Bible Strands
Psalms 60:3
You have shown Your people hardship; we are staggered from the wine You made us drink.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist speaks to God on behalf of the nation, immediately following a period where the land was violently shaken and torn open. The moment captures the collective "we" enduring the immediate aftermath of divine discipline.
The words — The Hebrew קָשָׁה (ka.shah) translates literally to "a hard thing" or severe affliction, while תַרְעֵלָה (tar.'e.lah) means "staggering" or reeling. These terms describe the physical disorientation imposed by the wine God forced the people to consume.
The thread — The motif of God making His people drink a cup of staggering appears in Isaiah 51:17 and Isaiah 51:22, where the latter records God's promise to remove that cup. The pattern of enduring severe trouble before experiencing restoration aligns with Psalms 71:20.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that national collapse is a direct result of God's sovereign action rather than accidental catastrophe. It demands a sober accounting of divine authority over both judgment and the subsequent healing of fractured communities.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
Cross-references
- Psalms 71:20 Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.
- Isaiah 51:22 Thus says your Lord, the LORD, even your God, who defends His people: “See, I have removed from your hand the cup of staggering. From that goblet, the cup of My fury, you will never drink again.
- Jeremiah 25:15 This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, said to me: “Take from My hand this cup of the wine of wrath, and make all the nations to whom I send you drink from it.
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- Ezekiel 23:31 Because you have followed the path of your sister, I will put her cup into your hand.’
- Nehemiah 9:32 So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.
- Lamentations 4:21 So rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz. Yet the cup will pass to you as well; you will get drunk and expose yourself.
- Daniel 9:12 You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.
- Habakkuk 2:16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory. You too must drink and expose your uncircumcision! The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will cover your glory.