Psalms 18

1 To the Overseer. -- By a servant of Jehovah, by David, who hath spoken to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he saith: -- I love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

2 Jehovah [is] my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God [is] my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and a horn of my salvation, My high tower.

3 The `Praised One' I call Jehovah, And from my enemies I am saved.

4 Compassed me have cords of death, And streams of the worthless make me afraid.

5 Cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Before me have been snares of death.

6 In mine adversity I call Jehovah, And unto my God I cry. He heareth from His temple my voice, And My cry before Him cometh into His ears.

7 And shake and tremble doth the earth, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake -- because He hath wrath.

8 Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumeth, Coals have been kindled by it.

9 And He inclineth the heavens, and cometh down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.

10 And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And He flieth on wings of wind.

11 He maketh darkness His secret place, Round about Him His tabernacle, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.

13 And thunder in the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire.

14 And He sendeth His arrows and scattereth them, And much lightning, and crusheth them.

15 And seen are the streams of waters, And revealed are foundations of the earth. From Thy rebuke, O Jehovah, From the breath of the spirit of Thine anger.

16 He sendeth from above -- He taketh me, He draweth me out of many waters.

17 He delivereth me from my strong enemy, And from those hating me, For they have been stronger than I.

18 They go before me in a day of my calamity And Jehovah is for a support to me.

19 And He bringeth me forth to a large place, He draweth me out, because He delighted in me.

20 Jehovah doth recompense me According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He doth return to me.

21 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not done wickedly against my God.

22 For all His judgments [are] before me, And His statutes I turn not from me.

23 And I am perfect with him, And I keep myself from mine iniquity.

24 And Jehovah doth return to me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, Over-against his eyes.

25 With the kind Thou showest Thyself kind, With a perfect man showest Thyself perfect.

26 With the pure Thou showest Thyself pure, And with the perverse showest Thyself a wrestler,

27 For Thou a poor people savest, And the eyes of the high causest to fall.

28 For Thou -- Thou lightest my lamp, Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness.

29 For by Thee I run -- a troop! And by my God I leap a wall.

30 God! perfect [is] His way, The saying of Jehovah is tried, A shield [is] He to all those trusting in Him.

31 For who [is] God besides Jehovah? And who [is] a rock save our God?

32 God! who is girding me [with] strength, And He maketh perfect my way.

33 Making my feet like hinds, And on my high places causeth me to stand.

34 Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of brass was brought down by my arms.

35 And Thou givest to me the shield of Thy salvation, And Thy right hand doth support me, And Thy lowliness maketh me great.

36 Thou enlargest my step under me, And mine ankles have not slidden.

37 I pursue mine enemies, and overtake them, And turn back not till they are consumed.

38 I smite them, and they are not able to rise, They fall under my feet,

39 And Thou girdest me [with] strength for battle, Causest my withstanders to bow under me.

40 As to mine enemies -- Thou hast given to me the neck, As to those hating me -- I cut them off.

41 They cry, and there is no saviour, On Jehovah, and He doth not answer them.

42 And I beat them as dust before wind, As mire of the streets I empty them out.

43 Thou dost deliver me From the strivings of the people, Thou placest me for a head of nations, A people I have not known do serve me.

44 At the hearing of the ear they hearken to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,

45 Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places.

46 Jehovah liveth -- and blessed [is] my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation.

47 God -- who is giving vengeance to me, And He subdueth peoples under me,

48 My deliverer from mine enemies, Above my withstanders Thou raisest me, From a man of violence dost deliver me.

49 Therefore I confess Thee among nations, O Jehovah, And to Thy name I sing praise,

50 Magnifying the salvation of His king, And doing kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed -- unto the age!

Psalms 18 Commentary

Chapter 18

David rejoices in the deliverances God wrought for him. (1-19) He takes the comfort of his integrity, which God had cleared up. (20-28) He gives to God the glory of all his mighty deeds. (29-50)

Verses 1-19 The first words, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy which magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God. If we pray as he did, we shall speed as he did. God's manifestation of his presence is very fully described, ver. ( 7-15 ) . Little appeared of man, but much of God, in these deliverances. It is not possible to apply to the history of the son of Jesse those awful, majestic, and stupendous words which are used through this description of the Divine manifestation. Every part of so solemn a scene of terrors tells us, a greater than David is here. God will not only deliver his people out of their troubles in due time, but he will bear them up under their troubles in the mean time. Can we meditate on ver. 18, without directing one thought to Gethsemane and Calvary? Can we forget that it was in the hour of Christ's deepest calamity, when Judas betrayed, when his friends forsook, when the multitude derided him, and the smiles of his Father's love were withheld, that the powers of darkness prevented him? The sorrows of death surrounded him, in his distress he prayed, ( Hebrews 5:7 ) . God made the earth to shake and tremble, and the rocks to cleave, and brought him out, in his resurrection, because he delighted in him and in his undertaking.

Verses 20-28 Those that forsake the ways of the Lord, depart from their God. But though conscious to ourselves of many a false step, let there not be a wicked departure from our God. David kept his eye upon the rule of God's commands. Constant care to keep from that sin, whatever it be, which most easily besets us, proves that we are upright before God. Those who show mercy to others, even they need mercy. Those who are faithful to God, shall find him all that to them which he has promised to be. The words of the Lord are pure words, very sure to be depended on, and very sweet to be delighted in. Those who resist God, and walk contrary to him, shall find that he will walk contrary to them, ( Leviticus 26:21-24 ) . The gracious recompence of which David spoke, may generally be expected by those who act from right motives. Hence he speaks comfort to the humble, and terror to the proud; "Thou wilt bring down high looks." And he speaks encouragement to himself; "Thou wilt light my candle:" thou wilt revive and comfort my sorrowful spirit; thou wilt guide my way, that I may avoid the snares laid for me. Thou wilt light my candle to work by, and give me an opportunity of serving thee. Let those that walk in darkness, and labour under discouragements, take courage; God himself will be a Light to them.

Verses 29-50 When we praise for one mercy, we must observe the many more, with which we have been compassed all our days. Many things had contributed to David's advancement, and he owns the hand of God in them all, to teach us to do likewise. In verse Verse 32 , and the following verses, are the gifts of God to the spiritual warrior, whereby he is prepared for the contest, after the example of his victorious Leader. Learn that we must seek release being made through Christ, shall be rejected. In David the type, we behold out of trouble through Christ. The prayer put up, without reconciliation Jesus our Redeemer, conflicting with enemies, compassed with sorrows and with floods of ungodly men, enduring not only the pains of death, but the wrath of God for us; yet calling upon the Father with strong cries and tears; rescued from the grave; proceeding to reconcile, or to put under his feet all other enemies, till death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. We should love the Lord, our Strength, and our Salvation; we should call on him in every trouble, and praise him for every deliverance; we should aim to walk with him in all righteousness and true holiness, keeping from sin. If we belong to him, he conquers and reigns for us, and we shall conquer and reign through him, and partake of the mercy of our anointed King, which is promised to all his seed for evermore. Amen.

Chapter Summary

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.