34 He teacheth H3925 my hands H3027 to war, H4421 so that a bow H7198 of steel H5154 is broken H5181 by mine arms. H2220
[[A Psalm of David.]] H1732 Blessed H1288 be the LORD H3068 my strength, H6697 which teacheth H3925 my hands H3027 to war, H7128 and my fingers H676 to fight: H4421
He maketh wars H4421 to cease H7673 unto the end H7097 of the earth; H776 he breaketh H7665 the bow, H7198 and cutteth H7112 the spear H2595 in sunder; H7112 he burneth H8313 the chariot H5699 in the fire. H784
And for a spirit H7307 of judgment H4941 to him that sitteth H3427 in judgment, H4941 and for strength H1369 to them that turn H7725 the battle H4421 to the gate. H8179
Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 to his anointed, H4899 to Cyrus, H3566 whose right hand H3225 I have holden, H2388 to subdue H7286 nations H1471 before H6440 him; and I will loose H6605 the loins H4975 of kings, H4428 to open H6605 before H6440 him the two leaved gates; H1817 and the gates H8179 shall not be shut; H5462
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 18
Commentary on Psalms 18 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 18
This psalm we met with before, in the history of David's life, 2 Sa. 22. That was the first edition of it; here we have it revived, altered a little, and fitted for the service of the church. It is David's thanksgiving for the many deliverances God had wrought for him; these he desired always to preserve fresh in his own memory and to diffuse and entail the knowledge of them. It is an admirable composition. The poetry is very fine, the images are bold, the expressions lofty, and every word is proper and significant; but the piety far exceeds the poetry. Holy faith, and love, and joy, and praise, and hope, are here lively, active, and upon the wing.
To the chief musician, A psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies.
Psa 18:1-19
The title gives us the occasion of penning this psalm; we had it before (2 Sa. 22:1), only here we are told that the psalm was delivered to the chief musician, or precentor, in the temple-songs. Note, The private compositions of good men, designed by them for their own use, may be serviceable to the public, that others may not only borrow light from their candle, but heat from their fire. Examples sometimes teach better than rules. And David is here called the servant of the Lord, as Moses was, not only as every good man is God's servant, but because, with his sceptre, with his sword, and with his pen, he greatly promoted the interests of God's kingdom in Israel. It was more his honour that he was a servant of the Lord than that he was king of a great kingdom; and so he himself accounted it (Ps. 116:16): O Lord! truly I am thy servant. In these verses,
In singing this we must triumph in God, and trust in him: and we may apply it to Christ the Son of David. The sorrows of death surrounded him; in his distress he prayed (Heb. 5:7); God made the earth to shake and tremble, and the rocks to cleave, and brought him out, in his resurrection, into a large place, because he delighted in him and in his undertaking.
Psa 18:20-28
Here,
Let those that walk in darkness, and labour under many discouragements in singing these verses, encourage themselves that God himself will be a light to them.
Psa 18:29-50
In these verses,
In singing these verses we must give God the glory of the victories of Christ and his church hitherto and of all the deliverances and advancements of the gospel kingdom, and encourage ourselves and one another with an assurance that the church militant will be shortly triumphant, will be eternally so.