Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
Psalm 60 begins under the weight of divine displeasure. David does not first blame enemies, circumstances, strategy, or chance. He speaks to God: “O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased” (v.1). The land had trembled, and David prays for God to heal the breaches He had made (v.2). Verse 3 continues that confession. The people had not passed through ordinary difficulty only. God had shown them hard things and made them drink the wine of astonishment. Yet this verse is not despair. The next verse introduces mercy: God had given a banner to them that fear Him, that it might be displayed because of the truth (v.4).
“Thou hast shewed.” David sees God’s hand in the trial. This is faith under chastening. He does not treat hard providences as random. He does not speak as though the enemies ruled the hour. The LORD had shown these things to His people. Scripture teaches that God chastens His own, not as a careless destroyer, but as a Father dealing with sons (Hebrews 12:5-11). He may bring His people low to humble them, prove them, expose misplaced confidence, and teach them to trust Him again (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). Psalm 60 begins with this holy realism: the same God who delivers can also correct.
“Thy people.” Here is both pain and comfort. They are chastened, but they are still His people. God had cast them off in displeasure, yet David still says “thy people” (vv.1,3). The relation is not denied by the rod. Israel had often known this pattern: sin, rebuke, distress, crying to God, and deliverance by mercy (Judges 2:11-18). David’s language holds both truths together. God’s people may suffer hard things under His hand, but they are not thereby proved to be cast away forever. “For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance” (Psalm 94:14).
“Hard things.” These are severe, painful, difficult, and humbling providences. In the context, they include defeat, scattering, national shaking, and the sense of God’s displeasure (vv.1-2). Hard things are not always punishments for one particular sin, but Psalm 60 clearly treats these troubles as chastening from God. The LORD can make His people feel the bitterness of their weakness. He can remove ease, expose vain confidence, break pride, and make the land tremble beneath them. Moses warned Israel that if they forsook the LORD, they would find that His service under judgment was hard, bitter, and humbling (Deuteronomy 28:47-48). David had learned that the favor of God is not a luxury; it is life.
The phrase is also honest. God’s people should not pretend hard things are easy. Scripture does not require false cheerfulness under the rod. David calls them hard. Paul was pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that he despaired even of life, but he learned not to trust in himself, but in God which raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). The psalmist’s confession is similar. The trial is hard, and God is in it. Faith does not soften either truth.
“Thou hast made us.” David again lays the matter before God. The people did not simply stumble into astonishment. God made them drink it. This does not make God the author of sin in the wicked instruments involved, but it does confess His holy rule over the distress. When Joseph’s brethren meant evil against him, God meant it unto good (Genesis 50:20). When the king of Assyria proudly served his own ambition, God still called him the rod of His anger against a hypocritical nation (Isaiah 10:5-7). God can use enemies, wars, losses, and reversals without becoming unrighteous. His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment (Deuteronomy 32:4).
“To drink.” The figure is strong. God makes His people drink what they would never choose for themselves. The cup is put to the lips, and the bitter providence must be swallowed. Scripture uses this language for judgment and staggering affliction. Jerusalem was told she had drunken at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury and the dregs of the cup of trembling (Isaiah 51:17). Jeremiah was given the wine cup of God’s fury, and the nations were made to drink and be moved and mad because of the sword God would send among them (Jeremiah 25:15-16). In Psalm 60:3, the cup is not ordinary sorrow. It is a God-appointed draught that leaves the people reeling.
“The wine of astonishment.” Wine can stagger the body; this wine staggered the people. Astonishment is bewilderment, trembling, confusion, and stunned distress. They were not only defeated outwardly; they were shaken inwardly. A people who expected strength felt weakness. A nation accustomed to God’s help felt His displeasure. Men can endure much when the mind is clear and the heart is steady, but the wine of astonishment makes the soul reel. The LORD had warned Israel that disobedience would bring trembling of heart, failing of eyes, sorrow of mind, fear day and night, and uncertainty of life (Deuteronomy 28:65-67). David’s words fit such dreadful inward shaking.
Scripture gives examples of such astonishment under God’s hand. Israel trembled at Sinai when the mountain burned with fire, the trumpet sounded long, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Exodus 19:16-18). Belshazzar was shaken in the night of Babylon’s fall, so that his countenance changed, his thoughts troubled him, the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another (Daniel 5:5-6,30). Saul of Tarsus fell to the earth when the risen Christ confronted him from heaven (Acts 9:3-6). The keepers at Christ’s tomb shook and became as dead men when the angel of the Lord descended and rolled back the stone (Matthew 28:2-4). In each case, God made men feel their weakness before His power. The wine of astonishment is that staggering condition when the LORD so deals with men that confidence collapses, strength fails, and the soul is forced to reckon with Him.
This is one of the mercies of chastening: it awakens. Ease can make men dull. Success can make them proud. Victory can make them careless. But hard things and the wine of astonishment force the soul to ask why God is displeased. The correct response is not complaint against God, but return to God. David does that at once. He prays, “O turn thyself to us again” (v.1). He asks God to heal the breaches (v.2). He recognizes the hard things (v.3). Then he sees the banner given to them that fear the LORD (v.4). Chastening has done good work when it drives the saints back to prayer, fear, truth, and dependence.
The verse also warns against confidence in man. By the end of the psalm David will say, “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man” (v.11). The hard things of verse 3 helped teach that lesson. Human help may look strong until God shakes it. Armies, alliances, plans, courage, and past victories cannot save when the LORD is displeased. But through God His people shall do valiantly, for He it is that shall tread down their enemies (v.12). The wine of astonishment prepares the way for renewed dependence.
There is comfort here for chastened believers and churches. If God shows hard things, He is still God. If He makes His people drink the wine of astonishment, He has not lost dominion over the cup. If He breaks, He can heal. If He scatters, He can gather. If He displeases, He can again lift up the light of His countenance. The same psalm that says, “Thou hast shewed thy people hard things,” soon says, “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee” (vv.3-4). God’s chastening is severe, but it is not empty. It is ordered by wisdom.
Jesus Christ drank the bitterest cup for His people. In Gethsemane He prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” yet He submitted, “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). On the cross He bore the wrath due to His people, that they might be redeemed by His blood (Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7). David’s people drank the wine of astonishment under chastening; Christ drank the cup of divine judgment as the sinless Surety for His elect. Therefore, chastened saints do not drink as condemned enemies, but as corrected children under the Father’s hand (Hebrews 12:6).
Psalm 60:3 teaches the saints how to speak under hard providences. Say the truth. God has shown hard things. God has made us drink the wine of astonishment. Do not deny the pain. Do not excuse sin. Do not trust man. Do not despair. Look for the banner given to them that fear Him. Pray for God to heal what He has broken. Wait for Him to turn again. The God who shows hard things can restore courage, display truth, and make His people do valiantly through Him (vv.4,12).
Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
Psalm 60 begins under the weight of divine displeasure. David does not first blame enemies, circumstances, strategy, or chance. He speaks to God: “O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased” (v.1). The land had trembled, and David prays for God to heal the breaches He had made (v.2). Verse 3 continues that confession. The people had not passed through ordinary difficulty only. God had shown them hard things and made them drink the wine of astonishment. Yet this verse is not despair. The next verse introduces mercy: God had given a banner to them that fear Him, that it might be displayed because of the truth (v.4).
“Thou hast shewed.” David sees God’s hand in the trial. This is faith under chastening. He does not treat hard providences as random. He does not speak as though the enemies ruled the hour. The LORD had shown these things to His people. Scripture teaches that God chastens His own, not as a careless destroyer, but as a Father dealing with sons (Hebrews 12:5-11). He may bring His people low to humble them, prove them, expose misplaced confidence, and teach them to trust Him again (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). Psalm 60 begins with this holy realism: the same God who delivers can also correct.
“Thy people.” Here is both pain and comfort. They are chastened, but they are still His people. God had cast them off in displeasure, yet David still says “thy people” (vv.1,3). The relation is not denied by the rod. Israel had often known this pattern: sin, rebuke, distress, crying to God, and deliverance by mercy (Judges 2:11-18). David’s language holds both truths together. God’s people may suffer hard things under His hand, but they are not thereby proved to be cast away forever. “For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance” (Psalm 94:14).
“Hard things.” These are severe, painful, difficult, and humbling providences. In the context, they include defeat, scattering, national shaking, and the sense of God’s displeasure (vv.1-2). Hard things are not always punishments for one particular sin, but Psalm 60 clearly treats these troubles as chastening from God. The LORD can make His people feel the bitterness of their weakness. He can remove ease, expose vain confidence, break pride, and make the land tremble beneath them. Moses warned Israel that if they forsook the LORD, they would find that His service under judgment was hard, bitter, and humbling (Deuteronomy 28:47-48). David had learned that the favor of God is not a luxury; it is life.
The phrase is also honest. God’s people should not pretend hard things are easy. Scripture does not require false cheerfulness under the rod. David calls them hard. Paul was pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that he despaired even of life, but he learned not to trust in himself, but in God which raises the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). The psalmist’s confession is similar. The trial is hard, and God is in it. Faith does not soften either truth.
“Thou hast made us.” David again lays the matter before God. The people did not simply stumble into astonishment. God made them drink it. This does not make God the author of sin in the wicked instruments involved, but it does confess His holy rule over the distress. When Joseph’s brethren meant evil against him, God meant it unto good (Genesis 50:20). When the king of Assyria proudly served his own ambition, God still called him the rod of His anger against a hypocritical nation (Isaiah 10:5-7). God can use enemies, wars, losses, and reversals without becoming unrighteous. His work is perfect, for all His ways are judgment (Deuteronomy 32:4).
“To drink.” The figure is strong. God makes His people drink what they would never choose for themselves. The cup is put to the lips, and the bitter providence must be swallowed. Scripture uses this language for judgment and staggering affliction. Jerusalem was told she had drunken at the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury and the dregs of the cup of trembling (Isaiah 51:17). Jeremiah was given the wine cup of God’s fury, and the nations were made to drink and be moved and mad because of the sword God would send among them (Jeremiah 25:15-16). In Psalm 60:3, the cup is not ordinary sorrow. It is a God-appointed draught that leaves the people reeling.
“The wine of astonishment.” Wine can stagger the body; this wine staggered the people. Astonishment is bewilderment, trembling, confusion, and stunned distress. They were not only defeated outwardly; they were shaken inwardly. A people who expected strength felt weakness. A nation accustomed to God’s help felt His displeasure. Men can endure much when the mind is clear and the heart is steady, but the wine of astonishment makes the soul reel. The LORD had warned Israel that disobedience would bring trembling of heart, failing of eyes, sorrow of mind, fear day and night, and uncertainty of life (Deuteronomy 28:65-67). David’s words fit such dreadful inward shaking.
Scripture gives examples of such astonishment under God’s hand. Israel trembled at Sinai when the mountain burned with fire, the trumpet sounded long, and the whole mount quaked greatly (Exodus 19:16-18). Belshazzar was shaken in the night of Babylon’s fall, so that his countenance changed, his thoughts troubled him, the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another (Daniel 5:5-6,30). Saul of Tarsus fell to the earth when the risen Christ confronted him from heaven (Acts 9:3-6). The keepers at Christ’s tomb shook and became as dead men when the angel of the Lord descended and rolled back the stone (Matthew 28:2-4). In each case, God made men feel their weakness before His power. The wine of astonishment is that staggering condition when the LORD so deals with men that confidence collapses, strength fails, and the soul is forced to reckon with Him.
This is one of the mercies of chastening: it awakens. Ease can make men dull. Success can make them proud. Victory can make them careless. But hard things and the wine of astonishment force the soul to ask why God is displeased. The correct response is not complaint against God, but return to God. David does that at once. He prays, “O turn thyself to us again” (v.1). He asks God to heal the breaches (v.2). He recognizes the hard things (v.3). Then he sees the banner given to them that fear the LORD (v.4). Chastening has done good work when it drives the saints back to prayer, fear, truth, and dependence.
The verse also warns against confidence in man. By the end of the psalm David will say, “Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man” (v.11). The hard things of verse 3 helped teach that lesson. Human help may look strong until God shakes it. Armies, alliances, plans, courage, and past victories cannot save when the LORD is displeased. But through God His people shall do valiantly, for He it is that shall tread down their enemies (v.12). The wine of astonishment prepares the way for renewed dependence.
There is comfort here for chastened believers and churches. If God shows hard things, He is still God. If He makes His people drink the wine of astonishment, He has not lost dominion over the cup. If He breaks, He can heal. If He scatters, He can gather. If He displeases, He can again lift up the light of His countenance. The same psalm that says, “Thou hast shewed thy people hard things,” soon says, “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee” (vv.3-4). God’s chastening is severe, but it is not empty. It is ordered by wisdom.
Jesus Christ drank the bitterest cup for His people. In Gethsemane He prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” yet He submitted, “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). On the cross He bore the wrath due to His people, that they might be redeemed by His blood (Galatians 3:13; Ephesians 1:7). David’s people drank the wine of astonishment under chastening; Christ drank the cup of divine judgment as the sinless Surety for His elect. Therefore, chastened saints do not drink as condemned enemies, but as corrected children under the Father’s hand (Hebrews 12:6).
Psalm 60:3 teaches the saints how to speak under hard providences. Say the truth. God has shown hard things. God has made us drink the wine of astonishment. Do not deny the pain. Do not excuse sin. Do not trust man. Do not despair. Look for the banner given to them that fear Him. Pray for God to heal what He has broken. Wait for Him to turn again. The God who shows hard things can restore courage, display truth, and make His people do valiantly through Him (vv.4,12).