Discovery BoxPsalms 18:1-2
ContextFor 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
“I love 7 you, Lord, my source of strength! 8
18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, 9 my stronghold, 10 my deliverer.
My God is my rocky summit where 11 I take shelter, 12
my shield, the horn that saves me, 13 and my refuge. 14
Psalms 18:46
ContextMy protector 16 is praiseworthy! 17
The God who delivers me 18 is exalted as king! 19
Psalms 19:14
Context19:14 May my words and my thoughts
be acceptable in your sight, 20
O Lord, my sheltering rock 21 and my redeemer. 22
Psalms 28:7-8
Context28:7 The Lord strengthens and protects me; 23
I trust in him with all my heart. 24
I am rescued 25 and my heart is full of joy; 26
I will sing to him in gratitude. 27
28:8 The Lord strengthens his people; 28
he protects and delivers his chosen king. 29
Psalms 43:2
Context43:2 For you are the God who shelters me. 30
Why do you reject me? 31
Why must I walk around 32 mourning 33
because my enemies oppress me?
Isaiah 45:24
Context45:24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” 34
All who are angry at him will cower before him. 35
Isaiah 45:2
Context45:2 “I will go before you
and level mountains. 36
Bronze doors I will shatter
and iron bars 37 I will hack through.
Colossians 1:9
Context1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, 38 have not ceased praying for you and asking God 39 to fill 40 you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
Philippians 4:13
Context4:13 I am able to do all things 41 through the one 42 who strengthens me.
[18:1] 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.
[18:1] 3 tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”
[18:1] 5 tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”
[18:1] 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.
[18:1] 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.
[18:1] 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.”
[18:2] 9 sn My high ridge. This metaphor pictures God as a rocky, relatively inaccessible summit, where one would be able to find protection from enemies. See 1 Sam 23:25, 28.
[18:2] 10 sn My stronghold. David often found safety in such strongholds. See 1 Sam 22:4-5; 24:22; 2 Sam 5:9, 17; 23:14.
[18:2] 12 sn Take shelter. “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).
[18:2] 13 tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”
[18:2] 14 tn Or “my elevated place.” The parallel version of this psalm in 2 Sam 22:3 adds at this point, “my refuge, my savior, [you who] save me from violence.”
[18:46] 15 tn Elsewhere the construction חַי־יְהוָה (khay-yÿhvah) is used exclusively as an oath formula, “as surely as the
[18:46] 16 tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection. See similar phrases in vv. 2, 31.
[18:46] 17 tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”
[18:46] 18 tn Heb “the God of my deliverance.” 2 Sam 22:48 reads, “the God of the rocky cliff of my deliverance.”
[18:46] 19 tn The words “as king” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Elsewhere in the psalms the verb רוּם (rum, “be exalted”), when used of God, refers to his exalted position as king (Pss 99:2; 113:4; 138:6) and/or his self-revelation as king through his mighty deeds of deliverance (Pss 21:13; 46:10; 57:5, 11).
[19:14] 20 tn Heb “may the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart be acceptable before you.” The prefixed verbal form at the beginning of the verse is understood as a jussive of prayer. Another option is to translate the form as an imperfect continuing the thought of v. 14b: “[Then] the words of my mouth and the thought of my heart will be acceptable before you.”
[19:14] 21 tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”
[19:14] 22 tn Heb “and the one who redeems me.” The metaphor casts the Lord in the role of a leader who protects members of his extended family in times of need and crisis.
[28:7] 23 tn Heb “The
[28:7] 24 tn Heb “in him my heart trusts.”
[28:7] 25 tn Or “I am helped.”
[28:7] 26 tn Heb “and my heart exults.”
[28:7] 27 tn Heb “and from my song I will thank him.” As pointed in the Hebrew text, מִשִּׁירִי (mishiri) appears to be “from my song,” but the preposition “from” never occurs elsewhere with the verb “to thank” (Hiphil of יָדָה, yadah). Perhaps משׁיר is a noun form meaning “song.” If so, it can be taken as an adverbial accusative, “and [with] my song I will thank him.” See P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 (WBC), 236.
[28:8] 28 tn Heb “the
[28:8] 29 tn Heb “he [is] a refuge of help for his anointed one.” The noun מָשִׁיחַ (mashiakh, “anointed one”) refers to the Davidic king, who perhaps speaks as representative of the nation in this psalm. See Pss 2:2; 18:50; 20:6; 84:9; 89:38, 51; 132:10, 17.
[43:2] 30 tn Heb “God of my place of refuge,” that is, “God who is my place of refuge.” See Ps 31:4.
[43:2] 31 tn The question is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but זָנַח (zanakh, “reject”) is a stronger verb than שָׁכַח (shakhakh, “forget”).
[43:2] 32 tn The language is similar to that of Ps 42:9, but the Hitpael form of the verb הָלַךְ (halakh; as opposed to the Qal form in 42:9) expresses more forcefully the continuing nature of the psalmist’s distress.
[43:2] 33 sn Walk around mourning. See Ps 38:6 for a similar statement.
[45:24] 34 tn Heb “‘Yes, in the Lord,’ one says about me, ‘is deliverance and strength.’”
[45:24] 35 tn Heb “will come to him and be ashamed.”
[45:2] 36 tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) makes little, if any, sense here. It is probably a corruption of an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”).
[45:2] 37 tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”
[1:9] 38 tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.
[1:9] 39 tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.
[1:9] 40 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.
[4:13] 41 tn The Greek word translated “all things” is in emphatic position at the beginning of the Greek sentence.
[4:13] 42 tc Although some excellent witnesses lack explicit reference to the one strengthening Paul (so א* A B D* I 33 1739 lat co Cl), the majority of witnesses (א2 D2 [F G] Ψ 075 1881 Ï sy) add Χριστῷ (Cristw) here (thus, “through Christ who strengthens me”). But this kind of reading is patently secondary, and is a predictable variant. Further, the shorter reading is much harder, for it leaves the agent unspecified.
