“You have rejected us, O God, and broken our defenses. You have been angry with us; now restore us to your favor. You have shaken our land and split it open. Seal the cracks, for the land trembles. You have been very hard on us, making us drink wine that sent us reeling. But you have raised a banner for those who fear you— a rallying point in the face of attack. Interlude Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power. God has promised this by his holiness: “I will divide up Shechem with joy. I will measure out the valley of Succoth. Gilead is mine, and Manasseh, too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings. But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant, and I will wipe my feet on Edom and shout in triumph over Philistia.” Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will bring me victory over Edom? Have you rejected us, O God? Will you no longer march with our armies? Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless. With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.”
Psalms 60:1-12 NLT
Who is winning the battle? Who is losing the fight? Is it man or God? David answers this question clearly with the opening line of this psalm. It is God who does either. Interestingly, he doesn’t wax philosophical about free will or predestination. For him it is a moot point. It is merely a fact that if God wills victory, it will come. If he doesn’t, it will not. This doesn’t leave him defeated emotionally. Instead he calls upon God to remember his people, despite their lack of control. Here we see a bit of David’s theology about human will revealed. That is that humanity operates within God’s will and must move with agency within it. He accountable for this behavior. Because of this accountability, he can be emotional about it and find it difficult. It is appropriate for him to call on the Lord in these times. God even provides rally points as a banner under which man can gain strength for such times. Yet it is foolish for man to try to go around God’s will. He ought to be constantly conforming to it. He ought to be constantly shaping himself by submitting to the nature of the battle of life, and letting these things hone him physically, mentally and emotionally, by offering praise from all types of his experiences.
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