1 > I love you, Yahweh, my strength.
2 Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
3 I call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised; And I am saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came on me.
6 In my distress I called on Yahweh, And cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple, My cry before him came into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, Because he was angry.
8 Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion around him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, Hailstones and coals of fire.
13 Yahweh also thundered in the sky, The Most High uttered his voice: Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them.
15 Then the channels of waters appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, At the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
18 They came on me in the day of my calamity, But Yahweh was my support.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his ordinances were before me. I didn't put away his statutes from me.
23 I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.
26 With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
27 For you will save the afflicted people, But the haughty eyes you will bring down.
28 For you will light my lamp, Yahweh. My God will light up my darkness.
29 For by you, I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect. The word of Yahweh is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God, except Yahweh? Who is a rock, besides our God,
32 The God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?
33 He makes my feet like deer's feet, And sets me on my high places.
34 He teaches my hands to war; So that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand sustains me. Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped.
37 I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. Neither will I turn again until they are consumed.
38 I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. They shall fall under my feet.
39 For you have girded me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, That I might cut off those who hate me.
41 They cried, but there was none to save; Even to Yahweh, but he didn't answer them.
42 Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.
45 The foreigners shall fade away, And shall come trembling out of their close places.
46 Yahweh lives; and blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 Even the God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.
48 He rescues me from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations, And will sing praises to your name.
50 He gives great deliverance to his king, And shows loving kindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, forevermore.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 18
Commentary on Psalms 18 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 18
Ps 18:1-50. "The servant of the Lord," which in the Hebrew precedes "David," is a significant part of the title (and not a mere epithet of David), denoting the inspired character of the song, as the production of one entrusted with the execution of God's will. He was not favored by God because he served Him, but served Him because selected and appointed by God in His sovereign mercy. After a general expression of praise and confidence in God for the future, David gives a sublimely poetical description of God's deliverance, which he characterizes as an illustration of God's justice to the innocent and His righteous government. His own prowess and success are celebrated as the results of divine aid, and, confident of its continuance, he closes in terms of triumphant praise. 2Sa 22:1-51 is a copy of this Psalm, with a few unimportant variations recorded there as a part of the history, and repeated here as part of a collection designed for permanent use.
1. I will love thee—with most tender affection.
2, 3. The various terms used describe God as an object of the most implicit and reliable trust.
rock—literally, "a cleft rock," for concealment.
strength—a firm, immovable rock.
horn of my salvation—The horn, as the means of attack or defense of some of the strongest animals, is a frequent emblem of power or strength efficiently exercised (compare De 33:17; Lu 1:69).
tower—literally, "high place," beyond reach of danger.
3. to be praised—for past favors, and worthy of confidence.
4. sorrows—literally, "bands as of a net" (Ps 116:3).
floods—denotes "multitude."
5. death—and hell (compare Ps 16:10) are personified as man's great enemies (compare Re 20:13, 14).
prevented—encountered me, crossed my path, and endangered my safety. He does not mean he was in their power.
6. He relates his methods to procure relief when distressed, and his success.
temple—(Compare Ps 11:4).
7, 8. God's coming described in figures drawn from His appearance on Sinai (compare De 32:22).
8. smoke out … his nostrils—bitter in His wrath (compare Ps 74:1).
by it—that is, the fire (Ex 19:18).
9. darkness—or, a dense cloud (Ex 19:16; De 5:22).
10. cherub—angelic agents (compare Ge 3:24), the figures of which were placed over the ark (1Sa 4:4), representing God's dwelling; used here to enhance the majesty of the divine advent. Angels and winds may represent all rational and irrational agencies of God's providence (compare Ps 104:3, 4).
did fly—Rapidity of motion adds to the grandeur of the scene.
11. dark waters—or, clouds heavy with vapor.
12. Out of this obscurity, which impresses the beholder with awe and dread, He reveals Himself by sudden light and the means of His terrible wrath (Jos 10:11; Ps 78:47).
13. The storm breaks forth—thunder follows lightning, and hail with repeated lightning, as often seen, like balls or coals of fire, succeed (Ex 9:23).
14. The fiery brightness of lightning, in shape like burning arrows rapidly shot through the air, well represents the most terrible part of an awful storm. Before the terrors of such a scene the enemies are confounded and overthrown in dismay.
15. The tempest of the air is attended by appropriate results on earth. The language, though not expressive of any special physical changes, represents the utter subversion of the order of nature. Before such a God none can stand.
16-19. from above—As seated on a throne, directing these terrible scenes, God—
sent—His hand (Ps 144:7), reached down to His humble worshipper, and delivered him.
many waters—calamities (Job 30:14; Ps 124:4, 5).
18. prevented—(Ps 18:3).
19. a large place—denotes safety or relief, as contrasted with the straits of distress (Ps 4:1). All his deliverance is ascribed to God, and this sublime poetical representation is given to inspire the pious with confidence and the wicked with dread.
20-24. The statements of innocence, righteousness, &c., refer, doubtless, to his personal and official conduct and his purposes, during all the trials to which he was subjected in Saul's persecutions and Absalom's rebellions, as well as the various wars in which he had been engaged as the head and defender of God's Church and people.
23. upright before him—In my relation to God I have been perfect as to all parts of His law. The perfection does not relate to degree.
mine iniquity—perhaps the thought of his heart to kill Saul (1Sa 24:6). That David does not allude to all his conduct, in all relations, is evident from Ps 51:1, &c.
25-27. God renders to men according to their deeds in a penal, not vindictive, sense (Le 26:23, 24).
merciful—or, "kind" (Ps 4:3).
26. froward—contrary to.
27. the afflicted people—that is, the humbly pious.
high looks—pride (Ps 101:5; 131:1).
28. To give one light is to make prosperous (Job 18:5, 6; 21:17).
thou—is emphatic, as if to say, I can fully confide in Thee for help.
29. And this on past experience in his military life, set forth by these figures.
30-32. God's perfection is the source of his own, which has resulted from his trust on the one hand, and God's promised help on the other.
tried—"as metals are tried by fire and proved genuine" (Ps 12:6). Shield (Ps 3:3). Girding was essential to free motion on account of the looseness of Oriental dresses; hence it is an expressive figure for describing the gift of strength.
33-36. God's help farther described. He gives swiftness to pursue or elude his enemies (Hab 3:19), strength, protection, and a firm footing.
35. thy gentleness—as applied to God—condescension—or that which He gives, in the sense of humility (compare Pr 22:4).
36. enlarged my steps—made ample room (compare Pr 4:12).
37-41. In actual conflict, with God's aid, the defeat of his enemies is certain. A present and continued success is expressed.
39. that rose up against me—literally, "insurgents" (Ps 3:1; 44:5).
40. given me the necks—literally, "backs of the necks"; made them retreat (Ex 23:27; Jos 7:8).
42. This conquest was complete.
43-45. Not only does He conquer civil foes, but foreigners, who are driven from their places of refuge.
44. submit, &c.—(compare Margin)—that is, show a forced subjection.
46. The Lord liveth—contrasts Him with idols (1Co 8:4).
47, 48. avengeth me—His cause is espoused by God as His own.
48. liftest me up—to safety and honors.
49, 50. Paul (Ro 15:9) quotes from this doxology to show that under the Old Testament economy, others than the Jews were regarded as subjects of that spiritual government of which David was head, and in which character his deliverances and victories were typical of the more illustrious triumphs of David's greater Son. The language of Ps 18:50 justifies this view in its distinct allusion to the great promise (compare 2Sa 7:12). In all David's successes he saw the pledges of a fulfilment of that promise, and he mourned in all his adversities, not only in view of his personal suffering, but because he saw in them evidences of danger to the great interests which were committed to his keeping. It is in these aspects of his character that we are led properly to appreciate the importance attached to his sorrows and sufferings, his joys and successes.