Psalms 18:16

18:16 He reached down ¹  from above and took hold of me;

he pulled me from the surging water. ² 

Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ³  my stronghold, ⁴  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ⁵  I take shelter, ⁶ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁷  and my refuge. ⁸ 

Psalms 22:17

22:17 I can count ⁹  all my bones;

my enemies ¹⁰  are gloating over me in triumph. ¹¹ 

Matthew 27:43

27:43 He trusts in God – let God, if he wants to, deliver him now ¹²  because he said, ‘I am God’s Son’!”

[18:16]  ¹ tn Heb “stretched.” Perhaps “his hand” should be supplied by ellipsis (see Ps 144:7). In this poetic narrative context the three prefixed verbal forms in this verse are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

[18:16]  ² tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 4 and Ps 144:7).

[18:2]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ⁸ 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.”

[22:17]  ⁹ tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 17-18 draw attention to the progressive nature of the action.

[22:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they.” The masculine form indicates the enemies are in view. The referent (the psalmist’s enemies) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[22:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they gaze, they look upon me.”

[27:43]  ¹² sn An allusion to Ps 22:8.