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Psalms 18:25 World English Bible (WEB)

25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.

Cross Reference

Matthew 18:33-35 WEB

Shouldn't you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?' His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors, until he should pay all that was due to him. So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don't each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds."

Psalms 41:1-4 WEB

> Blessed is he who considers the poor: Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil. Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive, He shall be blessed on the earth, And he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies. Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed, And restore him from his bed of illness. I said, "Yahweh, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you."

Psalms 112:4-6 WEB

Light dawns in the darkness for the upright, Gracious, merciful, and righteous. It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends. He will maintain his cause in judgment. For he will never be shaken. The righteous will be remembered forever.

Isaiah 57:1-2 WEB

The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil [to come]. He enters into peace; they rest in their beds, each one who walks in his uprightness.

Ezekiel 18:25-30 WEB

Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren't your ways unequal? When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet says the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, says the Lord Yahweh. Return you, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Luke 6:35-38 WEB

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, Even as your Father is also merciful. Don't judge, And you won't be judged. Don't condemn, And you won't be condemned. Set free, And you will be set free. "Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be given to you.{literally, into your bosom.} For with the same measure you measure it will be measured back to you."

Isaiah 58:7-8 WEB

Isn't it to deal your bread to the hungry, and that you bring the poor who are cast out to your house? when you see the naked, that you cover him; and that you not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth as the morning, and your healing shall spring forth speedily; and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh shall by your rearward.

Commentary on Psalms 18 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible


PSALM 18

Ps 18:1-50. "The servant of the Lord," which in the Hebrew precedes "David," is a significant part of the title (and not a mere epithet of David), denoting the inspired character of the song, as the production of one entrusted with the execution of God's will. He was not favored by God because he served Him, but served Him because selected and appointed by God in His sovereign mercy. After a general expression of praise and confidence in God for the future, David gives a sublimely poetical description of God's deliverance, which he characterizes as an illustration of God's justice to the innocent and His righteous government. His own prowess and success are celebrated as the results of divine aid, and, confident of its continuance, he closes in terms of triumphant praise. 2Sa 22:1-51 is a copy of this Psalm, with a few unimportant variations recorded there as a part of the history, and repeated here as part of a collection designed for permanent use.

1. I will love thee—with most tender affection.

2, 3. The various terms used describe God as an object of the most implicit and reliable trust.

rock—literally, "a cleft rock," for concealment.

strength—a firm, immovable rock.

horn of my salvation—The horn, as the means of attack or defense of some of the strongest animals, is a frequent emblem of power or strength efficiently exercised (compare De 33:17; Lu 1:69).

tower—literally, "high place," beyond reach of danger.

3. to be praised—for past favors, and worthy of confidence.

4. sorrows—literally, "bands as of a net" (Ps 116:3).

floods—denotes "multitude."

5. death—and hell (compare Ps 16:10) are personified as man's great enemies (compare Re 20:13, 14).

prevented—encountered me, crossed my path, and endangered my safety. He does not mean he was in their power.

6. He relates his methods to procure relief when distressed, and his success.

temple—(Compare Ps 11:4).

7, 8. God's coming described in figures drawn from His appearance on Sinai (compare De 32:22).

8. smoke out … his nostrils—bitter in His wrath (compare Ps 74:1).

by it—that is, the fire (Ex 19:18).

9. darkness—or, a dense cloud (Ex 19:16; De 5:22).

10. cherub—angelic agents (compare Ge 3:24), the figures of which were placed over the ark (1Sa 4:4), representing God's dwelling; used here to enhance the majesty of the divine advent. Angels and winds may represent all rational and irrational agencies of God's providence (compare Ps 104:3, 4).

did fly—Rapidity of motion adds to the grandeur of the scene.

11. dark waters—or, clouds heavy with vapor.

12. Out of this obscurity, which impresses the beholder with awe and dread, He reveals Himself by sudden light and the means of His terrible wrath (Jos 10:11; Ps 78:47).

13. The storm breaks forth—thunder follows lightning, and hail with repeated lightning, as often seen, like balls or coals of fire, succeed (Ex 9:23).

14. The fiery brightness of lightning, in shape like burning arrows rapidly shot through the air, well represents the most terrible part of an awful storm. Before the terrors of such a scene the enemies are confounded and overthrown in dismay.

15. The tempest of the air is attended by appropriate results on earth. The language, though not expressive of any special physical changes, represents the utter subversion of the order of nature. Before such a God none can stand.

16-19. from above—As seated on a throne, directing these terrible scenes, God—

sent—His hand (Ps 144:7), reached down to His humble worshipper, and delivered him.

many waters—calamities (Job 30:14; Ps 124:4, 5).

18. prevented—(Ps 18:3).

19. a large place—denotes safety or relief, as contrasted with the straits of distress (Ps 4:1). All his deliverance is ascribed to God, and this sublime poetical representation is given to inspire the pious with confidence and the wicked with dread.

20-24. The statements of innocence, righteousness, &c., refer, doubtless, to his personal and official conduct and his purposes, during all the trials to which he was subjected in Saul's persecutions and Absalom's rebellions, as well as the various wars in which he had been engaged as the head and defender of God's Church and people.

23. upright before him—In my relation to God I have been perfect as to all parts of His law. The perfection does not relate to degree.

mine iniquity—perhaps the thought of his heart to kill Saul (1Sa 24:6). That David does not allude to all his conduct, in all relations, is evident from Ps 51:1, &c.

25-27. God renders to men according to their deeds in a penal, not vindictive, sense (Le 26:23, 24).

merciful—or, "kind" (Ps 4:3).

26. froward—contrary to.

27. the afflicted people—that is, the humbly pious.

high looks—pride (Ps 101:5; 131:1).

28. To give one light is to make prosperous (Job 18:5, 6; 21:17).

thou—is emphatic, as if to say, I can fully confide in Thee for help.

29. And this on past experience in his military life, set forth by these figures.

30-32. God's perfection is the source of his own, which has resulted from his trust on the one hand, and God's promised help on the other.

tried—"as metals are tried by fire and proved genuine" (Ps 12:6). Shield (Ps 3:3). Girding was essential to free motion on account of the looseness of Oriental dresses; hence it is an expressive figure for describing the gift of strength.

33-36. God's help farther described. He gives swiftness to pursue or elude his enemies (Hab 3:19), strength, protection, and a firm footing.

35. thy gentleness—as applied to God—condescension—or that which He gives, in the sense of humility (compare Pr 22:4).

36. enlarged my steps—made ample room (compare Pr 4:12).

37-41. In actual conflict, with God's aid, the defeat of his enemies is certain. A present and continued success is expressed.

39. that rose up against me—literally, "insurgents" (Ps 3:1; 44:5).

40. given me the necks—literally, "backs of the necks"; made them retreat (Ex 23:27; Jos 7:8).

42. This conquest was complete.

43-45. Not only does He conquer civil foes, but foreigners, who are driven from their places of refuge.

44. submit, &c.—(compare Margin)—that is, show a forced subjection.

46. The Lord liveth—contrasts Him with idols (1Co 8:4).

47, 48. avengeth me—His cause is espoused by God as His own.

48. liftest me up—to safety and honors.

49, 50. Paul (Ro 15:9) quotes from this doxology to show that under the Old Testament economy, others than the Jews were regarded as subjects of that spiritual government of which David was head, and in which character his deliverances and victories were typical of the more illustrious triumphs of David's greater Son. The language of Ps 18:50 justifies this view in its distinct allusion to the great promise (compare 2Sa 7:12). In all David's successes he saw the pledges of a fulfilment of that promise, and he mourned in all his adversities, not only in view of his personal suffering, but because he saw in them evidences of danger to the great interests which were committed to his keeping. It is in these aspects of his character that we are led properly to appreciate the importance attached to his sorrows and sufferings, his joys and successes.