Grosey's Messages

Psalm 60

For the choir director: according to "The Lily of Testimony." A Davidic Miktam for teaching. When he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and struck Edom in the Valley of Salt, [killing]12,000.

¹ God, You have rejected us; You have broken out against us; You have been angry. Restore us!
² You have shaken the land and split it open. Heal its fissures, for it shudders.
³ You have made Your people suffer hardship; You have given us a wine to drink that made us stagger.
⁴ You have given a signal flag to those who • fear You, so that they can flee before the archers.Selah
⁵ Save with Your right hand, and answer me, so that those You love may be rescued.
⁶ God has spoken in His sanctuary:"I will triumph! I will divide up Shechem. I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.
⁷ Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine, and Ephraim is My helmet; Judah is My scepter.
⁸ Moab is My washbasin; on Edom I throw My sandal. Over Philistia I shout in triumph."
⁹ Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
¹⁰ Is it not You, God, who have rejected us? God, You do not march out with our armies.
¹¹ Give us aid against the foe, for human help is worthless.
¹² With God we will perform valiantly;He will trample our foes.^[

1 Chron 18

¹ After this, David defeated the Philistines, subdued them, and took Gath and its villages from Philistine control.
² He also defeated the Moabites, and they became David's subjects and brought tribute.
³ David also defeated King Hadadezer of Zobah at Hamath when he went to establish his control at the Euphrates River.
⁴ David captured 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers from him and hamstrung all the horses, and he kept 100 chariots.
⁵ When the Arameans of Damascus came to assist King Hadadezer of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 Aramean men.
⁶ Then he placed garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Arameans became David's subjects and brought tribute. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.
⁷ David took the gold shields carried by Hadadezer's officers and brought them to Jerusalem.
⁸ From Tibhath and Cun, Hadadezer's cities, David also took huge quantities of bronze, from which Solomon made the bronze reservoir, the pillars, and the bronze articles.
⁹ When King Tou of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of King Hadadezer of Zobah,
¹⁰ he sent his son Hadoram to King David to greet him and to congratulate him because David had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Tou and Hadadezer had fought many wars. [Hadoram brought]all kinds of items of gold, silver, and bronze.
¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord, along with the silver and gold he had carried off from all the nations—from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and the Amalekites.
¹² Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
¹³ He put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites were subject to David. The Lord made David victorious wherever he went.
¹⁴ So David reigned over all Israel, administering justice and righteousness for all his people.

Henry Ford once said that failure is the "opportunity to begin again, more intelligently." Failure, especially personal failure, need not be final.

From the Psalms, we know that David was an emotional man. I can see him with his head in his hands, weeping in the solitude of his tent. He had led His armies far to the north in a bold endeavor to expand Israel's border. Then, in the middle of the campaign, a messenger arrived. Edom had invaded. With the greater part of David's army engaged 200 miles away, they had marched into Israel practically uncontested. In verse two, David portrays their invasion as a massive earthquake that threatened to destroy his kingdom.

Look At The Complaint

In the first division of this psalm, we saw David's problem.

 First, there was the FACT of failure. That was seen in verses 1-3.

Disasters are Sobering

Disasters Are Strategic

Look At The Cause of Failure

A Spiritual Disaster.. he had seen it in Saul.. maybe he was recognizing the same faults in himself.

Can believers Drift? Hebrews 2:¹We must therefore pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. ² For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding, and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment,  ³ how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.  ⁴ At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various miracles, and distributions [of gifts]from the Holy Spirit according to His will.

Then a FORMULA for failure: merely presume to live any part of your life independent of God. That was David's undoing. Although his intentions were right, David had apparently failed to consult God before heading north. In overlooking Edom, he had invited disaster. Finally, we considered the FUNCTION of failure: to remind us of the Source of our victory. Victory didn't rest in David, but in God. By confessing his failure and renewing his dependence upon God, David could again raise the banner of victory.

Exodus 17 we find the account of a wonderful victory provided by God for His people. The nation was wandering in the desert wilderness, and God had provided water for them from the Rock. This is a picture of God's provision of salvation for all who will come and drink from the Rock of Ages.Jesus Christ. [4] As they left that place refreshed by God's supply the enemy, Amalek, attacked. God again provided them a miraculous victory over their enemy. After this great victory, Moses built an altar to worship God. He called the name of it Jehovahnissi (which means God is my banner)! The Lord is our banner! We are to look to that banner!

Here is David reinstating the Lord as his banner.

The remainder of the psalm shows the process by which David renewed his dependence upon God and went on to claim victory.

He REMEMBERS the Promises of God

⁶ God has spoken in His sanctuary:"I will triumph! I will divide up Shechem. I will apportion the Valley of Succoth.
⁷ Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine, and Ephraim is My helmet; Judah is My scepter.
⁸ Moab is My washbasin; on Edom I throw My sandal. Over Philistia I shout in triumph."

He RENEWS his dependency (verses 9-10)

David had sent Joab and a division of his army to deal with Edom, but David's confidence wasn't in Joab.

 Joab would do the fighting, but God must give the victory.

 God doesn't want us to run from our failures, but to confront them in His strength.

 We must ever remember that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual. 2 Corinthians 10:5

David expected to march in victory into the capital of Edom, but God would lead the way.

There is something important in verse ten not to be missed. The God who allowed David to fail would lead him back to victory. Sin desires to defeat us. God uses it to discipline us and bring us back to a relationship of dependency upon Him.

He REAFFIRMS his weakness (verse 11)

God doesn't need our help. "Vain is the help of man."

Where did the conflict with Moab originate? When the daughters of Lot tried to insure their future.

Where did the conflict with Edom begin? When Sarah tried to "help" insure God's promise.

For the moment David was through making plans and committed to following God's leadership.

He RECLAIMS the victory (verse 12 – Through God we SHALL do valiantly…)

Scripture records that Joab won a decisive victory at the Valley of Salt. For six months after that, Joab remained in Edom and sought to kill every male in the country. Yet, when David wrote these words, those battles were still undecided. His claim of victory was solely by faith.