Bible Glide

Psalms 60

Psalms 60 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Psalm 60 is a prayer for a battered people who need God to restore them and lead them to victory. It moves from honest lament over defeat to confident trust in God's power to save. The psalm holds together grief, dependence, and hope.

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What happens in Psalms 60?

The psalm begins with a cry that God has turned against his people and left them shaken, wounded, and in need of repair. It asks for rescue, healing, and help against the enemy. Midway through, God speaks as king from his sanctuary, claiming the land and naming Israel's tribes and surrounding nations under his rule. The closing verses return to urgent prayer, rejecting human help as enough and confessing that true strength and triumph come only from God.

Psalm 60 is a Davidic prayer tied to military conflict and national loss. It comes after a season of struggle and sits among psalms that bring fear, defeat, and trust before God. The chapter combines a lament with a declaration of God's sovereignty over Israel and its neighbors.

Themes to notice

  • LamentThe psalm gives words for pain, confusion, and the feeling of being abandoned after defeat.
  • Divine sovereigntyGod speaks as ruler over the land and the nations, showing that history is still under his control.
  • Dependence on GodThe final appeal insists that human strength is not enough and that victory depends on God's help.

Questions for Psalms 60

  • What does Psalm 60 teach about praying honestly when life or circumstances feel like defeat?
  • How does God's speech in the middle of the psalm shape the way you read the rest of the chapter?
  • Why does the psalm say that help from people is not enough, and what does that mean in practice?

Read the full text of Psalms 60 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Psalms 60

Victory with God

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.” A Miktam of David for instruction. When he fought Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck down 12,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

1You have rejected us, O God;

You have broken us;

You have been angry;

restore us!

2You have shaken the land

and torn it open.

Heal its fractures,

for it is quaking.

3You have shown Your people hardship;

we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.

4You have raised a banner for those who fear You,

that they may flee the bow.

Selah

5Respond and save us with Your right hand,

that Your beloved may be delivered.

6God has spoken from His sanctuary:

“I will triumph!

I will parcel out Shechem

and apportion the Valley of Succoth.

7Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;

Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.

8Moab is My washbasin;

upon Edom I toss My sandal;

over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

9Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?

10Have You not rejected us, O God?

Will You no longer march out, O God, with our armies?

11Give us aid against the enemy,

for the help of man is worthless.

12With God we will perform with valor,

and He will trample our enemies.

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