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Psalms 18:2-50

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2 The LORD is my 1rock and my 2fortress and my deliverer, my God, my 3rock, in 4whom I take refuge, my 5shield, and 6the horn of my salvation, my 7stronghold.
3 I call upon the LORD, who is 8worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
4 9The cords of death encompassed me; 10the torrents of destruction assailed me;[a]
5 11the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
6 12In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his 13temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth 14reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,[b] and devouring 15fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He 16bowed the heavens and 17came down; 18thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on 19the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his 20canopy around him, thick clouds 21dark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him 22hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13 The LORD also 23thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his 24voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent out his 25arrows and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings and 26routed them.
15 Then 27the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your 28rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of 29the breath of your nostrils.
16 He 30sent from on high, he took me; he 31drew me out of 32many waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were 33too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.
19 He brought me out into 34a broad place; he rescued me, because he 35delighted in me.
20 The LORD dealt with me 36according to my righteousness; according to 37the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21 For I have 38kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For 39all his rules[c] were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was 40blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With 41the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26 with the purified you show yourself pure; and with 42the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save 43a humble people, but 44the haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is you who light my 45lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.
29 For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can 46leap over 47a wall.
30 This God--his way is 48perfect;[d] the word of the LORD 49 proves true; he is 50a shield for all those who 51take refuge in him.
31 For 52who is God, but the LORD? And who is 53a rock, except our God?--
32 the God who 54equipped me with strength and made my way 55blameless.
33 He made my feet like the feet of a 56deer and set me secure on 57the heights.
34 He 58trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand 59supported me, and your 60gentleness made me great.
36 You 61gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.
39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40 You made my enemies 62turn their backs to me,[e] and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 63They cried for help, but there was none to save; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine as 64dust before the wind; I cast them out like 65the mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from 66strife with the people; you made me 67the head of the nations; 68people whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; 69foreigners 70came cringing to me.
45 71Foreigners lost heart and 72came trembling out of their fortresses.
46 The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation--
47 the God who gave me vengeance and 73subdued peoples under me,
48 who delivered me from my enemies; yes, you 74exalted me above those who rose against me; you rescued me from 75the man of violence.
49 76For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations, and 77sing to your name.
50 Great 78salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his 79anointed, to 80David and his offspring forever.
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Psalm 18:6
Psalm 18:34

Psalms 18:2-50 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, [a Psalm] of David. This is the same with that in 2 Samuel 22:1, with some variations, omissions, and alterations:

the servant of the Lord; not only by creation, nor merely by regeneration, but by office, as king of Israel, being put into it by the Lord, and acting in it in submission and obedience to him; just as the apostles under the New Testament, on account of their office, so style themselves in their epistles:

who spake unto the Lord the words of this song; that is, who delivered and sung this song in so many express words, in public, before all the congregation of Israel, to the honour and glory of God:

in the day [that] the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, Not that this psalm was composed and sung the selfsame day that David was delivered from Saul, and set upon the throne; for it seems to have been written in his old age, at the close of his days; for immediately after it, in the second book of Samuel, it follows, "now these be the last words of David," 2 Samuel 23:1: but the sense is, that whereas David had many enemies, and particularly Saul, who was his greatest enemy, the Lord delivered him from them all, and especially from him, from him first, and then from all the rest; which when he reflected upon in his last days, he sat down and wrote this psalm, and then sung it in public, having delivered it into the hands of the chief musician for that purpose. There are two passages cited out of it in the New Testament, and applied to Christ; Psalm 18:2, in Hebrews 2:13, and Psalm 18:49 in Romans 15:9; and there are many things in it that very well agree with him; he is eminently the "servant" of the Lord as Mediator; he was encompassed with the snares and sorrows of death and hell, and with the floods of ungodly men, when in the garden and on the cross God was his helper and deliverer, as man; and he was victorious over all enemies, sin, Satan, the world, death and hell; as the subject of this psalm is all along represented: and to Christ it does most properly belong to be the head of the Heathen, whose voluntary subjects the Gentiles are said to be, Psalm 18:43; and which is expressed in much the same language as the like things are in Isaiah 55:4; which is a clear and undoubted prophecy of the Messiah; to which may be added, that the Lord's Anointed, the King Messiah, and who is also called David, is expressly mentioned in Psalm 18:50; and which is applied to the Messiah by the Jews {q} as Psalm 18:32 is paraphrased of him by the Targum on it;

and he said; the following words:

{q} Echa Rabbati, fol. 50. 2. & Midrash Tillim in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 47. 3.
Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

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Cross References 80

  • 1. ver. 31, 46; Psalms 19:14; Psalms 31:3
  • 2. Psalms 91:2; Psalms 144:2
  • 3. ver. 31, 46; Psalms 19:14; Psalms 31:3
  • 4. [Hebrews 2:13]
  • 5. ver. 30; Genesis 15:1
  • 6. Psalms 112:9; Luke 1:69
  • 7. See Psalms 9:9
  • 8. Psalms 48:1; Psalms 96:4; Psalms 113:3; Psalms 145:3
  • 9. Psalms 116:3; [Psalms 119:61]
  • 10. See Psalms 32:6
  • 11. [See ver. 4 above]
  • 12. Psalms 66:14; Psalms 102:2; Psalms 120:1; [Jonah 2:2]
  • 13. See Psalms 11:4
  • 14. [Judges 5:4; Acts 4:31; Acts 16:26]
  • 15. See Psalms 21:9
  • 16. Psalms 144:5
  • 17. Isaiah 64:1
  • 18. See Exodus 20:21
  • 19. Psalms 104:3
  • 20. Job 36:29; [Psalms 97:2]
  • 21. [Psalms 29:3]
  • 22. [Psalms 148:8; Joshua 10:11]
  • 23. 1 Samuel 2:10; 1 Samuel 7:10; See Job 37:4
  • 24. Isaiah 30:30; See Psalms 29:3-9
  • 25. Psalms 7:13; Psalms 64:7; Psalms 77:17; Psalms 144:6; Deuteronomy 32:23, 42; Habakkuk 3:11
  • 26. Exodus 14:24; Joshua 10:10
  • 27. Psalms 42:1; Joel 1:20(Heb.); [Job 36:30]
  • 28. Psalms 106:9; Nahum 1:4
  • 29. [Exodus 15:8]
  • 30. [Psalms 144:7]
  • 31. [Exodus 2:10]
  • 32. See Psalms 32:6; Job 22:11
  • 33. Psalms 142:6
  • 34. Psalms 31:8; Psalms 118:5; [ver. 36]
  • 35. Psalms 22:8; 2 Samuel 15:26
  • 36. Psalms 7:8; 1 Samuel 24:19; 1 Samuel 26:23; 1 Kings 8:32
  • 37. See Job 22:30
  • 38. [Genesis 18:19; Proverbs 8:32]
  • 39. Psalms 119:30, 102
  • 40. Genesis 17:1; [1 Kings 14:8]
  • 41. Matthew 5:7
  • 42. Psalms 81:12; Leviticus 26:23, 24; Proverbs 3:34; Acts 7:42; Romans 1:28
  • 43. [Exodus 3:7]
  • 44. See Psalms 101:5
  • 45. Psalms 132:17; 1 Kings 11:36; 1 Kings 15:4; 2 Kings 8:19; [2 Samuel 21:17]; See Job 18:5, 6
  • 46. [Isaiah 35:6]
  • 47. See 2 Samuel 5:6-9
  • 48. Deuteronomy 32:4; Daniel 4:37; Matthew 5:48; [Revelation 15:3]
  • 49. See Psalms 12:6
  • 50. ver. 2
  • 51. Psalms 17:7
  • 52. [Psalms 86:8]
  • 53. See ver. 2
  • 54. 1 Samuel 2:4; Isaiah 45:5
  • 55. Psalms 101:2, 6; Psalms 119:1; Job 22:3
  • 56. Habakkuk 3:19
  • 57. Deuteronomy 32:13; Isaiah 58:14
  • 58. Psalms 144:1
  • 59. Psalms 20:2
  • 60. [Isaiah 63:9]
  • 61. Psalms 31:8; Proverbs 4:12; [ver. 19]
  • 62. Exodus 23:27; [Psalms 21:12]
  • 63. See Job 27:9
  • 64. 2 Kings 13:7
  • 65. Isaiah 10:6; Micah 7:10; Zechariah 10:5
  • 66. [2 Samuel 3:1; 2 Samuel 19:9, 43; 2 Samuel 20:1]
  • 67. [Psalms 2:8]; See 2 Samuel 8:1-14
  • 68. Isaiah 55:5; [Psalms 22:27]
  • 69. Psalms 144:7
  • 70. Psalms 66:3; Psalms 81:15; Deuteronomy 33:29
  • 71. [See ver. 44 above]
  • 72. Micah 7:17
  • 73. Psalms 47:3; Psalms 144:2; [Isaiah 45:1]
  • 74. Psalms 59:1
  • 75. Psalms 140:1
  • 76. Cited Romans 15:9
  • 77. Psalms 66:4
  • 78. Psalms 144:10
  • 79. See Psalms 2:2
  • 80. [Psalms 89:29; 2 Sam. 7:12, 13, 29]

Footnotes 5

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.