Ps. 60.9-12 (the psalm opens up)

Who can take me / to the siege-proof city?
Who can lead me / to Edom?
Is it not you / O God / though you spurned us--?
Will you not / go forth / O God / with our forces? 

This is a perplexing verse. And, the interpretation proposed here will go against my use of this verse in previous reflections. To wit—I see this verse as the king asking who can help him overcome the city of Edom, the “siege-proof” city, rather than this being a statement of him finding a city of siege-proof protection. The reason I now view it thus is, in part, because of the immediately preceding and derogatory reference to Edom. In verse 8, Edom became the place over which God ‘threw his shoe’; Moab had just be described as his ‘wash-pot’. Because of this negative portrayal of Edom, it would seem odd that it would now, all of the sudden, become a place of siege-proof refuge. In addition, the following verses are not concerned with defense, with finding a place of protection, but with attack: “will you not go forth with our forces…with God we could gain success, he could tread down our foes.” In light of the promise that Edom would become a portion of land owned by God, but disgraced, it seems that the king is looking to overcome Edom. Perhaps what we see here is the fact that the opening lines refer to an attack by Edom upon Jerusalem at which time a ‘banner was raised’ and yet the fortifications were “breached” and the land “ripped open.” Understood in this manner, the central promise would make more sense: it would serve as the pivot between the defensive posture of verses 1-4 and the offensive posture of verses 9-12. In other words, the promise operates like that which impels the king and his people to move forward, into their attack on Edom. It is a foundation upon which their “going forth” will be initiated. (Incidentally, this would seem to challenge the interpretation offered yesterday, although not necessarily contradict it.) Furthermore, by referring to Edom as “siege-proof”, the psalmist ties in a theme that will be developed more in this second portion (the ‘offensive portion’): that of God’s help being the only power that can aid them. As to Edom, “human aid is futile”, its walls are “siege-proof”—however, “with God, we could gain success; he could tread down our foes.” (vs. 12). Furthermore, this interpretation makes a great deal of sense of verse 10, as it ties back to verse 1: “Is it not you, O God, thou you spurned us—will you not go forth O God with our forces?” The psalmist, by referring to “spurning”, looks back to verse 1 where it was evident that it referred to the people’s suffering a great defeat within the walls of their own city. Now, we understand that attack as coming from Edom. Hence, as the king turns to an offensive attack on Edom (with God’s ‘holy promise’ as his guide: vs. 6-8), he will now “go forth” but, hopefully, “with God”. The shame Edom inflicted on them, will be turned into their becoming a place on which God will “throw his shoe” (vs. 8). Although I cannot be sure, I would imagine, too, that the ‘distress’ of verse 11 is a reversing of the “suffering hard times” of verse 3.