Valiantly in God

1. Introduction — The Historical Setting

Friends, Psalm 60 carries a title. It is long, and easy to skim past — but today, this title is our starting point.

"To the chief Musician upon Shushaneduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aramzobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand." (Psalm 60, title, KJV)

Here is the situation. David had to concentrate on the northern front. And in that very gap, Edom struck from the south. Israel was caught helpless. Joab was dispatched and struck back, killing twelve thousand. The counterattack succeeded. But Edom's stronghold still stood, unbroken.

It is at that very moment that David writes this psalm.

2. Verse 1 — Trusted, and Yet Why

"O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again." (Psalm 60:1, KJV)

The Hebrew זְנַחְתָּנוּ (zenachtanu) means "cast off" — to reject with revulsion, to fling away, the sensation of a severed relationship. And the Hebrew behind "turn thyself to us again" is שׁוּב (shuv) — the very word the prophets use for repentance. That David uses this word in his plea for God to return shows just how desperate his language has become.

This may not be simple discouragement. Scripture does not state it directly, but given that the southern front broke open while the main force was committed to the north, what David felt was likely more than a mere military defeat. The sense of being ambushed in the very place he had entrusted to God — that lies behind the language of verse 1.

Scripture does not record the scale of the damage in numbers. But the language of verses 2 and 3 carries that weight.

"Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it... it shaketh." (Psalm 60:2, KJV)

"Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment." (Psalm 60:3, KJV)

The foundation of the nation had been shaken. This was no mere border skirmish. It was a state of disorientation, almost too confusing to think straight. David is not filing a damage report — he is laying bare his own inner shock.

This is David's real anguish: why did this happen?

But notice — even as he makes this confession, David is speaking to God. The same mouth that says, "Thou hast cast us off" (זְנַחְתָּנוּ, zenachtanu) prays in the same breath, "turn thyself to us again" (שׁוּבָה לָּנוּ, shuvah lanu). Even in the place where God seems to have left, he speaks to God.

This is faith. Not the prayer offered when things feel good — but the prayer offered in the very place where God seems to have departed.

3. Verses 11–12 — Between Futility and Courage

Let us read verses 11 and 12.

"...vain is the help of man." (Psalm 60:11, KJV)

"Through God we shall do valiantly..." (Psalm 60:12, KJV)

What happened between these two sentences?

Verse 11 is a confession of limitation. Joab struck twelve thousand. But the stronghold remains. David stands at the very edge of what man can do. In verse 9 he asks:

"Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?" (Psalm 60:9, KJV)

Many scholars connect this "strong city" with what later became known as Petra. Petra is a city carved into red sandstone cliffs, with only a single narrow gorge for an entrance — a structure where frontal assault is virtually impossible no matter how large an army. Obadiah describes the pride Edom placed in that fortress:

"The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high... Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD." (Obadiah 1:3–4, KJV)

A place no one can enter. A place beyond human strength.

The Hebrew מִי (mi) means "who." This is not a question expecting an answer. In Hebrew, a question that begins with מִי often carries the lament "no one" in the form of a question. The warrior David portrays himself as one waiting to be led. This is the real weight beneath verse 11's "vain is the help of man."

But verse 12 is an entirely different language. "Through God we shall do valiantly" — not passive waiting, but active advance.

How is this reversal possible? It is the same man. And yet something has changed.

4. The Cause — What Made This Reversal Possible

The first word of verse 12:

בֵּאלֹהִים (be'elohim)

It is translated "through God," but the original runs deeper. The preposition בְּ (be) means "in" or "into." David has not merely changed direction — he has changed location.

What does it mean to go into God? Verses 6 through 8 give the answer.

"God hath spoken in his holiness... over Edom will I cast out my shoe..." (Psalm 60:6, 8, KJV)

The Hebrew דִּבֶּר (diber) is a perfect-tense verb — already spoken. This was declared long ago, at the conquest of Canaan, in the oracles of Balaam. In God's eyes, Edom is already conquered territory. That impregnable fortress has already fallen — in God's sight.

David remembered that word. And he placed himself inside it.

Look at verse 10:

"Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off?..." (Psalm 60:10, KJV)

The מִי (mi) of verse 9 and the הֲלֹא (halo) of verse 10 — this is the heart of the psalm. מִי (mi) is a lament that says "no one." הֲלֹא (halo) is a rhetorical question that expects an affirmative answer: "Will You not?" The same despair, from the same mouth — only its direction has changed.

The problem has not vanished. The fortress still stands. And yet the lips that asked "Who?" now say, "There is no one but You." This is the turn of faith.

The shift from despair to courage is not a change of feeling. It is a man taking hold of a word.

One thing must be made clear: faith is not hiding inside God. It is going back out to the battlefield from within God. The one who goes in, goes back out. In God, he walks boldly into reality.

5. Conclusion — The Word Already Spoken

Friends, let us be precise about what David did.

He did not wait for a new revelation. He took the word God had already spoken and brought it into the present moment. He carried a word declared long ago to this very place — standing before an impregnable fortress, in utter helplessness. And he held that word as more real than his present circumstance.

You, too, have a fortress before you. A situation that looks like it will never break. A problem you have prayed over for so long, and it has not moved an inch. Before it, we too ask, "Who will bring me in?" Take that question and stand before God. And bring the word already written into that place.

We do not need a new voice. Bringing the word already spoken into the here and now, and placing ourselves inside that word — this is the actual movement of faith.

There is a postscript to this psalm. David wrote it before the war ended. The fortress still stood; Edom had not yet fallen. But 1 Kings 11 records the outcome: Joab remained in Edom six months, and the army occupied the whole land. The fortress that seemed impregnable finally fell.

Psalm 60 is a confession of faith written before that victory came. It is not a song sung after seeing the result. It is the song of a man who, in a place where the outcome had not yet arrived, held God's word as more real than his circumstances.

In God, we shall do valiantly.

Questions for Meditation

Have you ever made a decision in faith, only to have things go wrong instead? In that place, did you speak to God — or did you drift away from Him?

What is the fortress before you? Can you set before God, right now, the situation that looks unbreakable, the problem you have prayed over for so long without it moving?

Standing before this overwhelming reality, are you searching for something new — or are you holding fast to what God has already spoken? Are you standing in a place that only stares at the fortress, or are you standing inside God's word?

Psalm 60 is a confession of faith written before the victory came. Do you trust God only when the outcome is visible — or can you hold His word even in a place where the result has not yet arrived? Where in your life right now do you need to hold God's word as more real than your circumstances.