Psalms 18:14

14 He shot his arrows and scattered them. He flashed streaks of lightning and threw them into confusion.

Psalms 18:14 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 18:14

Yea, he sent out his arrows
By which thunderbolts, cracks of thunder, and flashes of lightning, seem to be meant; see ( Psalms 77:17 Psalms 77:18 ) ( 144:6 ) ; comparable to arrows shot, and sent out of a bow; and may denote, either the doctrines of the Gospel, which were sharp in the hearts of Christ's enemies, and are either the means of subduing them to him, or of destroying them, being the savour of death unto death; or however, like arrows, give great pain and uneasiness where they stick, and grievously distress and torment; as does the fire which comes out of the mouth of the two witnesses, ( Revelation 11:5 Revelation 11:10 ) . The Targum is,

``he sent his word as arrows;''

or else the judgments of God are meant, as famine, pestilence, and the sword, which God sent unto, and spent upon the Jewish nation, ( Deuteronomy 32:23 ) ;

and scattered them;
among the nations of the world, where they have been dispersed ever since;

and he shot out lightnings;
or "many lightnings", so the Targum:

and discomfited them;
troubled, terrified, and distressed them.

Psalms 18:14 In-Context

12 Out of the brightness in front of him, those rain clouds passed by with hailstones and lightning.

13 The LORD thundered in the heavens. The Most High made his voice heard with hailstones and lightning.

14 He shot his arrows and scattered them. He flashed streaks of lightning and threw them into confusion.

15 Then the ocean floor could be seen. The foundations of the earth were laid bare at your stern warning, O LORD, at the blast of the breath from your nostrils.

16 He reached down from high above and took hold of me. He pulled me out of the raging water.