Psalms 60:2
in Psalms 60You have shaken the land and torn it open. Heal its fractures, for it is quaking.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou hast made the land to tremble; thou hast rent it: Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
KJV
Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
⋯
This verse in Psalms 60
Commentary
9 notes on this verseTherefore, "O God, you have cast us off." You have cast off those who in proportion to their sins removed themselves a distance from you. You have destroyed the accumulations of our wickedness, doing good to us because of our weakness. You were angry, since "we were by nature children of wrath," having no hope and being without God in the world. You had mercy on us when "you sent forth your only-begotten Son as a propitiation for our sins," in order that in his blood we might find redemption.
This site's exposition
You have rejected us, O God
on Psalms 60:1-3
Every act reported in these three verses is God's own. He rejected, broke, was angry, shook the land, tore it open and made the people drink. The prayer for restoring goes to the same hand that did the breaking.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Thou hast moved the earth, and hast troubled it" (ver. 2). How hath the earth been troubled? In the conscience of sinners. Whither go we? Whither flee we, when this sword hath been brandished, "Repent, for near hath drawn the kingdom of Heaven"? "Heal the crushings thereof, for moved it hath been." Unworthy it is to be healed, if moved it hath not been: but thou speakest, preachest, threatenest us with God, of coming judgment holdest not thy peace, of the commandment of God thou warnest, from these things thou abstainest not; and he that heareth, if he feareth not, if he is not moved, is not worthy to be healed. Another heareth, is moved, is stung, smiteth the breast, sheddeth tears. ...
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), not only the breaches made upon us by our enemies, but the breaches made among ourselves by our unhappy divisions." Those are breaches which the folly and corruption of man makes, and which nothing but the wisdom and grace of God can make up and repair, by pouring out a spirit of love and peace, by which only a shaken shattered kingdom is set to rights and saved from ruin.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it,.... As is frequently done by an earthquake; which, whatever natural causes there may be of it, is always to be ascribed to God. The ancient Heathens (m) were of opinion that all earthquakes were of God.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Thou hast made the earth to tremble. Things were as unsettled as though the solid earth had been made to quake; nothing was stable; the priests had been murdered by Saul, the worst men had been put in office, the military power had been broken by the Philistines, and the civil authority had grown despicable through insurrections and intestine contests. Thou hast broken it. As the earth cracks, and opens itself in rifts during violent earthquakes, so was the kingdom rent with strife and calamity. Heal the breaches thereof.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
44:9). scattered--broken our strength (compare 2Sa 5:20). Oh, turn thyself--or, "restore to us" (prosperity). The figures of physical, denote great civil, commotions (Ps 46:2, 3).
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Thou hast made the earth to tremble. Things were as unsettled as though the solid earth had been made to quake; nothing was stable; the priests had been murdered by Saul, the worst men had been put in office, the military power had been broken by the Philistines, and the civil authority had grown despicable through insurrections and intestine contests. Thou hast broken it. As the earth cracks, and opens itself in rifts during violent earthquakes, so was the kingdom rent with strife and calamity. Heal the breaches thereof. As a house in time of earthquake is shaken, and the walls begin to crack, and gape with threatening fissures, so was it with the kingdom. For it shaketh. It tottered to a fall; if not soon propped up and repaired it would come down in complete ruin. So far gone was Israel, that only God's interposition could preserve it from utter destruction. How often have we seen churches in this condition, and how suitable is the prayer before us, in which the extremity of the need is used as an argument for help. The like may be said of our personal religion, it is sometimes so tried, that like a house shaken by earthquake it is ready to come down with a crash, and none but the Lord himself can repair its breaches, and save us from utter destruction.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thou hast made the earth to tremble - This refers, doubtless, to some calamity that might be compared with an earthquake - some disaster, discomfiture, or defeat that had shaken their hopes, as a city is shaken by an earthquake. Such comparisons are common in the Scriptures. Thou hast broken it - As if it were broken up, or convulsed. Heal the breaches thereof - That is, Appear for thy people, and repair their disasters, as if after an earthquake thou shouldst appear and fill up the rents which it had made. The prayer is that he would place things in their former condition of prosperity and success. For it shaketh - It is convulsed or agitated. That is, there is still commotion. Things are unsettled and disturbed. The prayer is, that there might be stability or continued success.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
on shushan eduth, a michtam of David, to teach (Addendum: Michtam is an expression of (Song: 11), “as finest gold (כתם פז),” a coveted thing. Our Sages, however, expounded this as referring to David, who behaved as a humble (מך) and innocent man, even when he occupied the throne.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הִרְעַ֣שְׁתָּה | hirashtah | you have made quake | H7493 → | 30 times |
| אֶ֣רֶץ | ʾeretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| פְּצַמְתָּ֑הּ | petzamtah | you have split open it | H6480 → | |
| רְפָ֖ה | refah | repair ! | H7495 → | 67 times |
| שְׁבָרֶ֣יהָ | shevareiha | fractures its | H7667 → | |
| כִי־ | khi- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| מָֽטָה׃ | matah | it is shaking | H4131 → | 38 times |
הִרְעַ֣שְׁתָּהyou have made quake
hirashtahH7493 →30 times
אֶ֣רֶץ[the] earth
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
פְּצַמְתָּ֑הּyou have split open it
petzamtahH6480 →
רְפָ֖הrepair !
refahH7495 →67 times
שְׁבָרֶ֣יהָfractures its
shevareihaH7667 →
כִי־for
khi-H3588 →4482 times
מָֽטָה׃it is shaking
matahH4131 →38 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Chronicles 7:14and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and…
it leads to
- Lamentations 3:40–41
Let us examine and test our ways, and turn back to the LORD.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 55:6–7
Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.
- James 4:9–10
Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
- Proverbs 28:13
He who conceals his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
- 2 Chronicles 6:37–39
and when they come to their senses in the land to which they were taken, and they repent and plead with You in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and done…
- Lamentations 3:40–41
Through
Hosea 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:39
See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 5:18
For He wounds, but He also binds; He strikes, but His hands also heal.
- 1 Samuel 2:6
The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
- Deuteronomy 32:39
About Psalms
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 60; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 20:3; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.