Psalms 18:48-50

18:48 He delivers me ¹  from my enemies;

you snatch me away ²  from those who attack me; ³ 

you rescue me from violent men.

18:49 So I will give you thanks before the nations, ⁴  O Lord!

I will sing praises to you! ⁵ 

18:50 He ⁶  gives his chosen king magnificent victories; ⁷ 

he is faithful ⁸  to his chosen ruler, ⁹ 

to David and his descendants ¹⁰  forever.” ¹¹ 

[18:48]  ¹ tn Heb “[the one who] delivers me.” 2 Sam 22:49 reads “and [the one who] brings me out.”

[18:48]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb “from those who rise against me.”

[18:49]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “the one who.”

[18:50]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ tn Heb “[the one who] does loyalty.”

[18:50]  ⁹ tn Heb “his anointed [one],” i.e., the psalmist/Davidic king. See Ps 2:2.

[18:50]  ¹⁰ tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”

[18:50]  ¹¹ 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.