Psalms 18:45-50

Context

18:45 foreigners lose their courage;¹

they shake with fear² as they leave³ their strongholds.⁴

18:46 The Lord is alive!⁵

My protector⁶ is praiseworthy!⁷

The God who delivers me⁸ is exalted as king!⁹

18:47 The one true God¹⁰ completely vindicates me;¹¹

he makes nations submit to me.¹²

18:48 He delivers me¹³ from my enemies;

you snatch me away¹⁴ from those who attack me;¹⁵

you rescue me from violent men.

18:49 So I will give you thanks before the nations,¹⁶ O Lord!

I will sing praises to you!¹⁷

18:50 He¹⁸ gives his chosen king magnificent victories;¹⁹

he is faithful²⁰ to his chosen ruler,²¹

to David and his descendants²² forever.”²³

[18:45] ¹tn Heb “wither, wear out.”

[18:45] ²tn 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] ³tn Heb “from.”

[18:45] ⁴tn Heb “their prisons.” The besieged cities of the foreigners are compared to prisons.

[18:46] ⁵tn 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] ⁶tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection. See similar phrases in vv. 2, 31.

[18:46] ⁷tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”

[18:46] ⁸tn Heb “the God of my deliverance.” 2 Sam 22:48 reads, “the God of the rocky cliff of my deliverance.”

[18:46] ⁹tn 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] ¹⁰tn Heb “the God.” See v. 32.

[18:47] ¹¹tn 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] ¹²tn 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] ¹³tn Heb “[the one who] delivers me.” 2 Sam 22:49 reads “and [the one who] brings me out.”

[18:48] ¹⁴tn 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] ¹⁵tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[18:49] ¹⁶sn 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] ¹⁷tn 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] ¹⁸tn Or “the one who.”

[18:50] ¹⁹tn 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] ²⁰tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty.”

[18:50] ²¹tn Heb “his anointed [one],” i.e., the psalmist/Davidic king. See Ps 2:2.

[18:50] ²²tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[18:50] ²³sn 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.