Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 60:1

"O God thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down; Thou hast been angry; oh restore us again." — Psalms 60:1 (ASV)

O God, you have cast us off - The word used here properly means to be foul, rancid, offensive; and then, to treat anything as if it were foul or rancid: to repel, to spurn, to cast away. See the notes at Psalm 43:2. This is strong language, meaning that God had seemed to treat them as if they were loathsome or offensive to Him.

The allusion, according to the view taken in the introduction to the psalm, is to some defeat or disaster that had occurred after the conquests in the East, or during the absence of David’s armies in the East (2 Samuel 8; 1 Chronicles 18). This likely refers to the Edomites taking the opportunity to invade southern Palestine, and the forces sent to expel them being unsuccessful.

You have scattered us - Margin: broken. So the Hebrew. The word is applied to forces of war that are broken and scattered by defeat (2 Samuel 5:20).

You have been displeased - The word used here means “to breathe,” to breathe hard, and then, to be angry. See the notes at Psalm 2:12. God had treated them as if He was displeased or angry. He had allowed them to be defeated.

O turn yourself to us again - Return to our armies, and give us success. This might be rendered, “You will turn to us;” that is, you will favor us—expressing a confident belief that God would do this, as in Psalm 60:12. It is more in accordance, however, with the usual structure of the Psalms to regard this as a prayer. Many psalms begin with a prayer and end with the expression of a confident assurance that the prayer has been heard, or would certainly be heard.