Victory can be costly. The union army won at Gettysburg, but still lost 23,000 men. The pathway to glory can be painful. This is the message we learn from Psalm 60 especially when we compare its body with the superscription. The title links the poem to Joab's conquest of Edom (2 Sam. 8:13). Summing up a slew of military triumphs Samuel says, "And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went" (14; cf. 8:6). The whole of 2 Samuel 8 describes David's success. So how can the upbeat title of Psalm 60 introduce a poem that laments Israel's heartbreaking losses in battle? Because even resounding victories have a cost.
Whatever the precise historical circumstances of the poem, it is a prayer from people on whom the Lord's hand has been heavy. Maybe it is best to imagine the psalm as a prayer from Israel's army in the middle of the battle when the fighting was at its worst and success looked unlikely. We need prayers like this. We are in the heat of conflict. And though we know that the battle belongs to the Lord individual skirmishes can be disappointing.
In this way Psalm 60 also gives voice to the suffering of Christ. His time in the flesh was hard. But through suffering he wins us the victory.
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