Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ¹  my stronghold, ²  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ³  I take shelter, ⁴ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁵  and my refuge. ⁶ 

Psalms 62:6

62:6 He alone is my protector ⁷  and deliverer.

He is my refuge; ⁸  I will not be upended. ⁹ 

Deuteronomy 32:4

32:4 As for the Rock, ¹⁰  his work is perfect,

for all his ways are just.

He is a reliable God who is never unjust,

he is fair ¹¹  and upright.

[18:2]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ⁶ 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.”

[62:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “my high rocky summit.”

[62:6]  ⁸ tn Or “my elevated place” (see Ps 18:2).

[62:6]  ⁹ sn The wording is identical to that of v. 2, except that רַבָּה (rabbah, “greatly”) does not appear in v. 6.

[32:4]  ¹⁰ tc The LXX reads Θεός (qeos, “God”) for the MT’s “Rock.”

[32:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “just” (KJV, NAB, NRSV, NLT) or “righteous” (NASB).