Psalms 18:36

36 You widen [a place] beneath me for my steps, and my ankles do not give way.

Psalms 18:36 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 18:36

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me
Which is opposed to those straitened circumstances in which the psalmist was, ( Psalms 18:4 Psalms 18:5 ) ; and is expressive of deliverance from his enemies, by whom he was surrounded, besieged, and shut up; see ( Psalms 31:8 ) ; and of freedom of walking at large, without being straitened for room, or interrupted by others, ( Proverbs 4:12 ) ; and of safety in standing; all which is true in a spiritual sense of believers in Christ, who being delivered by him out of the hands of their enemies, serve the Lord without fear in righteousness and holiness; walk at liberty by faith in Christ, and up and down in the name of the Lord their God; and have their feet established upon the Rock of ages, that sure and large foundation, Christ, from which there is no danger of slipping and falling; as follows;

that my feet did not slip;
so as to fall and perish; for sometimes the steps of the saints are well nigh slipped; yea, in some sense they stumble; slip, and fall, but not so as to be utterly cast down and perish eternally; the bottom on which they are is so broad, and the foundation so sure, that it is not possible they should. The words will bear to be applied to Christ, who was in very pressed and straitened circumstances, when beset with the bulls of Bashan, encompassed with dogs, and enclosed with the assembly of the wicked; and was in slippery places, when he sunk in deep mire where there is no standing, ( Psalms 22:12 Psalms 22:16 ) ( 69:2 ) ; but now being delivered from all this, he is brought, as in ( Psalms 18:19 ) , into a large place, into heaven, and made higher than the heavens, and is set down at the right hand of God, from whence he can never be moved.

Psalms 18:36 In-Context

34 He trains my hands for war; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your humility exalts me.
36 You widen [a place] beneath me for my steps, and my ankles do not give way.
37 I pursue my enemies and overtake them; I do not turn back until they are wiped out.
38 I crush them, and they cannot get up; they fall beneath my feet.
Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.