O God, you have cast us off, you have scattered us, you have been displeased; O turn yourself to us again.
O God, you have cast us off, you have scattered us, you have been displeased; O turn yourself to us again.
O God thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down; Thou hast been angry; oh restore us again.
<To the chief music-maker; put to Shushan-eduth. Michtam. Of David. For teaching. When he was fighting against Aram-naharaim and Aramzobah, when Joab came back, and put twelve thousand of the Edomites to death, in the Valley of Salt.> God, you have put us away from you, you have sent us in all directions, you have been angry; O be turned to us again.
To the chief Musician upon Shushan-eduth, Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand. O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
God, you have rejected us. You have broken us down. You have been angry. Restore us, again.
For the Chief Musician; set to Shushan Eduth: Michtam of David, to teach: when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand. O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down; thou hast been angry; O restore us again.
O God, thou hast cast us off - Instead of being our general in the battle, thou hast left us to ourselves; and then there was only the arm of flesh against the arm of flesh, numbers and physical power were left to decide the contest. We have been scattered, our ranks have been broken before the enemy, and thou hast caused the whole land to tremble at our bad success; the people are become divided and seditious. "Thou hast made the land to tremble, even the breaches of it, for it shaketh, it is all in commotion," Psalm 60:2.
O God, thou hast cast us off - The word used here means properly to be foul, rancid, offensive; and then, to treat anything as if it were foul or rancid; to repel, to spurn, to cast away. See the notes at Psalm 43:2. It is strong language, meaning that God had seemed to treat them as if they were loathsome or offensive to him. The allusion, according to the view taken in the introduction to the psalm, is to some defeat or disaster which had occurred after the conquests in the East, or during the absence of the armies of David in the East 2 Samuel 8; 1 Chronicles 18; probably to the fact that the Edomites had taken occasion to invade the southern part of Palestine, and that the forces employed to expel them had been unsuccessful.
Thou hast scattered us - Margin, broken. So the Hebrew. The word is applied to the forces of war which are broken and scattered by defeat, 2 Samuel 5:20.
Thou hast been displeased - The word used here means "to breathe"; to breathe hard; and then, to be angry. See the notes at Psalm 2:12. God had treated them as if he was displeased or angry. He had suffered them to be defeated.
O turn thyself to us again - Return to our armies, and give us success. This might be rendered, "Thou wilt turn to us;" that is, thou wilt favor us - expressing a confident belief that God would do this, as in Psalm 60:12. It is more in accordance, however, with the usual structure of the Psalms to regard this as a prayer. Many of the psalms begin with a prayer, and end with the expression of a confident assurance that the prayer has been, or would certainly be heard.