For the music director; by the Lord’s servant David, who sang 2 to the Lord the words of this song when 3 the Lord rescued him from the power 4 of all his enemies, including Saul. 5
18:1 He said: 6
“I love 7 you, Lord, my source of strength! 8
For the music director; a psalm of David.
21:1 O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give; 10
he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide. 11
40:13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me! 12
40:17 I am oppressed and needy! 13
May the Lord pay attention to me! 14
You are my helper and my deliverer!
O my God, do not delay!
69:13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me! 15
O God, because of your great loyal love,
answer me with your faithful deliverance! 16
69:14 Rescue me from the mud! Don’t let me sink!
Deliver me 17 from those who hate me,
from the deep water!
69:15 Don’t let the current overpower me!
Don’t let the deep swallow me up!
Don’t let the pit 18 devour me! 19
69:16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good! 20
Because of your great compassion, turn toward me!
69:17 Do not ignore 21 your servant,
for I am in trouble! Answer me right away! 22
69:18 Come near me and redeem me! 23
Because of my enemies, rescue me!
1 sn Psalm 18. In this long song of thanks, the psalmist (a Davidic king, traditionally understood as David himself) affirms that God is his faithful protector. He recalls in highly poetic fashion how God intervened in awesome power and delivered him from death. The psalmist’s experience demonstrates that God vindicates those who are blameless and remain loyal to him. True to his promises, God gives the king victory on the battlefield and enables him to subdue nations. A parallel version of the psalm appears in 2 Sam 22:1-51.
2 tn Heb “spoke.”
3 tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”
4 tn Heb “hand.”
5 tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”
6 tn A number of translations (e.g., NASB, NIV, NRSV) assign the words “he said” to the superscription, in which case the entire psalm is in first person. Other translations (e.g., NAB) include the introductory “he said” at the beginning of v. 1.
7 tn The verb רָחַם (rakham) elsewhere appears in the Piel (or Pual) verbal stem with the basic meaning, “have compassion.” The verb occurs only here in the basic (Qal) stem. The basic stem of the verbal root also occurs in Aramaic with the meaning “love” (see DNWSI 2:1068-69; Jastrow 1467 s.v. רָחַם; G. Schmuttermayr, “rhm: eine lexikalische Studie,” Bib 51 [1970]: 515-21). Since this introductory statement does not appear in the parallel version in 2 Sam 22:1-51, it is possible that it is a later addition to the psalm, made when the poem was revised for use in worship.
8 tn Heb “my strength.” “Strength” is metonymic here, referring to the Lord as the one who bestows strength to the psalmist; thus the translation “my source of strength.”
9 sn Psalm 21. The psalmist praises the Lord for the way he protects and blesses the Davidic king.
10 tn Heb “in your strength.” The translation interprets the pronominal suffix as subjective, rather than merely descriptive (or attributive).
11 tn Heb “and in your deliverance, how greatly he rejoices.”
12 tn Heb “hurry to my help.” See Pss 22:19; 38:22.
13 sn See Pss 35:10; 37:14.
14 tn The prefixed verbal form may be taken as a jussive of prayer (as in the present translation; cf. NIV) or as an imperfect, “The
15 tn Heb “as for me, [may] my prayer be to you, O
16 tn Heb “O God, in the abundance of your loyal love, answer me in the faithfulness of your deliverance.”
17 tn Heb “let me be delivered.”
18 tn Heb “well,” which here symbolizes the place of the dead (cf. Ps 55:23).
19 tn Heb “do not let the well close its mouth upon me.”
20 tn Or “pleasant”; or “desirable.”
21 tn Heb “do not hide your face from.” The Hebrew idiom “hide the face” can (1) mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or (2) carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).
22 tn Or “quickly.”
23 tn Heb “come near my life and redeem it.” The verb “redeem” casts the