You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse uses the imagery of a staggering drunkard to show that God has intentionally given His people a "wine" of bewilderment. It's not just about suffering, but about a profound disorientation, like being so utterly dazed by circumstances that you can barely stand.
You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The psalmist begins by lamenting the severe judgment God has brought upon His people, likening it to experiencing harsh realities and being forced to drink a bewildering, disorienting beverage. This follows a plea for God's return and acknowledges the land itself trembling under His displeasure, setting a tone of deep national distress and divine discipline before moving toward prayer for restoration and victory.
Have you ever felt like God has shown you 'hard things'? This verse isn't about God being cruel, but about a deeper reality of His relationship with us.
The phrase 'hard things' isn't just about difficult circumstances; it's about experiencing the severity of God's discipline or judgment. When the Psalmist says 'You have made your people see hard things,' it points to a time when God allowed His people to face consequences for their actions. This isn't a sign of abandonment, but a fatherly correction meant to bring us back.
Think of it like a doctor administering a bitter medicine. It tastes awful, but it's for your health. Similarly, these 'hard things' are divine interventions, revealing the true cost of straying from God's path and ultimately aiming for restoration.
What does it mean to drink 'wine that made us stagger'? It's a powerful metaphor for profound disorientation and spiritual confusion.
The imagery of drinking 'wine of astonishment' or 'wine of staggering' is a vivid metaphor for being overwhelmed by God's judgments. It's not about literal intoxication, but about a spiritual and emotional state of being completely disoriented, unable to stand firm.
This 'wine' represents the consequences of sin and rebellion – a state where one is bewildered, fearful, and spiritually stupefied. The ancient commentators noted this was like a potent, perhaps even drugged, wine that robbed people of their senses. It was a divine cup of judgment, forcing individuals to confront the devastating effects of being separated from God's presence and guidance.
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This psalm speaks to a moment of profound national crisis, where God's people experienced severe defeat and disorientation. The 'wine of astonishment' vividly portrays a state of utter bewilderment and incapacitation brought on by overwhelming hardship and military loss.
c. 1010 BC— this verse
Death of Saul and Fragmentation
Following the death of King Saul and his sons at the battle of Mount Gilboa, the unified kingdom of Israel fractured. David was made king over Judah in the south, while Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, reigned over the remaining tribes in the north, leading to a period of internal conflict and instability.
c. 1004 BC
David Anointed King of All Israel
After seven years as king of Judah, David was finally anointed king over all the tribes of Israel. This event marked the reunification of the kingdom but followed a period of intense civil strife and external threats.
c. 992 BC
David's Wars and Consolidation
David spent much of his reign engaged in wars against neighboring nations such as the Philistines, Moabites, Ammonites, and Arameans, consolidating Israel's borders and establishing a more secure kingdom. These conflicts often involved significant loss and hardship for the people.
This passage uses the same powerful imagery of God giving a 'cup of trembling' to drink, directly paralleling the 'wine of astonishment' in Psalms 60:3 and highlighting the theme of divine judgment causing disorientation.
Jeremiah 25:15Jeremiah receives a similar prophetic command to make the nations drink from the cup of God's wrath, reinforcing the idea that this 'wine' symbolizes severe divine displeasure and judgment.
Deuteronomy 28:28This verse from the law speaks of God striking people with 'madness, blindness, and confusion of heart,' which deeply resonates with the stunned and disoriented state described by the 'wine of astonishment'.
Psalm 75:8Here, the imagery of God holding a cup of foaming wine that the wicked must drink, and which makes them reel, further illustrates the concept of judgment causing intoxication and inability to stand.
pulpitPsalms 60:3: "Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment."
Verse 3. - Thou hast showed thy people hard things; literally, a hard thing, or harshness; i.e. severity. Thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment; or, of trembling (as in Isaiah 51:17, 22); comp. Psalm 75:8; Jeremiah 25:15-17: 49:12; Ezekiel 23:32-34; Zechariah 12:2. The outpouring of Divine vengeance is represented under the figure of presenting a cup, which the doomed man i…
gillPsalms 60:3: "Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment."
Thou hast showed thy people hard things,.... As to have their city and temple burial, multitudes of them slain, and the rest carried captive, and put into the hands of cruel lords and hard masters, and made a proverb, a taunt, and a curse, in all places; and all this done to a people that were the Lord's by profession, who called themselves so, though now a "loammi", Hosea 1:9 ; and thes…
The verse uses the imagery of a staggering drunkard to show that God has intentionally given His people a "wine" of bewilderment. It's not just about suffering, but about a profound disorientation, like being so utterly dazed by circumstances that you can barely stand.
The psalmist begins by lamenting the severe judgment God has brought upon His people, likening it to experiencing harsh realities and being forced to drink a bewildering, disorienting beverage. This follows a plea for God's return and acknowledges the land itself trembling under His displeasure, setting a tone of deep national distress and divine discipline before moving toward prayer for restoration and victory.
The psalmist begins by lamenting the severe judgment God has brought upon His people, likening it to experiencing harsh realities and being forced to drink a bewildering, disorienting beverage. This follows a plea for God's return and acknowledges the land itself trembling under His displeasure, setting a tone of deep national distress and divine discipline before moving toward prayer for restoration and victory.
"You have made your people see hard things; you have given us wine to drink that made us stagger." — The verse uses the imagery of a staggering drunkard to show that God has intentionally given His people a "wine" of bewilderment. It's not just about suffering, but about a profound disorientation, l…
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Last reviewed October 2026