Psalm 60.1-3— “O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again. Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
King David, and the nation of Israel have suffered an unusual defeat. David realizes that ultimately the problem is in their relationship with God. Maybe we need to stop right there and recognize the overwhelming fact of that statement… A person of faith, one who wants to be a disciple of Jesus, ought to first and foremost recognize when things are going sideways, it always starts with their relationship with God. The first place we should inspect is our own walk with God.
Back to King David… notice the problems that they faced: 1) In verse one God has cast us off, scattered them, and is now displeased. 2) In verse two the earth is trembling, broken and shaking. Although this describes an earthquake, it could just as easily describe the political events that we see unfolding throughout the world today. 3) In verse three God’s people are seeing things that they do not want to even think about. So they are astonished at the happenings in their world. Drunk with fear, completely inebriated in anxiety, and totally halted.
These three verses easily describe the world in which we live today. Not only do we face “shakings” in every corner of the world, the tendency of the human heart is to look at all problems with some element of fear. And that fear causes discouragement and inaction.
But, what did King David do? In verse one: David cries out to God and asks him to turn back to the nation again. There is an answer then… cry out to God to return to us. In verse 4 we read— “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.” David then acknowledges that they need to set up their banner in order to display the truth. His name and word must be lifted up! Being embarrassed of Him will result in more lament. He ends the verse with a “Selah” (pause and meditate on this). Maybe we ought to stop and meditate on that also. In a very real sense, when we bring His word down, we are poisoning our own souls. In fact the next verse starts with “that”, meaning the lifting of His word is the key to getting the request made in verse five— “That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.” David begged God for help. Then David marched out in battle with a clear banner for all the world to see, that he was standing for God. Do we? Do you?
David turned back to God and ask for God’s forgiveness and help. Likewise, if we would turn back to God in our churches and determine to get our hearts right with him, we would have His help. We live in a very dark day. But instead of sitting here shocked and surprised at the happenings in our world, it is time for us to raise ourselves up, lift the banner of the word of God, the Gospel within, and get busy reaching our world.
Verses 6-8— “God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver; Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.” I fear that many churches have chosen to retreat instead of get up and go out with the Gospel. It’s a dark time, but that’s when the light of the Gospel can shine most bright.
The need for disciples has never been greater. The need for disciples who would introspect, draw closer to God, and raise Him and His word high, has never been greater. We need disciples who will dare to reach out, train believers to be multiplying disciples. We need folks who are willing to lay their lives down for the Gospel, who are serious about doing the work of ministry. In short, we need to be praying that God would raise up an army of committed disciples to advance the Gospel out of us—into all the world.
David was put in a position of desperation. He knew that without God there was no hope at all! He was splashed in the face with a heavy dose of reality. Please heed this without excuse, before the splash comes your way.
One last thing… You’re not alone! David ended with verses 9-12— “Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies? Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.”
The days are short, the coming of Christ surely is near. Who will surrender? Who will go? You have nothing to fear, just as David said— “Through God we shall do valiantly…”