O God, thou hast cast us off - The word used here means properly 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 Psalms 43:2. It 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 which had occurred after the conquests in the East, or during the absence of the armies of David in the East 2 Samuel 8; 1 Chronicles 18; probably to the fact that the Edomites had taken occasion to invade the southern part of Palestine, and that the forces employed to expel them had been unsuccessful.
Thou hast scattered us - Margin, broken. So the Hebrew. The word is applied to the forces of war which are broken and scattered by defeat, 2 Samuel 5:20.
Thou hast been displeased - The word used here means “to breathe”; to breathe hard; and then, to be angry. See the notes at Psalms 2:12. God had treated them as if he was displeased or angry. He had suffered them to be defeated.
O turn thyself to us again - Return to our armies, and give us success. This might be rendered, “Thou wilt turn to us;” that is, thou wilt favor us - expressing a confident belief that God would do this, as in Psalms 60:12. It is more in accordance, however, with the usual structure of the Psalms to regard this as a prayer. Many of the psalms begin with a prayer, and end with the expression of a confident assurance that the prayer has been, or would certainly be heard.