bestowed upon some among them, who are here described, when the rest were involved in the greatest calamities, signified by a "banner" or "ensign" given them; by which is meant, not so much David literally, and the victory he obtained over the Syrians and Edomites, of which the ba…
Psalm 60:4-8
4. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed before the truth. Selah. 5. That thy beloved may be delivered, [384] save with thy right hand, and hear me. 6. God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice: I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. 7. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is mine strength of my head; Judah is my lawgiver. [385] 8. Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast my shoe: Palestina, triumph over me.
4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee. Some interpreters would change the past tense, and read the words as if they formed a continuation of the prayers which precede -- O that thou wo…
The Church Fathers
Wherefore this? "You have given to men fearing You, a sign that they should flee from the face of the bow" [Psalm 60:4]. Through tribulations temporal, he says, You have signified to Your own to flee from the wrath of fire everlasting. For, says the Apostle Peter, "Time it is that Judgment begin with the House of God." [1 Peter 4:17] And exhorting the Martyrs to endurance, when the world should rage, when slaughters should be made at the hands of persecutors, when far and wide blood of believers should be spilled, when in chains, in prisons, in tortures, many hard things Christians should suffer, in these hard things, I say, lest they should faint, Peter says to them, "Time it is that Judgment begin with the House of God," etc. What therefore is to be in the Judgment? The bow is bended, still in menacing posture it is, not yet in aiming. And see what there is in the bow: is there not an arrow to be shot forward? The string however is stretched back in a contrary direction to that in which it is going to be shot; and the more the stretching thereof has gone backward, with the greater swiftness it starts forward. What is it that I have said? The more the Judgment is deferred, with so much the greater swiftness it is to come. Therefore even for temporal tribulations to God let us render thanks, because He has given to His people a sign, "that they should flee from the face of the bow:" in order that His faithful ones having been exercised in tribulations temporal, may be worthy to avoid the condemnation of fire everlasting, which is to find out all them that do not believe these things.
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.
Banner — (1.) The flag or banner of the larger kind, serving for three tribes marching together. These standards, of which there were four, were worked with embroidery and beautifully ornamented (Num. 1:52;…
Ensign — (1.) Heb. ‘oth, a military standard, especially of a single tribe (Num. 2:2). Each separate tribe had its own “sign” or “ensign.” (2.) Heb. nes, a lofty signal, as a column or high pole (Num. 21:8,…
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…
Warfare Of Saints · To be carried on: Under the Lord’s banner — To be carried on: Under the Lord’s banner
Zeal, Religious · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
This first strophe contains complaint and prayer; and establishes the prayer by the greatness of the need and Israel's relationship to God. The sense in which פּרצתּנוּ is intended becomes clear from Sa2 5:20, where David uses this word of the defeat of the Philistines, and explains it figuratively. The word signifies to break through what has hitherto been a compact mass, to burst, blast, scatter, disperse. The prayer is first of all timidly uttered in תּשׁובב לנוּ in the form of a wish; then in רפה (Psa 60:4) and הושׁיעה (Psa 60:7) it waxes more and more eloquent. שׁובב ל here signifies to grant restoration (like הניח ל, to give rest; Psa 23:3; Isa 58:12). The word also signifies to make a…
God raised a banner over his people to serve as a rallying point and as a source of pride and confidence. • The fear of God that leads to wisdom (111:10) is not weakness; it provides the perspective and strength required to do what is right.
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 60:4
Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
Here the strain takes a turn. The Lord has called back to himself his servants, and commissioned them for his service, presenting them with a standard to be used in his wars. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee. Their afflictions had led them to exhibit holy fear, and then being fitted for the Lord's favour, he gave them an ensign, which would be both a rallying point for their hosts, a proof that he had sent them to fight, and a guarantee of victory. The bravest men are usually intrusted with the banner, and it is certain that those who fear God must have less fear of man than…
