Psalm was written when David "strove with Aramnaharaim and with Aram-zobah, when Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the valley of salt twelve thousand." The explanation of this is easily given. Aram is the Hebrew name for Syria, and Naharaim signifies "the two rivers; " and this was the name given to the country lying between the two great rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, or Mesopotamia. Aram-Zobah refers to the Syrians of Zobah, the country of Hadadezer. The account of this war given in the sacred narrative is, that "David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men. And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went." (2 Sam. viii. 13, 14.) The parallel passage reads thus:-"With the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations; and from Edom, and from Moab, and from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek. Moreover Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt eighteen thousand men. And he put garrisons in Edom: and all the Edomites became David's servants. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went." (1 Chron. xviii. 11– 13.) From the whole of these fragments of information, it has been concluded that after the close of the war in which David so effectually humbled the Syrians, and secured such immense spoils, the Syrians of Zobah, having formed an alliance with those of their race beyond the Euphrates, and drawn Edom into the military combination, renewed the war with Israel, making Edom, one of the most defensible countries in WAR WITH COMBINED ENEMIES. 209 the world, their base of operations. This war appears to have taxed David's resources to the utmost, and more than once placed him in great danger. The conflict, indeed, appears to have been very protracted, and its issue for a long time doubtful, although the Hebrew arms were ultimately crowned with complete success. We may learn something of the nature, object, and difficulty of this struggle from the Psalms which were written while it was pending. That which bears the inscription given above may be first cited. PSALM LX. "O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast scattered us; Thou hast been displeased; O turn Thyself to us again. Thou hast made the earth to tremble; Thou hast broken it; Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh. Thou hast showed Thy people hard things: Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment. Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, That it may be displayed because of the truth. That Thy beloved may be delivered; Save with Thy right hand, and hear me. God hath spoken in His holiness; Moab is my washpot; Over Edom will I cast out my shoe; Who will bring me into the strong city? Wilt not Thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? And Thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies ? Give us help from trouble; For vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do valiantly; For He it is that shall tread down our enemies." We have met with no satisfactory exposition of this Psalm. Its opening verses appear to have been written under a deep sense of disappointment, if not after serious disaster and defeat. The powerful combination of foes arrayed against Israel, rendered the manifest interposition of God absolutely essential to their success. But they, either intoxicated with their former success, or relying too confidently on their own prowess, or from some other cause, had provoked the Lord to allow them to struggle in their own strength, and to rely on their own resources. The melancholy consequence of this was the defeat of their exertions, and the consequent lamentation, "O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast scattered us." "Thou hast showed Thy people hard things: Thou hast made us to drink of the wine of astonishment." After having thus deprecated the Divine displeasure, David falls back on the covenant mercies of Jehovah. "Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth." Notwithstanding those adverse circumstances, those severe DAVID'S RELIANCE ON COVENANT MERCY. 211 losses and discouragements which he had sustained, he stlll adhered to the positive promise which God had given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and made it the ground of his confidence and of his hope. As when a good soldier, being pressed with powerful enemies, and almost overwhelmed, begins to think of retiring from the field, but, on seeing the standard of his sovereign floating in the breeze, rushes forward to join the band of its defenders; so David felt, that if his struggle was simply a trial of military strength between himself and the confederated powers against whom he warred, he must retire from the contest, and relinquish his grand object. But he remembered that God had declared His purpose, that the Hebrews should rule supreme over all these lands: and this he regarded as the standard under which he fought, the banner which he was bound to support, and in the maintenance of which he was called to exert all his energies. On this ground he prays for Divine succour: "That Thy beloved may be delivered; save with Thy right hand, and hear me." David then proceeds to refer to this promise as far as it had been realized, and by anticipation to apprehend its entire accomplishment. "God hath spoken in His holiness I will rejoice," in the declaration of His truth, and in the possession of His gifts. "I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth;" the first two places at which Jacob stopped when he returned to Canaan from Padan-Aram: these David speaks of as completely in his power; and he proceeds in other language to repeat the same fact: "Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Gilead was an important Hebrew territory to the east of the Jordan, while Manasseh had half its tribe located on each side of the Jordan. Ephraim also, the most numerous of the : tribes of Israel, was his strength; and Judah, with all its promises of ruling power, centred in him. All this was given by Jehovah. He had raised up David, and had placed the territory and people of Israel in his hand; and he held this as a pledge of the full and final accomplishment of all that God had promised. And so he regarded the unfulfilled part of the promise as giving him the same right that actual possession did in respect of other parts; and so he asserts his right to rule over Moab, and to place it in circumstances of subjection and servitude; and the same with respect to Edom, whom he regards as Divinely doomed to serve the house of Israel. On the ground of this covenant grant, David urges his appeal for Divine aid : "Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? Wilt not Thou, O God?" The Psalm closes with a note of confidence : : For He it is that shall tread down our enemies." The war progressed; and, sometime afterward, David composed another Psalm, which has precisely the same conclusion as that which has just been considered; but it opens in a much more joyous and thankful strain, although the joy and gratitude are evidently not the results of victory, but the fruits of faith: PSALM CVIII. "O God, my heart is fixed; |