1I love You, O Jehovah, my strength. 2Jehovah is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my Mighty God, my rock wall, in whom I will trust; He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be delivered from my enemies. 4The cords of death have surrounded me, and the floods of the wicked made me afraid. 5The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death have confronted me. 6In my distress I called upon Jehovah, and cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, and my cry came before Him, into His ears. 7Then the earth shook and trembled; and the foundations of the hills quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. 8Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire devoured out of His mouth; coals were kindled by it. 9He also bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under His feet. 10And He rode upon a cherub, and soared; yea, He flew swiftly upon the wings of the wind. 11He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion around Him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12From the brightness before Him, His dark clouds passed over with hailstones and coals of fire. 13Jehovah also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave forth His voice, hailstones and coals of fire. 14Yea, He sent out His arrows and scattered them; and He shot out lightnings and confounded them. 15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at Your rebuke, O Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. 16He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. 17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too strong for me. 18They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but Jehovah was my support. 19He brought me forth also into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. 20Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has given back to me. 21For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22For all His judgments were before me, and I did not put away His Statutes from me. 23I was also perfect before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. 24Therefore Jehovah has given back to me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes. 25With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; with a perfect man You will show Yourself perfect; 26with the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the crooked You will show Yourself twisted. 27For You will save the lowly people, but will bring down lofty looks. 28For You will light my lamp; Jehovah my God will cause my darkness to shine. 29For by You I run against a troop; and by my God I leap over a wall. 30As for the Mighty God, His way is perfect; the Word of Jehovah is tested; He is a shield to all those who trust in Him. 31For who is God besides Jehovah? Or, who is a Rock except our God? 32It is the Mighty God who clasps me with strength and makes my way perfect. 33He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places. 34He teaches my hands to war, so that a bow of bronze is stretched by my arms. 35You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; and Your right hand has held me up, and Your meekness has made me great. 36You enlarged the place for my steps under me, so that my feet have not slipped. 37I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them; nor did I turn back until they were destroyed. 38I have shattered them, and they cannot rise again; they have fallen under my feet. 39For You have clasped me with strength for the battle; You bowed down under me those who rose up against me. 40You have also given me the necks of my enemies; so that I annihilated those who hated me. 41They cried out for help, but there was no one to deliver; even to Jehovah, but He did not answer them. 42Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I cast them out like the dirt in the streets. 43You have delivered me from the strivings of the people; You have made me the head of the nations; a people whom I have not known shall serve me. 44As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me; the children of foreigners shall cower before me. 45The children of foreigners shall fall down and come trembling out of their holes. 46Jehovah lives! Blessed be my rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted! 47It is the Mighty God who avenges me, and puts the people to flight. 48He delivers me from my enemies; yea, You lift me up above those who rise up against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. 49Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Jehovah, among the nations, and make music unto Your name, 50who gives great deliverance to His king, and deals mercy to His anointed, to David and to his seed forevermore.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 "The servant of the LORD," which in the Hebrew precedes "David," is a significant part of the title (and not a mere epithet of David), denoting the inspired character of the song, as the production of one entrusted with the execution of God's will. He was not favored by God because he served Him, but served Him because selected and appointed by God in His sovereign mercy. After a general expression of praise and confidence in God for the future, David gives a sublimely poetical description of God's deliverance, which he characterizes as an illustration of God's justice to the innocent and His righteous government. His own prowess and success are celebrated as the results of divine aid, and, confident of its continuance, he closes in terms of triumphant praise. 2Sa. 22:1-51 is a copy of this Psalm, with a few unimportant variations recorded there as a part of the history, and repeated here as part of a collection designed for permanent use. (Psa. 18:1-50)
I will love thee--with most tender affection.
2 The various terms used describe God as an object of the most implicit and reliable trust.
rock--literally, "a cleft rock," for concealment.
strength--a firm, immovable rock.
horn of my salvation--The horn, as the means of attack or defense of some of the strongest animals, is a frequent emblem of power or strength efficiently exercised (compare
Deut 33:17;
Luke 1:69).
tower--literally, "high place," beyond reach of danger.
3 to be praised--for past favors, and worthy of confidence.
4 sorrows--literally, "bands as of a net" (
Ps 116:3).
floods--denotes "multitude."
5 death--and hell (compare
Ps 16:10) are personified as man's great enemies (compare
Rev 20:13-
Rev 20:14).
prevented--encountered me, crossed my path, and endangered my safety. He does not mean he was in their power.
6 He relates his methods to procure relief when distressed, and his success.
temple--(Compare
Ps 11:4).
7 God's coming described in figures drawn from His appearance on Sinai (compare
Deut 32:22).
8 smoke out . . . his nostrils--bitter in His wrath (compare
Ps 74:1).
by it--that is, the fire (
Exod 19:18).
9 darkness--or, a dense cloud (
Exod 19:16;
Deut 5:22).
10 cherub--angelic agents (compare
Gen 3:24), the figures of which were placed over the ark (
1Sam 4:4), representing God's dwelling; used here to enhance the majesty of the divine advent. Angels and winds may represent all rational and irrational agencies of God's providence (compare
Ps 104:3-
Ps 104:4).
did fly--Rapidity of motion adds to the grandeur of the scene.
11 dark waters--or, clouds heavy with vapor.
12 Out of this obscurity, which impresses the beholder with awe and dread, He reveals Himself by sudden light and the means of His terrible wrath (
Josh 10:11;
Ps 78:47).
13 The storm breaks forth--thunder follows lightning, and hail with repeated lightning, as often seen, like balls or coals of fire, succeed (
Exod 9:23).
14 The fiery brightness of lightning, in shape like burning arrows rapidly shot through the air, well represents the most terrible part of an awful storm. Before the terrors of such a scene the enemies are confounded and overthrown in dismay.
15 The tempest of the air is attended by appropriate results on earth. The language, though not expressive of any special physical changes, represents the utter subversion of the order of nature. Before such a God none can stand.
16 from above--As seated on a throne, directing these terrible scenes, God--
sent--His hand (
Ps 144:7), reached down to His humble worshipper, and delivered him.
many waters--calamities (
Job 30:14;
Ps 124:4-
Ps 124:5).
18 prevented-- (
Ps 18:3).
19 a large place--denotes safety or relief, as contrasted with the straits of distress (
Ps 4:1). All his deliverance is ascribed to God, and this sublime poetical representation is given to inspire the pious with confidence and the wicked with dread.
20 The statements of innocence, righteousness, &c., refer, doubtless, to his personal and official conduct and his purposes, during all the trials to which he was subjected in Saul's persecutions and Absalom's rebellions, as well as the various wars in which he had been engaged as the head and defender of God's Church and people.
23 upright before him--In my relation to God I have been perfect as to all parts of His law. The perfection does not relate to degree.
mine iniquity--perhaps the thought of his heart to kill Saul (
1Sam 24:6). That David does not allude to all his conduct, in all relations, is evident from
Ps 51:1, &c.
25 God renders to men according to their deeds in a penal, not vindictive, sense (
Lev 26:23-
Lev 26:24).
merciful--or, "kind" (
Ps 4:3).
26 froward--contrary to.
27 the afflicted people--that is, the humbly pious.
high looks--pride (
Ps 101:5;
Ps 131:1).
28 To give one light is to make prosperous (
Job 18:5-
Job 18:6;
Job 21:17).
thou--is emphatic, as if to say, I can fully confide in Thee for help.
29 And this on past experience in his military life, set forth by these figures.
30 God's perfection is the source of his own, which has resulted from his trust on the one hand, and God's promised help on the other.
tried--"as metals are tried by fire and proved genuine" (
Ps 12:6). Shield (
Ps 3:3). Girding was essential to free motion on account of the looseness of Oriental dresses; hence it is an expressive figure for describing the gift of strength.
33 God's help farther described. He gives swiftness to pursue or elude his enemies (
Hab 3:19), strength, protection, and a firm footing.
35 thy gentleness--as applied to God--condescension--or that which He gives, in the sense of humility (compare
Pro 22:4).
36 enlarged my steps--made ample room (compare
Pro 4:12).
37 In actual conflict, with God's aid, the defeat of his enemies is certain. A present and continued success is expressed.
39 that rose up against me--literally, "insurgents" (
Ps 3:1;
Ps 44:5).
40 given me the necks--literally, "backs of the necks"; made them retreat (
Exod 23:27;
Josh 7:8).
42 This conquest was complete.
43 Not only does He conquer civil foes, but foreigners, who are driven from their places of refuge.
44 submit, &c.--(compare Margin)--that is, show a forced subjection.
46 The Lord liveth--contrasts Him with idols (
1Cor 8:4).
47 avengeth me--His cause is espoused by God as His own.
48 liftest me up--to safety and honors.
49 Paul (
Rom 15:9) quotes from this doxology to show that under the Old Testament economy, others than the Jews were regarded as subjects of that spiritual government of which David was head, and in which character his deliverances and victories were typical of the more illustrious triumphs of David's greater Son. The language of
Ps 18:50 justifies this view in its distinct allusion to the great promise (compare
2Sam 7:12). In all David's successes he saw the pledges of a fulfilment of that promise, and he mourned in all his adversities, not only in view of his personal suffering, but because he saw in them evidences of danger to the great interests which were committed to his keeping. It is in these aspects of his character that we are led properly to appreciate the importance attached to his sorrows and sufferings, his joys and successes.