Psalms 18:36

36 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.

Psalms 18:36 in Other Translations

KJV
36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
ESV
36 You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.
NLT
36 You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping.
MSG
36 You cleared the ground under me so my footing was firm.
CSB
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 battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.
36 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Psalms 31:8
  • 2. S Job 18:7; Psalms 66:9
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