Victory and Rejection???

Psalm 60

1 To the choirmaster: according to Shushan Eduth. A Miktam of David; for instruction; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. O God, you have rejected us, broken our defenses; you have been angry; oh, restore us.

2 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.

3 You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.

4 You have set up a banner for those who fear you, that they may flee to it from the bow. Selah

5That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer us!

6 God has spoken in his holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Vale of Succoth.

7 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.

8 Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

9 Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?

10 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go forth, O God, with our armies.

11 Oh, grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!

12 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes

Psalm 60 Thoughts:

This psalm has mystified me thoroughly. David opens up about this psalm as words of instruction. We are to learn from David what not to do? Don't win? David start out by mentioning striving with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah.

This seems a bit disjointed unless you examine the back story. (See 2 Samuel Chapter 10) David considered the King of Ammon, Nahash his friend. David wanted to console his friend's son Hanun, so he sent a group of men as comforters to honor his deceased friend. Unfortunately the princes of Ammon advised the new King that David's intentions were not pure and that they were secretly spying in order to overthrow the kingdom. David's intentions were pure, but perhaps all this could have been avoided if he has just visited Hanun himself and displayed the love and respect he felt for his friend. My thought in this, if David had inquired of GOD on the matter would things turned out differently? dunno.

In 2 Samuel chapter 10 verse 6, After Ammon had humiliated David's comforters, they decided to take action. -   When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men. 7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. 8 And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

David or rather Joab and Abishai were victorious over the Syrians and Ammon and even though they chased the Syrians down and put them to the sword, it is noted when Ammon saw they would be defeated they fled to their city and Joab did not purse them. It says Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. 

2 Samuel 10:14  — And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

When Hadadezer king of Zobah fled he went and got reinforcements from the Syrians of Damascus. that's when we see David entered the battle. (see 2 Samuel 10:15-17)

2 Samuel 8:5 —  And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians.

2 Samuel 8:3 — David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates.

I'm unsure of the timeline, but somewhere in before or amongst these battles Joab and  his brother Abishai also had their conflict with Edom mentioned in Psalm 60 verse 1 - ... when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt. Also see:

1 Chronicles 18:12 — And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

Why? dunno. the verse before this talks about David taking his spoils of war. - These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek. 

Maybe Edom tried to take back by force what once was theirs? Again dunno.

1 Kings 11:15 —  For when David was in Edom, and Joab the commander of the army went up to bury the slain, he struck down every male in Edom (for Joab and all Israel remained there six months, until he had cut off every male in Edom).

2 Samuel 8:13 — And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

1 Kings 11:1 — Then he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David's servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.

I find it interesting that because of Joab's zeal (or anger, rage?) he remained in Edom six months and killed every male. It was from this action that Hadad who would later cause problems for king Solomon because of what David had done to his family. - But Hadad fled to Egypt, together with certain Edomites of his father's servants, Hadad still being a little child.

Even the Midrash talks about Joab's over the top retaliation. Keep in mind this is not canonical and should be viewed with a skeptical eye.  - Joab's decision to kill only the males of Edom rather than the entire population is attributed to a corruption in his teacher's instruction. A Midrash on Bava Batra 21a-b suggests that Joab's childhood teacher taught him with an incorrect vocalization (nekudot), leading him to misinterpret the divine command.  The intended instruction was likely to "not remember the memory (zeicher) of Amalek," but Joab heard it as "remember the male (zechar)," which he applied to Edom (often identified with Amalek in rabbinic literature).

 The Gemara cites a proof for the opinion of Rav Dimi of Neharde’a: This is as it is written: “For Joab and all Israel remained there six months until he had cut off every male in Edom” (I Kings 11:16). When Joab came before King David after this episode, David said to him: What is the reason that you did that? Why did you kill only the males? Joab said to him: As it is written: You shall blot out the males [zakhar] of Amalek, i.e., the male descendants of Amalek, who descend from Edom. David said to him: But we read the verse as stating: “You shall blot out the remembrance [zekher] of Amalek” (Deuteronomy 25:19). Joab said to him: I was taught to read it as zakhar. Joab went and asked his childhood Bible teacher. Joab said to him: How did you read this word to us? The teacher said to him: I read it as zekher. The teacher had read it the proper way, but he failed to notice that his student had learned it incorrectly. Joab took a sword to kill him. The teacher said to him: Why do you want to kill me? Joab said to him: As it is written: “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with a slack hand” (Jeremiah 48:10), and you taught me incorrectly. The teacher said to him: Leave that man to remain as cursed. This is a sufficient punishment; there is no need to kill me. Joab said to him: It is also written: “And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood” (Jeremiah 48:10). There are those who say that Joab killed him, and there are those who say that he did not kill him.

This textual nuance explains why Joab spared the women and children, as detailed in 1 Kings 11:16, which states he cut off every male in Edom.  The Midrash implies that Joab's error in pronunciation or exegesis was the direct cause of this specific, yet still severe, military action, distinguishing his campaign from a total genocide. 

Source: Bava Batra 21a-b (Talmud)

Mechanism: Incorrect vocalization of the Hebrew word zeicher (memory) to zechar (male). 

Outcome: Joab killed all males in Edom but spared the females and children, allowing a remnant like Hadad to survive.

I personally don't think Joab needed an excuse, his dealings with Abner showed that he was a violent and vengeful man. 

I think more importantly Joab actions led to David putting up garrisons in Edom and subjugating the Edomites. This is the first problem David enters into. the next comes with Joab going off to war in the spring of the year in 2 Samuel 11:1 —  In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

David through Joab would eventually take Ammon and their territory and subjugate them just like the Edomites. The questions that I have in this decision to attack the Ammonites: 

Who planned this campaign? 

Did David consult GOD about this war?

Did Joab push for this war because of his need for revenge?

When you examine GOD's commands to Israel concerning concerning Edom and Ammon,  when they were entering the promised land: 

Deuteronomy 23:7 —   “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.

Deuteronomy 2:4 —  and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 

 "not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on"

Deuteronomy 2:18 — ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.’

"I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession.."

King David is not recorded as asking GOD if he had at that time changed his mind regarding either of these two people groups.

Did you recognized the part of scripture that was mentioned previously about when Joab went off to war against Ammon and David remained at Jerusalem? This is when the David and Bathsheba incident happened.

If this correct and David took lands and peoples who were not his to take and then go on to take the wife of a loyal soldier under his command. The culmination of this would be, besides all the lives taken in war he took the life of Uriah with Joab's help who disguised it as another soldier killed in battle.

What looked like victory at first became a hard lesson and instructions for future generations. Check the word of GOD in regards to revenge and vengeance  because it's pretty clear in Romans 12:19-21 — Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. If your unsure consult the word of GOD, both the written word and ask the living word of GOD, pray and ask Jesus.

My prayer, Heavenly Father let us be mindful of what is recorded for us in Psalm 60 verses eleven and twelve. that vain is our own salvation we need the salvation that only comes from Jesus. You alone will help us against our foes and you are the one who will do the treading. Thank you LORD in Jesus name amen.