Psalms 60:9

PLEADING WITH GOD TO HELP

"Who will bring me into the strong city?

Who hath led me unto Edom?

Hast not thou, O God, cast us off?.

And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.

Give us help against the adversary;

For vain is the help of man."

"Who will bring me into the strong city" (Psalms 60:9)? The `strong city' here is Petra, the almost impregnable capital of Edom. No city of antiquity was ever any better fortified and protected than was Petra. The city occupied a canyon bounded by solid stone walls on both sides, into which residences, offices, and temples had been constructed by carving them out of the solid stone.

"Hast not thou, O God, cast us off?.

And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts."

(Psalms 60:10, ASV)

We do not like to find fault with the ASV, but in this verse, we are constrained to believe that the King James Version is superior.

"Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off?

and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?"

(Psalms 60:10, KJV).

The Douay Version of the Old Testament also corresponds with the KJV here; and to us this rendition is far more appropriate than the American Standard Version or the RSV, both of which, it appears to this writer, provide negative elements in the prayer. Psalms 60:10, as it stands either in RSV or American Standard Version is nothing but a complaint.

Through the use of the past tenses (as in KJV), the meaning then becomes, "God, we know that you will take us into the strong city, despite the fact that you allowed us to be defeated."

"Give us help against the adversary" (Psalms 60:11). The psalmist again appeals mightily to God for help against the enemy.

"For vain is the help of man" (Psalms 60:11). "Seldom has the help that man can provide in emergencies been more aptly expressed than it is in this verse - `For vain is the help of man.'"[11]