Psalm 60:9

Psalm 60:9

Who will bring me to the fortified city?

David asks two questions here and they both suggest that he is fearful of the future and the threat posed by the surrounding forces. He is not confident in the men around him, even the army commanders, and he is certainly not confident in his own powers of leadership. The powers mentioned in the previous verse are both well-equipped and resolute, if the king is to triumph, he needs more than just human resources. Fortified cities lie beyond Israel’s present borders and the mighty army of the Edomites waits in expectation of easy pickings when David’s forces begin to move.

It is interesting to note that Israel today is still surrounded by the same enemies. While Jordan does not threaten the Jews by amassing an army against them, there have been bitter battles in recent history and the truce with “Moab and Edom” remains an uneasy one. Philistia in David’s time is now Gaza, from where 4,000 rockets were fired earlier in 2021. The Palestinians and the Jews are not comfortable neighbours. Egypt has infiltrated from the south and for decades, Lebanon and Syria have been the sources of daily incursions and rocket fire from the north. I think we can say that the threats are just the same as they were, and they have not diminished in any way.

Obviously, we are not Israel, we are citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Yeshua never asked us to go and fight with tanks and rockets and guns. He claimed that His kingdom was not of this world but boy, did He have a battle on His hands. Wherever He went the enemy was lying in wait and plotting to cause trouble and hostility. Yeshua fought back by driving out demons and confronting unbelief and darkness. His victory at the cross silenced the foe and the avenger but until He destroys His enemies completely, we are still in a battle. Hemmed in at times and fearful of our own vulnerability we may ask, “Who will bring me to the fortified city?” The next verses give us the answer. 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more

Psalm 71:17

Psalm 71:17 Since my youth ..... You have taught me I am reminded here of Paul’s words to Timothy.  “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”  2 Timothy 3:14-15.  “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, lives in you also.”  2 Timothy 1:5. Timothy and David may well have enjoyed a similar upbringing. We know that Timothy’s mother was a Jewish Christian although his father was an unbelieving Greek. (Acts 16:1) It appears that the boy had a Christian grandmother also and, as Jewish boys began to study the Hebrew Scriptures at the age of five, Timothy would certainly have been taught by his mother and grandmother from infancy. Wouldn’t it be great if all our children were able to say,
Read more