Psalms 18:46

18:46 The Lord is alive! ¹ 

My protector ²  is praiseworthy! ³ 

The God who delivers me ⁴  is exalted as king! ⁵ 

Psalms 25:5

25:5 Guide me into your truth ⁶  and teach me.

For you are the God who delivers me;

on you I rely all day long.

Psalms 62:7

62:7 God delivers me and exalts me;

God is my strong protector and my shelter. ⁷ 

Psalms 18:2

18:2 The Lord is my high ridge, ⁸  my stronghold, ⁹  my deliverer.

My God is my rocky summit where ¹⁰  I take shelter, ¹¹ 

my shield, the horn that saves me, ¹²  and my refuge. ¹³ 

Psalms 27:9

27:9 Do not reject me! ¹⁴ 

Do not push your servant away in anger!

You are my deliverer! ¹⁵ 

Do not forsake or abandon me,

O God who vindicates me!

[18:46]  ¹ 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]  ² tn Heb “my rocky cliff,” which is a metaphor for protection. See similar phrases in vv. 2, 31.

[18:46]  ³ tn Or “blessed [i.e., praised] be.”

[18:46]  ⁴ tn Heb “the God of my deliverance.” 2 Sam 22:48 reads, “the God of the rocky cliff of my deliverance.”

[18:46]  ⁵ 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).

[25:5]  ⁶ sn The Lord’s commandments are referred to as truth here because they are a trustworthy and accurate expression of the divine will.

[62:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “upon God [is] my deliverance and my glory, the high rocky summit of my strength, my shelter [is] in God.”

[18:2]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Or “in whom.”

[18:2]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the horn of my salvation”; or “my saving horn.”

[18:2]  ²¹ 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.”

[27:9]  ²¹ tn Heb “do not hide your face from me.” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[27:9]  ²² tn Or “[source of] help.”