Psalms 18:29-50

18:29 Indeed, ¹  with your help ²  I can charge against ³  an army; ⁴ 

by my God’s power ⁵  I can jump over a wall. ⁶ 

18:30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner; ⁷ 

the Lord’s promise ⁸  is reliable; ⁹ 

he is a shield to all who take shelter ¹⁰  in him.

18:31 Indeed, ¹¹  who is God besides the Lord?

Who is a protector ¹²  besides our God? ¹³ 

18:32 The one true God ¹⁴  gives ¹⁵  me strength; ¹⁶ 

he removes ¹⁷  the obstacles in my way. ¹⁸ 

18:33 He gives me the agility of a deer; ¹⁹ 

he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain. ²⁰ 

18:34 He trains my hands for battle; ²¹ 

my arms can bend even the strongest bow. ²² 

18:35 You give me your protective shield; ²³ 

your right hand supports me; ²⁴ 

your willingness to help ²⁵  enables me to prevail. ²⁶ 

18:36 You widen my path; ²⁷ 

my feet ²⁸  do not slip.

18:37 I chase my enemies and catch ²⁹  them;

I do not turn back until I wipe them out.

18:38 I beat them ³⁰  to death; ³¹ 

they fall at my feet. ³² 

18:39 You give me strength ³³  for battle;

you make my foes kneel before me. ³⁴ 

18:40 You make my enemies retreat; ³⁵ 

I destroy those who hate me. ³⁶ 

18:41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them; ³⁷ 

they cry out to the Lord, ³⁸  but he does not answer them.

18:42 I grind them as fine windblown dust; ³⁹ 

I beat them underfoot ⁴⁰  like clay ⁴¹  in the streets.

18:43 You rescue me from a hostile army; ⁴² 

you make me ⁴³  a leader of nations;

people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects. ⁴⁴ 

18:44 When they hear of my exploits, they submit to me. ⁴⁵ 

Foreigners are powerless ⁴⁶  before me;

18:45 foreigners lose their courage; ⁴⁷ 

they shake with fear ⁴⁸  as they leave ⁴⁹  their strongholds. ⁵⁰ 

18:46 The Lord is alive! ⁵¹ 

My protector ⁵²  is praiseworthy! ⁵³ 

The God who delivers me ⁵⁴  is exalted as king! ⁵⁵ 

18:47 The one true God ⁵⁶  completely vindicates me; ⁵⁷ 

he makes nations submit to me. ⁵⁸ 

18:48 He delivers me ⁵⁹  from my enemies;

you snatch me away ⁶⁰  from those who attack me; ⁶¹ 

you rescue me from violent men.

18:49 So I will give you thanks before the nations, ⁶²  O Lord!

I will sing praises to you! ⁶³ 

18:50 He ⁶⁴  gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ⁶⁵ 

he is faithful ⁶⁶  to his chosen ruler, ⁶⁷ 

to David and his descendants ⁶⁸  forever.” ⁶⁹ 

Psalms 18:1-5

Psalm 18 ⁷⁰ 

For the music director; by the Lord’s servant David, who sang ⁷¹  to the Lord the words of this song when ⁷²  the Lord rescued him from the power ⁷³  of all his enemies, including Saul. ⁷⁴ 

18:1 He said: ⁷⁵ 

“I love ⁷⁶  you, Lord, my source of strength! ⁷⁷ 

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ⁷⁸  my stronghold, ⁷⁹  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ⁸⁰  I take shelter, ⁸¹ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ⁸²  and my refuge. ⁸³ 

18:3 I called ⁸⁴  to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, ⁸⁵ 

and I was delivered from my enemies.

18:4 The waves ⁸⁶  of death engulfed me,

the currents ⁸⁷  of chaos ⁸⁸  overwhelmed me. ⁸⁹ 

18:5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, ⁹⁰ 

the snares of death trapped me. ⁹¹ 

Psalms 18:9

18:9 He made the sky sink ⁹²  as he descended;

a thick cloud was under his feet.

[18:29]  ¹ tn Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.

[18:29]  ² tn Heb “by you.”

[18:29]  ³ tn Heb “I will run.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 29 indicate the subject’s potential or capacity to perform an action. Though one might expect a preposition to follow the verb here, this need not be the case with the verb רוּץ (ruts; see 1 Sam 17:22). Some emend the Qal to a Hiphil form of the verb and translate, “I put to flight [Heb “cause to run”] an army.”

[18:29]  ⁴ tn More specifically, the noun גְּדוּד (gÿdud) refers to a raiding party or to a contingent of troops.

[18:29]  ⁵ tn Heb “and by my God.”

[18:29]  ⁶ sn I can jump over a wall. The psalmist uses hyperbole to emphasize his God-given military superiority.

[18:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “[As for] the God, his way is blameless.” The term הָאֵל (ha’el, “the God”) stands as a nominative (or genitive) absolute in apposition to the resumptive pronominal suffix on “way.” The prefixed article emphasizes his distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). God’s “way” in this context refers to his protective and salvific acts in fulfillment of his promise (see also Deut 32:4; Pss 67:2; 77:13 [note vv. 11-12, 14]; 103:7; 138:5; 145:17).

[18:30]  ⁸ sn The Lord’s promise. In the ancient Near East kings would typically seek and receive oracles from their god(s) prior to battle. For examples, see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 241-42.

[18:30]  ⁹ tn Heb “the word of the Lord is purified.” The Lord’s “word” probably refers here to his oracle(s) of victory delivered to the psalmist before the battle(s) described in the following context. See also Pss 12:5-7 and 138:2-3. David frequently received such oracles before going into battle (see 1 Sam 23:2, 4-5, 10-12; 30:8; 2 Sam 5:19). The Lord’s word of promise is absolutely reliable; it is compared to metal that has been refined in fire and cleansed of impurities. See Ps 12:6.

[18:30]  ¹⁰ sn Take shelter. See the note on the word “shelter” in v. 2.

[18:31]  ¹³ tn Or “for.”

[18:31]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor of divine protection. See v. 2, where the Hebrew term צוּר (tsur) is translated “rocky summit.”

[18:31]  ¹⁵ tn The rhetorical questions anticipate the answer, “No one.” In this way the psalmist indicates that the Lord is the only true God and reliable source of protection. See also Deut 32:39, where the Lord affirms that he is the only true God. Note as well the emphasis on his role as protector (Heb “rocky cliff,” צוּר, tsur) in Deut 32:4, 15, 17-18, 30.

[18:32]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the God.” The prefixed article emphasizes the Lord’s distinctiveness as the one true God (cf. Deut 33:26). See v. 30.

[18:32]  ²⁰ tn Heb “is the one who clothes.” For similar language see 1 Sam 2:4; Pss 65:6; 93:1. The psalmist employs a generalizing hymnic style in vv. 32-34; he uses participles in vv. 32a, 33a, and 34a to describe what God characteristically does on his behalf.

[18:32]  ²¹ tn 2 Sam 22:33 reads, “the God is my strong refuge.”

[18:32]  ²² tn The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive here carries along the generalizing force of the preceding participle.

[18:32]  ²³ tn Heb “he made my path smooth.” The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “smooth”) usually carries a moral or ethical connotation, “blameless, innocent.” However, in Ps 18:33 it refers to a pathway free of obstacles. The reality underlying the metaphor is the psalmist’s ability to charge into battle without tripping (see vv. 33, 36).

[18:33]  ²⁵ tn Heb “[the one who] makes my feet like [those of ] a deer.”

[18:33]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and on my high places he makes me walk.” The imperfect verbal form emphasizes God’s characteristic provision. The psalmist compares his agility in battle to the ability of a deer to negotiate rugged, high terrain without falling or being injured.

[18:34]  ³¹ sn He trains my hands. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[18:34]  ³² tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms”; or “my arms bend a bow of bronze.” The verb נָחַת (nakhat) apparently means “pull back, bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The third feminine singular verbal form appears to agree with the feminine singular noun קֶשֶׁת (qeshet, “bow”). In this case the verb must be taken as Niphal (passive). However, it is possible that “my arms” is the subject of the verb and “bow” the object. In this case the verb is Piel (active). For other examples of a feminine singular verb being construed with a plural noun, see GKC 464 §145.k.

[18:35]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and you give to me the shield of your deliverance.”

[18:35]  ³⁸ tc 2 Sam 22:36 omits this line, perhaps due to homoioarcton. A scribe’s eye may have jumped from the vav (ו) prefixed to “your right hand” to the vav prefixed to the following “and your answer,” causing the copyist to omit by accident the intervening words (“your right hand supports me and”).

[18:35]  ³⁹ tn The MT of Ps 18:35 appears to read, “your condescension,” apparently referring to God’s willingness to intervene (cf. NIV “you stoop down”). However, the noun עֲנָוָה (’anavah) elsewhere means “humility” and is used only here of God. The form עַנְוַתְךָ (’anvatÿkha) may be a fully written form of the suffixed infinitive construct of עָנָה (’anah, “to answer”; a defectively written form of the infinitive appears in 2 Sam 22:36). In this case the psalmist refers to God’s willingness to answer his prayer; one might translate, “your favorable response.”

[18:35]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “makes me great.”

[18:36]  ⁴³ tn Heb “you make wide my step under me.” “Step” probably refers metonymically to the path upon which the psalmist walks. Another option is to translate, “you widen my stride.” This would suggest that God gives the psalmist the capacity to run quickly.

[18:36]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “lower legs.” On the meaning of the Hebrew noun, which occurs only here, see H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 112. A cognate Akkadian noun means “lower leg.”

[18:37]  ⁴⁹ tn 2 Sam 22:38 reads “destroy.”

[18:38]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “smash them.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “and I wiped them out and smashed them.”

[18:38]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “until they are unable to rise.” 2 Sam 22:39 reads, “until they do not rise.”

[18:38]  ⁵⁷ sn They fall at my feet. For ancient Near Eastern parallels, see O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 294-97.

[18:39]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “clothed me.” See v. 32.

[18:39]  ⁶² tn Heb “you make those who rise against me kneel beneath me.”

[18:40]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “and [as for] my enemies, you give to me [the] back [or “neck”].” The idiom “give [the] back” means “to cause [one] to turn the back and run away.” Cf. Exod 23:27.

[18:40]  ⁶⁸ sn Those who hate me. See v. 17, where it is the Lord who delivered the psalmist from those who hated him.

[18:41]  ⁷³ tn Heb “but there is no deliverer.”

[18:41]  ⁷⁴ tn Heb “to the Lord.” The words “they cry out” are supplied in the translation because they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[18:42]  ⁷⁹ tn Heb “I pulverize them like dust upon the face of the wind.” The phrase “upon the face of” here means “before.” 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “like dust of the earth.”

[18:42]  ⁸⁰ tc Ps 18:42 reads, “I empty them out” (Hiphil of ריק), while 2 Sam 22:43 reads, “I crush them, I stomp on them” (juxtaposing the synonyms דקק and רקע). It is likely that the latter is a conflation of variants. One, but not both, of the verbs in 2 Sam 22:43 is probably original; “empty out” does not form as good a parallel with “grind, pulverize” in the parallel line.

[18:42]  ⁸¹ tn Or “mud.”

[18:43]  ⁸⁵ tn Heb “from the strivings of a people.” In this context the Hebrew term רִיב (riv, “striving”) probably has a militaristic sense (as in Judg 12:2; Isa 41:11), and עָם (’am, “people”) probably refers more specifically to an army (for other examples, see the verses listed in BDB 766 s.v. I עַם, עָם 2.d). Some understand the phrase as referring to attacks by the psalmist’s own countrymen, the “nation” being Israel. However, foreign enemies appear to be in view; note the reference to “nations” in the following line.

[18:43]  ⁸⁶ tn 2 Sam 22:44 reads, “you keep me.”

[18:43]  ⁸⁷ tn Heb “a people whom I did not know serve me.” In this context “know” (יָדַע, yada’) probably refers to formal recognition by treaty. People who were once not under the psalmist’s authority now willingly submit to his rulership to avoid being conquered militarily (see vv. 44-45). The language may recall the events recorded in 2 Sam 8:9-10 and 10:19.

[18:44]  ⁹¹ tn Heb “at a report of an ear they submit to me.” The report of the psalmist’s exploits is so impressive that those who hear it submit to his rulership without putting up a fight.

[18:44]  ⁹² tn For the meaning “be weak, powerless” for כָּחַשׁ (kakhash), see Ps 109:24. The next line (see v. 45a), in which “foreigners” are also mentioned, favors this interpretation. Another option is to translate “cower in fear” (see Deut 33:29; Pss 66:3; 81:15; cf. NIV “cringe”; NRSV “came cringing”).

[18:45]  ⁹⁷ tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

[18:45]  ⁹⁸ tn The meaning of חָרַג (kharag, “shake”) is established on the basis of cognates in Arabic and Aramaic. 2 Sam 22:46 reads חָגַר (khagar), which might mean here, “[they] come limping” (on the basis of a cognate in postbiblical Hebrew). The normal meaning for חָגַר (“gird”) makes little sense here.

[18:45]  ⁹⁹ tn Heb “from.”

[18:45]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.

[18:46]  ¹⁰³ tn Elsewhere the construction חַי־יְהוָה (khay-yÿhvah) is used exclusively as an oath formula, “as surely as the Lord lives,” but this is not the case here, for no oath follows. Here the statement is an affirmation of the Lord’s active presence and intervention. In contrast to pagan deities, he demonstrates he is the living God by rescuing and empowering the psalmist.

[18:46]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection. See similar phrases in vv. 2, 31.

[18:46]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”

[18:46]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Heb “the God of my deliverance.” 2 Sam 22:48 reads, “the God of the rocky cliff of my deliverance.”

[18:46]  ¹⁰⁷ 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).

[18:47]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Heb “the God.” See v. 32.

[18:47]  ¹¹⁰ tn Heb “is the one who grants vengeance to me.” The plural form of the noun indicates degree here, suggesting complete vengeance or vindication.

[18:47]  ¹¹¹ tn Heb “he subdues nations beneath me.” On the meaning of the verb דָּבַר (davar, “subdue,” a homonym of דָּבַר, davar, “speak”), see HALOT 209-10 s.v. I דבר. See also Ps 47:3 and 2 Chr 22:10. 2 Sam 22:48 reads “and [is the one who] brings down nations beneath me.”

[18:48]  ¹¹⁵ tn Heb “[the one who] delivers me.” 2 Sam 22:49 reads “and [the one who] brings me out.”

[18:48]  ¹¹⁶ tn Heb “lifts me up.” In light of the preceding and following references to deliverance, the verb רום probably here refers to being rescued from danger (see Ps 9:13). However, it could mean “exalt, elevate” here, indicating that the Lord has given the psalmist victory over his enemies and forced them to acknowledge the psalmist’s superiority (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[18:48]  ¹¹⁷ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[18:49]  ¹²¹ sn I will give you thanks before the nations. This probably alludes to the fact that the psalmist will praise the Lord in the presence of the defeated nations when they, as his subjects, bring their tribute payments. Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness. See J. H. Eaton, Kingship and the Psalms (SBT), 182-85.

[18:49]  ¹²² tn Heb “to your name.” God’s “name” refers metonymically to his divine characteristics as suggested by his name, in this case “Lord,” the primary name of Israel’s covenant God which suggests his active presence with his people (see Exod 3:12-15).

[18:50]  ¹²⁷ tn Or “the one who.”

[18:50]  ¹²⁸ tn Heb “magnifies the victories of his king.” “His king” refers to the psalmist, the Davidic king whom God has chosen to rule Israel.

[18:50]  ¹²⁹ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty.”

[18:50]  ¹³⁰ tn Heb “his anointed [one],” i.e., the psalmist/Davidic king. See Ps 2:2.

[18:50]  ¹³¹ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[18:50]  ¹³² sn If David is the author of the psalm (see the superscription), then he here anticipates that God will continue to demonstrate loyalty to his descendants who succeed him. If the author is a later Davidic king, then he views the divine favor he has experienced as the outworking of God’s faithful promises to David his ancestor.

[18:1]  ¹³³ 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]  ¹³⁴ tn Heb “spoke.”

[18:1]  ¹³⁵ tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

[18:1]  ¹³⁶ tn Heb “hand.”

[18:1]  ¹³⁷ tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”

[18:1]  ¹³⁸ 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]  ¹³⁹ 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]  ¹⁴⁰ 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]  ¹³⁹ 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]  ¹⁴⁰ 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]  ¹⁴¹ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ¹⁴² 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]  ¹⁴³ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ¹⁴⁴ 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.”

[18:3]  ¹⁴⁵ tn In this song of thanksgiving, where the psalmist recalls how the Lord delivered him, the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect.

[18:3]  ¹⁴⁶ tn Heb “worthy of praise, I cried out [to] the Lord.” Some take מְהֻלָּל (mÿhullal, “worthy of praise”) with what precedes and translate, “the praiseworthy one,” or “praiseworthy.” However, the various epithets in vv. 1-2 have the first person pronominal suffix, unlike מְהֻלָּל. If one follows the traditional verse division and takes מְהֻלָּל with what follows, it is best understood as substantival and as appositional to יְהוָה (yÿhvah): “[to the] praiseworthy one I cried out, [to the] Lord.”

[18:4]  ¹⁵¹ tc Ps 18:4 reads “ropes,” while 2 Sam 22:5 reads “waves.” The reading of the psalm has been influenced by the next verse (note “ropes of Sheol”) and perhaps also by Ps 116:3 (where “ropes of death” appears, as here, with the verb אָפַף, ’afaf). However, the parallelism of v. 4 (note “currents” in the next line) favors the reading “waves.” While the verb אָפַף is used with “ropes” as subject in Ps 116:3, it can also be used with engulfing “waters” as subject (see Jonah 2:5). Death is compared to surging waters in v. 4 and to a hunter in v. 5.

[18:4]  ¹⁵² tn The Hebrew noun נַחַל (nakhal) usually refers to a river or stream, but in this context the plural form likely refers to the currents of the sea (see vv. 15-16).

[18:4]  ¹⁵³ tn The noun בְלִיַּעַל (vÿliyya’al) is used here as an epithet for death. Elsewhere it is a common noun meaning “wickedness, uselessness.” It is often associated with rebellion against authority and other crimes that result in societal disorder and anarchy. The phrase “man/son of wickedness” refers to one who opposes God and the order he has established. The term becomes an appropriate title for death, which, through human forces, launches an attack against God’s chosen servant.

[18:4]  ¹⁵⁴ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. (Note the perfect verbal form in the parallel/preceding line.) The verb בָּעַת (ba’at) sometimes by metonymy carries the nuance “frighten,” but the parallelism (see “engulfed”) favors the meaning “overwhelm” here.

[18:5]  ¹⁵⁷ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[18:5]  ¹⁵⁸ tn Heb “confronted me.”

[18:9]  ¹⁶³ tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “[cause to] bend, bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm.