Psalms 18:1

Context

Psalm 18¹

For the music director; by the Lord’s servant David, who sang² to the Lord the words of this song when³ the Lord rescued him from the power⁴ of all his enemies, including Saul.⁵

18:1 He said:⁶

“I love⁷ you, Lord, my source of strength!⁸

Psalms 13:1-6

Context

Psalm 13⁹

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me?¹⁰

How long will you pay no attention to me?¹¹

13:2 How long must I worry,¹²

and suffer in broad daylight?¹³

How long will my enemy gloat over me?¹⁴

13:3 Look at me!¹⁵ Answer me, O Lord my God!

Revive me,¹⁶ or else I will die!¹⁷

13:4 Then¹⁸ my enemy will say, “I have defeated him!”

Then¹⁹ my foes will rejoice because I am upended.

13:5 But I²⁰ trust in your faithfulness.

May I rejoice because of your deliverance!²¹

13:6 I will sing praises²² to the Lord

when he vindicates me.²³

[18:1] ¹sn 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] ²tn Heb “spoke.”

[18:1] ³tn Heb “in the day,” or “at the time.”

[18:1] ⁴tn Heb “hand.”

[18:1] ⁵tn Heb “and from the hand of Saul.”

[18:1] ⁶tn 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] ⁷tn 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] ⁸tn 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.”

[13:1] ⁹sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1] ¹⁰tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1] ¹¹tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[13:2] ¹⁷tn Heb “How long will I put counsel in my being?”

[13:2] ¹⁸tn Heb “[with] grief in my heart by day.”

[13:2] ¹⁹tn Heb “be exalted over me.” Perhaps one could translate, “How long will my enemy defeat me?”

[13:3] ²⁵tn Heb “see.”

[13:3] ²⁶tn Heb “Give light [to] my eyes.” The Hiphil of אוּר (’ur), when used elsewhere with “eyes” as object, refers to the law of God giving moral enlightenment (Ps 19:8), to God the creator giving literal eyesight to all people (Prov 29:13), and to God giving encouragement to his people (Ezra 9:8). Here the psalmist pictures himself as being on the verge of death. His eyes are falling shut and, if God does not intervene soon, he will “fall asleep” for good.

[13:3] ²⁷tn Heb “or else I will sleep [in?] the death.” Perhaps the statement is elliptical, “I will sleep [the sleep] of death,” or “I will sleep [with the sleepers in] death.”

[13:4] ³³tn Heb “or else.”

[13:4] ³⁴tn Heb “or else.”

[13:5] ⁴¹tn The grammatical construction used here (conjunction with independent pronoun) highlights the contrast between the psalmist’s defeated condition envisioned in v. 4 and confident attitude he displays in v. 5.

[13:5] ⁴²tn Heb “may my heart rejoice in your deliverance.” The verb form is jussive. Having expressed his trust in God’s faithful character and promises, the psalmist prays that his confidence will prove to be well-placed. “Heart” is used here of the seat of the emotions.

[13:6] ⁴⁹tn The verb form is cohortative, indicating the psalmist’s resolve (or vow) to praise the Lord when deliverance arrives.

[13:6] ⁵⁰tn Or “for he will have vindicated me.” The verb form indicates a future perfect here. The idiom גָמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense.