Deeper Commentary
Psa 18:1 For the Chief Musician. By David the servant of Yahweh, who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said- We naturally want to know when this time was, when David was delivered from Saul and all his enemies. Abner's words in 2 Sam. 3:18 seem relevant. He tries to persuade the elders of Israel to have David as king by arguing that "For the Lord promised David, ‘By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies’". This may then be the moment at which David sung this. We note how Nathan quotes these words back to David at the time of the Bathsheba failure: "I anointed you king over Israel, and delivered you from the hand of Saul". This would again associate these words of David with his becoming king. The Psalm concludes with a reference to David as the anointed, so this could be a Psalm composed when Saul was slain and David was finally declared king, and his anointing came to fulfilment. It is a "song" but it has no strophes (unlike most of the Psalms), perhaps because it was intended for use at a procession. But quite possibly what was originally a song of thanks at David's declaration as king over Judah was then edited by him at the end of his life. Because parts of the song allude to the promises made to him in 2 Sam. 7, which was after this accession to the throne. Further 'his enemies and Saul' suggests he had many enemies but the greatest one was Saul. This is a style found elsewhere- e.g. "Nineteen men and Asahel" (2 Sam. 2:30); "Go spy out the land and Jericho" (Josh. 2:1); "King Solomon loved many foreign women and he loved the daughter of Pharaoh" (1 Kings 11:1).
This Psalm is basically 2 Samuel 22 and there seems no reason to me to consider 2 Samuel 21-24 as anything but chronological. The day of David's deliverance from his enemies is only logically at the end of his life.
As Abner recalled, God had promised David that He would use him to deliver Israel from their enemies: "For the Lord promised David, ‘By my servant David I will rescue my people Israel from the hand of the Philistines and from the hand of all their enemies'" (2 Sam. 3:18). But David adapts this, even twists it, to apply to his personal enemies. Possibly there is here a reflection of David's narcissism, and lack of appreciation that it was not all about him, but about the good he could do for others.
David doesn't see his deliverance from Saul as God saw it. Nathan has used the very words "saved / rescued out of the hand of Saul" in condemning David: "You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul”. God saw this fact as making David's sin with Bathsheba all the more shameful. David sees this fact as demonstration that he is of pure hands and was delivered because of his own righteousness.
Perhaps in this song David is alluding to things which had not been recorded or perhaps were generally unknown- like a great theophany to him, and Divine rescue of him from certain death at the hands of his enemies. Coming out in older age with such testimonial tributes to God's grace in earlier life is psychologically credible, and what many have done. This would be similar to how the previous chapter talks about a major sin of Saul's, and its consequences, which was unknown to the Biblical record.
We note the similarity between the Hebrew words for Saul and sheol, the grave, and indeed David now goes on to thank God for saving him from death on various occasions. And yet the greatest salvation from death he experienced was that from the death penalty for his sins with Uriah and Bathsheba. But he makes no specific reference to this, unless we take his talk of being dramatically saved from some great death by a theophany, God coming down, as referring to that. And even then we wonder why he had to reference it in such an oblique and disguised manner. After all, he had vowed in Psalm 32 to publically tell the world of his salvation from the death penalty for those sins, and this song at the end of his life would seem the obvious place to do so. But he doesn't, at least not specifically.
This song quite rightly [on one level] celebrates how God had saved David from certain death in various military confrontations, and had given him great victories. But David is sanitizing his past, talking in terms of conflict-deliverance-glorious victory, just as many kings boasted. His references to God as a rock, tower and stronghold seem to have in view his deliverances from Saul; see on :49. Rocks and strongholds feature much in the record (at least ten references- 1 Sam. 22:4,5; 23:14,19,25–28; 24:1,3,23). But that was in his earlier life pre-Bathsheba, and he has little to say about the majority of his kingship after that. And David carefully omits to mention God's salvation of him from his greatest 'death'- the Divine death penalty mandated for his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband and other men to try to cover it. And he makes no more than passing allusion to the huge grace shown him in 2 Sam. 7, where he was promised a pretty well unconditional eternal salvation through resurrection to behold his future descendant reigning eternally on his throne. Like every man, David had a strong tendency to whitewash himself, assuming the passage of time had worked a kind of quasi atonement for his sins. And yet God, as predicted through Nathan at the time, worked constantly to jog and nudge David to realize the dimensions of his sin with Bathsheba and his subsequent sinful behaviour. In the hope he would come to a higher grade of repentance. All these failures in appreciation by David are a relevant challenge to all of us, especially those who have already walked many years in the Lord.
I love You, Yahweh, my strength- This bald statement "I love You" is
intentionally startling, and is the only place where we read this; usually
we read the word of God's love to man. Here, David simply tells God "I
love You".
Psa 18:2 Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge- This is the language of rocky terrain, the type where Saul chased David and God saved him multiple times.
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower- David sees that Yahweh will be a "high tower" or place of refuge at the day of future judgment (Ps. 9:8,9, quoted about this in Acts 17:31). But David feels God has been like this to him in this life (2 Sam. 22:3; Ps. 18:2; 46:7; 48:3; 59:9,16,17; 62:2; 94:22; 144:2). He therefore sees a seamless experience in his relationship with God in this life, and at the future day of judgment. God saves us right now and is a refuge for us in countless life situations; and this is the guarantee that He will be likewise at the last day.
Psa 18:3 I call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised; and I am saved
from my enemies- David's focus of all his praises upon Yahweh was
what he wanted his people to follow (Ps. 22:3). The implication of
"worthy" could imply a contrast with other gods, as in Ps. 96:4 "He is to
be feared / praised above all gods". This would confirm the hints we have
that Saul was an idolater (see on :31; Ps. 12:8; 16:4), and that idolatry
was prevalent in Israel at the time.
We can render "derided, I called to the Lord; I called for help from my enemies", in which case the allusion is to his feigning madness before Achish, calling for help and being delivered (1 Sam. 21:14). As nearly always in this song, the reference is to the events of David's glory days in his 20s and not to the bulk of his life. He is sanitizing his past.
Psa 18:4 The cords of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made
me afraid-
"The cords of death" is alluding to Saul trying to ensnare David in a trap that will lead to his death (1 Sam. 18:21). The allusion is also to Saul calling David a "son of death", certain to die, in 1 Sam. 20:31. Always the allusions are to David's life in his 20s, his dramatic deliverances during his halcyon years. Never to his not so wonderful life post Bathsheba. It could be argued that David is writing or singing these words after he was made king and Saul was dead. But he still had many "enemies" to be saved from (:1), and the placement of this song at this point in the narrative surely suggests it was David doing what most kings of the time did at the end of their lives- recount the glory of their lives and thank their god for all their victories and deliverances. "The day" when God had delivered David from all his enemies (:1) is surely only the "day" of the end of his life.
"Ungodliness" is 'ungodly men', 'men of Belial'. We think of Nabal, a man of Belial (1 Sam. 25:17,25). But he was saved from killing Nabal by God's grace to him through Abigail. David makes no reference to this. See on :27. But probably the reference is to large numbers of such men rising against David and almost killing him (:6), which would apply more naturally to the time of Absalom's rebellion. David's fear is not much hinted at in the record, but here he himself admits to it.
David felt as if he had been a sacrifice bound to an altar, and therefore about to be pulled into the grave (:5). The allusion is to Isaac and his miraculous deliverance from such cords, thanks to the ram in the thicket whom David is later to understand as representative of the future Messianic saviour; for the Lord quotes David's "My God, why have You forsaken me?" (Ps. 22:1) as the Aramaic sabachthani, "entangled", the word used of the ram entangled in the thicket.
Psalm 18 speaks of a time when David is surrounded but miraculously delivered by an earthquake. We wonder whether this applies to the time when he was surrounded by Saul's men in his home with Michal. The house was surrounded, but Michal let him down out of a window and he escaped. How come, if the house was surrounded? An earthquake would explain how this was possible: "The cords of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The cords of Sheol were around me, the snares of death came on me [all referring to Saul's men surrounding his house]... Then the earth shook and trembled, the foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken... He sent from on high. He took me [Ps. 59:1 "lift me on high from those who rise up against me"], He delivered me from my strong enemy [Saul] [Ps. 59:1 "Deliver me from my enemies"], from those who hated me [Saul's men surrounding his house]; for they were too mighty for me. They came on me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my support. He brought me forth also into a large place [David fled to Samuel]. He delivered me, because He delighted in me. Yahweh has judged me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands has He recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly departed from my God [Ps. 59:3,4"not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Yahweh. I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me"]" (Ps. 18:4,5,7,16-21).
Psa 18:5 The cords of Sheol were around me, the snares of death came on
me- see on :4. David felt he had come face to face with death, to the
point that his salvation was effectively a resurrection. The response to
this near death situation is described in :7-12, but it is hard to locate
such an incident in the historical records. Perhaps there was a particular
salvation from death at Saul's hands which isn't recorded, but David
alludes to it here.
"Cords" is literally the pangs, hence AV "sorrows" (as in Acts 2:24 "having loosened the pangs of death"). David saw even the death which he feared as the birth pangs to a rebirth in resurrection. Just as had been hinted at for him in the promises of 2 Sam. 7. But because he was saved out of imminent death, perhaps his focus on that future resurrection was diminished.
"Came on me" is literally 'went before me'. The same word is used in Ps. 59:10: "My God will go before me with His grace". David was inside his house surrounded by his enemies (Ps. 59:1), and escaped through a window. As he planned the escape, he believed that God's grace would go before him. At the end of his life he appears to reflect upon this incident, glorying that although he was "compassed about" with the threat of death, seeing the house was surrounded by Saul's men intending to kill him; yet God's grace had somehow gone before David and prepared a way of escape (Ps. 18:5,18 s.w.).
Psa 18:6 In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard
my voice out of His temple; my cry before Him came into His ears-
David again imagines his prayers as coming into the heavenly throne room,
and eliciting a response. His later obsession with building a physical
temple for God was a departure from how he had earlier perceived God's
temple- as being in Heaven, and accessible by faithful prayer.
The reference to "my distress" could be to how David returned to find that the Amalekites had plundered Ziklag and taken his wives and children captive, and his men turned against him. "David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because they were grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters... David inquired of Yahweh" (1 Sam. 30:6-8). The theophany which is now described could possibly refer to some unrecorded events at the time when David pursued after the Amalekites and recovered the captives. The references to pursuing after a "troop" and overtaking them would then refer to this too. Likewise "You have delivered me from the contentions of my people" (2 Sam. 22:44) would refer to David regaining control of his mutinous men at this time. Another alternative is that the theophany refers to how David heard the cherubim "marching on the tops of the balsam trees" in 2 Sam. 5:24.
Psa 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled, the foundations also of the
mountains quaked and were shaken, because He was angry- The response
to the near death situation of :4,5 is described in :7-12, but it is hard
to locate such an incident in the historical records. Perhaps there was a
particular salvation from death at Saul's hands which isn't recorded, but
David alludes to it here. Or perhaps the language here is that of
theophany and God manifestation; it may not literally describe things
which happened, but the hand of God in saving David was no less than as if
He had appeared as He did at Sinai. For the language of earth shaking and
quaking is that of the Sinai theophany and the deliverance from Egypt.
Psa 18:8 Smoke went out of His nostrils, consuming fire came out of His
mouth; coals were kindled by it- As discussed on :7, this sounds like
the symbolic language of theophany and God manifestation, rather than
describing actually observed events in literal terms. The allusion is
clearly to what happened at the exodus and Sinai; see on :15.
Psa 18:9 He bowed the heavens also- The same phrase used of Moses
stretching out his hands toward the heavens, and God responding by
delivering His people (Ex. 9:22,23; 10:21).
And came down, thick darkness was under His feet- As Yahweh came down at Sinai (Ex. 19:11 s.w.). The idea is that as God had miraculously intervened for the salvation of His people in history, so David felt He had in his life; although there is no historical record of such dramatic scenes as on Sinai and at the Red Sea. We likewise experience His interventions; they aren't as dramatic as in history, but none less dramatic in ultimate reality. This coming down in a saving theophany was what David had in fact prayed for in Ps. 144:5. He asked for a theophany to save him, no less that what happened at Sinai (s.w. Ex. 19:18-20), when again God had as it were made the mountains smoke by His touch. We marvel at David's spiritual ambition, unafraid to ask for a similar theophany to save him. And here he reflects at the end of his life that this prayer was in fact answered. The relevance to the exiles is that Yahweh was prepared to "bow" (s.w. "stretch out") the heavens and "come down" to restore the exiles; but they chose not to make use of that huge potential (s.w. Is. 40:22; 42:5; 64:1). See on :14.
Psa 18:10 He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, He soared on the wings of
the wind- "Wind" and "spirit" are the same words in Hebrew. The
cherubim chariot are presented as God's vehicle of manifestation, and this
was language the exiles would've been familiar with through the visions of
Ezekiel. Yet this is not to say that David also had such a vision. Rather
did he perceive God's huge cherubic activity through the various
experiences of salvation and grace he had in his life. And this is the
same for us.
The reference may simply be to God as it were riding on clouds in glory: "He makes the clouds His chariot, He walks on the wings of the wind" (Ps. 104:3).
Psa 18:11 He made darkness His hiding place, His pavilion around Him,
darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies- All the scene at God's
manifestation on Sinai.
This could also be an allusion to the exodus. Rashi suggests: "He put [a protective] darkness around", alluding to how the pillar of cloud and the darkness separated between the Egyptians and Israelites (Ex. 14:20).
Psa 18:12 At the brightness before Him His thick clouds passed, hailstones
and coals of fire- The "coals of fire" speak of Divine judgment (Ps.
140:10), and were part of the cherubim vision (Ez. 1:13; 10:2). Hail and
thick clouds were the judgment threatened upon the Assyrians in Hezekiah's
time (Is. 28:2; 30:30). David's experience becomes developed as relevant
to the manifestation of God in salvation in other contexts.
Psa 18:13 Yahweh also thundered in the sky, the Most High uttered His
voice: hailstones and coals of fire- Hailstones and fire suggests the
destruction of Sodom. And yet there is no recorded incident of God
consuming David's enemies like this. But he felt that God had indeed come
through for Him in no less powerful a way. And we can feel and experience
the same.
Psa 18:14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them; yes, great lightning
bolts, and defeated them-
This continues the thanksgiving that his prayer of Ps. 144:6 had been
answered. He had asked for a saving theophany of the magnitude of what was
seen at Sinai; see on :9. Now at the end of his life, David was thankful
that this prayer had in fact been answered. David rejoices that Divine "arrows" were
sent to destroy his enemies (Ps. 7:13; 18:14; 45:5; 64:7; 144:6), in
fulfilment of God's promise to do so to the sinful within Israel (Dt.
32:23,42). But David had realized that those same arrows had been
fired by God into him in judgment for his sin (Ps. 38:2). But
David appears unaware that he is rejoicing at the arrows fired at his
enemies, when his sin with Bathsheba also merited Divine arrows to be
fired at himself. This realization
was perhaps to help David understand that his rejoicing in Divine arrows
of judgment being fired at his enemies had not been mature; for he himself
had to realize that he was worthy of the same.
"And confused them" (2 Sam. 22) is the language of God's enemies being destroyed (Ex. 14:24; Josh. 10:10; Jud. 4:15; 1 Sam. 7:10). Possibly there had been some supernatural intervention by God against Absalom's army, when we read that the forest consumed more of the enemy than did the sword. But there seems no other such example.
Psa 18:15 Then the channels of waters appeared, the foundations of the
world were laid bare at Your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of
Your nostrils- The opening word "then" is significant. As the
channels of water were laid bare at the exodus, so God had acted for
David. As discussed on :7, this section sounds like the symbolic language
of theophany and God manifestation, rather than describing actually
observed events in literal terms. The allusion is clearly to what happened
at the exodus and Sinai; the essence of what God did then was experienced
by David, just as it can be by us in our crises.
Psa 18:16 He sent from on high. He took me, He drew me out of many waters-
The allusion is clearly to Moses, drawn out of the waters and thereby saved from death (Ex. 2:10). David is saying that the salvation he had experienced was no less than on the level and significance of what God did for Moses. We can look at His work in our lives likewise, and thereby cease considering that men like Moses had far more dramatic and significant experiences of God than we do.
"Waters" are usually symbolic of armies or nations. David felt he had been surrounded and faced with certain death, but had been as it were airlifted to safety by God. The language here says that God has done this, but it is parallel with David's prayer for this to happen in Ps. 144:7. This triumphant song is therefore praise for the prayer of Ps. 144 being answered. We cannot locate any particular historical incident of fulfilment; perhaps it was too personal and wonderful to be recorded. Just as a Christian man or woman might feel it inappropriate to record God's most dramatic salvation of them when they write their autobiography.
Psa 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me;
for they were too mighty for me- That thanksgiving was because he had
prayed for salvation from "those who hate me" in Ps. 9:13 (s.w.). We have
here a direct example of gratitude for answered prayer. It seems Saul and
his supporters were the initial reference of the "strong enemy" (see on
:1). These words are an allusion to his prayer of Ps. 69:14,
asking to be delivered from "those who hated me" at the time of Absalom's
rebellion. So we can reject the idea that this Song was written early in
David's life; it is indeed his end of life reflection. Now at the end of his life David reflects that
he has been delivered from those who hated him (s.w.). At the time, he
wept bitterly for Absalom's death; but now in maturity he realized that
this was in fact an answer to his prayers.
On one level, David's thanksgiving and gratitude is commendable. But his biggest and worst enemy was himself and his failure to recognize that reflects immaturity rather than spiritual maturity. We would far rather see a recognition that he had been his own worst enemy, but by grace he had been saved from himself. But we don't see that.
Psa 18:18 They came on me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my
support- See on :5. The phrase "day of calamity" is consistently used of a day
of Divine condemnation, especially of Judah at the hand of the Babylonians
(Dt. 32:35; Job 21:30; Jer. 18:17; 46:21). Perhaps the Psalm was reworked
as comfort for the exiles, that they could be saved even out of the day of
their condemnation. And maybe David has the idea that he had been worthy
of Divine condemnation, and the judgment was being articulated at the
hands of his enemies- but by grace alone, God saved him from it.
"Support" is literally 'my stay', a staff for David. Possibly the reference is to the time of Absalom's rebellion in Ps. 23:4 "Your rod and staff [the rod and staff that is You] comfort me".
Psa 18:19 He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me,
because He delighted in me-
When the Lord’s mockers jeered "If he desireth him"
(RV), they were alluding to the LXX of Ps. 18:19 and 91:11. God cannot be
tempted, otherwise He would have responded. 'If God
likes Him', is what they were really
implying.
Being brought out or escaping to freedom may be a reference to the night he escaped from his house with Michal's help.
Or he may have in mind the time when he was saved from effective captivity in Gath: "You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy, You have set my feet in a large place'.
At the time of Absalom's rebellion, David's critics mocked "Let Yahweh rescue him, if He delights in him" (Ps. 22:8). David himself considered God's delight in him to be open to question and over to God to prove: "he king said to Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city. If I find grace in the eyes of Yahweh, He will bring me again, and show me both it, and His dwelling place; but if He say thus, ‘I have no delight in you;’ behold, here am I. Let Him do to me as seems good to Him" (2 Sam. 15:25,26). David seems to now triumphantly consider that Yahweh does delight in him. But he does so on the basis that he considers that Divine delight in him to be a reward for his righteousness and clean hands (:21). Whereas the deliverance from Absalom was because Yahweh by grace alone 'delighted' in David.
"Delighted" is the same word as in Ps. 51:6 "Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts". This is the word here used by David at the end of his life of how God desired or delighted in him. Perhaps this desire or delight was because of the "truth" in David's heart in recognizing his sins and accepting God's grace. He had left God to decide whether He delighted in him when he fled Absalom (2 Sam. 15:26), and now he triumphs that God had done so, by grace (2 Sam. 15:25). And yet we could equally argue that indeed, God delights in confession of sin when it is the "truth" in the inward parts, But at the point of this song, is this how David still understands it? He seems to reason that God delights in him because of his righteousness. And not because of his inner contrition, as he had earlier understood at the time of Ps. 51.
Psa 18:20 Yahweh has judged me according to my righteousness, according to
the cleanness of my hands has He recompensed me- As noted on :14,
David was yet to learn that he himself was a sinner and no man apart from
the Lord has clean hands or total personal righteousness. Yet David
twice repeats this self righteousness (:24).
David seems to have in mind 1 Sam. 26:23 "Yahweh will reward every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, because Yahweh delivered you into my hand today and I wouldn’t put forth my hand against Yahweh’s anointed". Likewise Saul says that David had "rewarded" him good when Saul had "rewarded" David evil (1 Sam. 24:18). He considers that he got saved from Absalom (see on :20) because of his good and gracious action towards Saul years before that. But that is salvation by works. He considers his hands were clean in relation to Saul and therefore this, he considers, saved him from the post-Bathsheba judgments. But those judgments were exactly because he did have blood on his hands. And the fact he didn't previously was no atonement or cleansing. Ps. 24:4 may suggest that David perceives 'cleanness of hands' to be a way of saying he hadn't worshipped idols (see on :24), as the ideas are paralleled: "He who has clean hands... who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood".
But from another angle, we recall how it was the wise actions of Abigail which saved David from getting blood on his hands by killing her and her kids, as David had intended to do. He was saved from having blood on his hands by grace, God's grace, working through Abigail (1 Sam. 25:30,31). But there is no mention of that now by David, rather a simplistic persuasion that he had pure guiltless hands and that is why he was preserved and delivered by God.
Psa 18:21 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly
departed from my God-
It would be hard to better describe David's
sins with Bathsheba and Uriah than 'wickedly departing from God'. If David at the end of his life could say that he was upright and had kept
himself from his iniquity (2 Sam. 22:21-24). He could only say this by a
clear understanding of the concept of imputed righteousness. Paul's claim
to have always lived in a pure conscience must be seen in the same way. And
yet it seems to me that David ought to have added what we would all add if
saying this- that this is only by grace, and me a sinner being counted
righteous.
David felt preserved by God from Saul and his other enemies (1 Sam. 30:23; 2 Sam. 22:44), because he had preserved or obeyed [s.w.] God's ways (2 Sam. 22:22,24; Ps. 18:21,23); whereas Saul didn't obey / preserve them and was destroyed (1 Sam. 13:13,14; 1 Chron. 10:13). Hence Ps. 145:20: "Yahweh preserves all those who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy". And yet in all this David is without grace, thinking on the basis of human merit soliciting Divine response.
Reading through the book of Psalms in one or two sittings reveals that
frequent and intense self-examination was a leading characteristic of
David:, especially while on the run from Saul; as if he began to pick up
false guilt from how he was being treated, wondering if it was all in fact
justified (Ps. 4:4; 7:3; 17:3; 18:20-24; 19:12; 26:1; 39:1; 59:3; 66:18;
77:6; 86:2; 101:2; 109:3; 139:23,24).
Psa 18:22 For all His ordinances were before me, I didn’t put away His
statutes from me- "Put away" is the word used for how God departed
from Saul because he didn't keep God's statutes (1 Sam. 16:14; 18:12;
28:15). David is therefore comparing himself favourably with Saul; for
this is his triumph song after Saul has been slain (see on :1).
And yet in essence, David and Saul did the same sins and David was
preserved by grace thanks to his heart for God- and not because he sinned
less than Saul.
“And his statutes did I not put away from me” (Ps. 18:22). We think about
his adultery, murders, lies... And especially in the matter of Bathsheba
and Uriah, be broke so many Divine statutes. “You shall not murder”, “You
shall not commit adultery”, “You shall not steal” (2 Sam. 12:4,7–10) and
“You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife”.
Psa 18:23 I was also blameless with Him- A true seed of Abraham, who
were to walk with or before Yahweh blameless (s.w. Gen. 17:1).
David may be using 'perfect' in the sense of complete, undivided. In which
case [as noted on :21] he may be protesting that the fact he didn't
worship idols therefore made him somehow "perfect towards" Yahweh. And
perhaps his lack of idolatry led to him thinking that lies, adultery,
murder and family smashing were all quite legitimate because he didn't
worship idols.
I kept myself from my iniquity- This sounds like a boast in his iron willed self-control. He would never be able to boast like this after the sin with Bathsheba. It is God by His grace who keeps men from sinning (Gen. 20:6), and not he rigid self-discipline of the deeply religious. "My iniquity" could suggest some specific temptation David had. He boasts that he kept himself from it. But yet he did so many other sins... Alternatively David may refer to how "my iniquity" lurks in every man but we are to keep ourselves from it, having recognized it as always being latently there. David surely alludes to his words to Jonathan that there is no "iniquity" in him (1 Sam. 20:1,8). But now at 70 years of age, it is not exactly of integrity to take those earlier words of youth, uttered in a specific context of having done no iniquity to Saul, and use them as explanation of why God had been so good to David throughout his life. God's goodness had been on the basis of grace, and not David's lack of iniquity towards Saul at an earlier point. He broke his promise to Saul not to slay his descendants, and as argued on 2 Sam. 21, this was a sin of David's and was from political reasons. So David would have been wrong to argue that he was totally blameless in his actions toward Saul.
Verses 21-25 sound as if David is really commending himself. Possibly he was indeed too self congratulatory at this point. But his words clearly allude to the requirements for Israel's king in Dt. 17:18-20. If, as suggested on :1, he sung these words when he was first made king, he could be reflecting God's position that David was the king whom He had chosen in line with His requirements in Dt. 17:18-20: "When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he must write for himself a copy of this law in a book... It shall be with him and he must read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them. Thus his heart will not be raised up above his brothers, and he will not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, so that he may prolong his days in his kingdom".
Psa 18:24 Therefore Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyesight- As noted on
:14, David was yet to learn that he himself was a sinner and no man apart
from the Lord has clean hands or total personal righteousness. Yet
David twice repeats this self righteousness (:20). In describing his feelings after the Bathsheba experience, David
comments that he was "as a man that hears not [the taunts of others
against him], and in whose mouth are no rebukes" (Ps. 38:14). The
pre-Bathsheba Psalms present David as a man who was so easily hurt by the
taunts of others, and whose mouth was indeed full of rebuke of others. Ps.
18:23-26 has David describing his own uprightness before God, and how God
only shows His grace to the pure and upright. How little did he understand
grace! Worse still, he several times bids God judge men according to their
sins (Ps. 5:10). It is against this background that we must understand the
significance of David's statements that after Bathsheba, after how God did
not deal with him according to his sin, there were no rebukes of
others now in his mouth. Realizing the extent of his personal sin and the
depth of God's grace led David to not only be less reproachful of others;
but also to be less hurt by their unkindness to him. And in these things
we surely have a great lesson to ourselves.
Psa 18:25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful. With the
perfect man, You will show Yourself perfect- we have here the
mixture of spirituality and yet arrogance which we can often detect in
ourselves. David recognizes his salvation has been through God's mercy;
but he sees himself as having earned this mercy by being "perfect". The
same word is used of Job, but he had to be taught that that status was a
case of having righteousness imputed to him by grace; and because David
was unwilling to really learn this, he had to be taught it through the
righteousness imputed to him after his sin with Bathsheba.
Psa 18:26 With the pure, You will show Yourself pure; with the crooked You
will show Yourself shrewd-
"The pure" connects with David's please for a pure heart to be restored to him after his sin with Bathsheba (Ps. 51:10). We could argue that he considered that he had been so cleansed of that sin that he was treated as pure. Or it could be that he simply forgot how he had been so impure in what he had done.
David's claim here is that God blessed the righteous and cursed the wicked, confirming each in their way. This may have some truth to it, but his claim is a tacit reflection of his failure to understand the grace shown to him. Theoretically he had grasped it in Ps. 32, staying that God counts as right those who are not right, by grace. But now he reasons as if he has no grasp of the grace concept.
"Shrewd" or 2 Sam. 22 "Tortuous" translates a Hebrew word pathel which is very similar to the Hebrew for Ahithophel, David's one time confidante and counsellor, Bathsheba's grandfather, who betrayed him to Absalom. David was saved from Ahithophel's counsel by grace alone and by the loyalty of Hushai. But instead he appears to gloat over how God, as he saw it, had punished Ahithophel and justified himself. He appears to be oblivious to the fact that Ahithophel had good reason to be against him; and wishes all manner of curses upon him in the Psalms composed at this time.
David sees himself as the pure, and Saul as the crooked. Throughout David’s Psalms in Ps. 1-72, he repeatedly asks for torture upon the sinners and blessing upon himself as the righteous. He speaks of how sinners should be “contemned” in the eyes of the righteous (Ps. 15:4), the gatherings of sinners should be “hated” and sinners should not be fellowshipped (Ps. 26:4-6; Ps. 31:6) and how God’s uprightness is shown to the upright and His judgment to the judgmental (Ps. 18:25,26; Ps. 33:22). He invites God’s judgment upon himself and others according to their and his works (Ps. 28:4). Frequently he alludes to Saul as “the violent man”- even though David committed his share of violence- and asks judgment upon him (Ps. 18:48). Only those with clean hands and pure heart like himself could have fellowship with God (Ps. 24:3,4). Psalm 37 doesn’t indicate any desire to convert the sinners but rather an expectation of their judgment and destruction. God and David laugh at the wicked because their day is coming (Ps. 37:13). There’s no spirit of grace here at all- perhaps that’s why Zech. 12:10 specifically says that the spirit of grace will have to be poured out upon the house of David in the last days. This attitude changed after the sin with Bathsheba, but still something of the old self righteousness and judgmental attitudes are to be found in David in Psalms written after that.
Psa 18:27 For You will save the afflicted people, but the proud eyes You
will bring down- Again David perceives Saul as proud, and Saul's
initial apparent humility must therefore be considered in this context.
Perhaps he became proud, or maybe he had always been that way, and only
appeared humble. But the word "people" may have been added when the Psalm
was used by the exiles, for salvation for "the afflicted people" was the
prophetic message to them (s.w. Is. 49:19).
David may be alluding to how he had proclaimed his own humility in God's eyes in dancing before all when the ark came to Zion: "I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased [afflicted / brought down] in my own eyes" (2 Sam. 6:21,22). But humility is hardly something that a man self proclaims...
Psa 18:28 For You will light my lamp, Yahweh. My God will light up my
darkness- The phrase is only used of the lighting of the lamps in the
tabernacle (Ex. 25:37; Num. 8:2). I noted on Ps. 17:8 that David seems
himself as located on the mercy seat, in the Most Holy place. "You
will light my lamp" refers to his Messianic hopes for his family.
Psa 18:29 For by You I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a
wall- Such victories were given to David against the Philistines; the
idea is as in GNB "You give me strength to attack my enemies and power to
overcome their defenses". "Troop" is the word used of the Amalekites whom
David overcame (1 Sam. 30:8,15). The leaping over a wall may refer to the
way that Zion was captured (2 Sam. 5:6-8).
Psa 18:30 As for God, His way is perfect. The word of Yahweh is tried in
the furnace. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in Him- "The
word" specifically in view may be the prophetic word that David would be
king and thereby overcome all of Saul's machinations (see on :1).
Psa 18:31 For who is God, except Yahweh? Who is a rock besides our God-
David perceives his victory over Saul (:1) as the vindication of Yahweh
above other gods. This would confirm the hints we have that Saul was an
idolater (see on Ps. 12:8; 16:4).
Psa 18:32 the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?-
A reference to his victory over Goliath without human armour, trusting
completely in God (see on :33,34).
Psa 18:33 He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and sets me on my high
places- As in ::34, this may be a reference to his victory over
Goliath, which he saw as the epitome of all his victories. For he ran
swiftly towards Goliath before releasing the stone which slew him.
Or as mentioned above, getting his high places may allude to the conquest
of Zion from the Jebusites.
Psa 18:34 He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of
bronze- Perhaps alluding to how it was David's dexterity of hand as a
slinger which gave the victory over Goliath. But he recognizes that this
was all of God. He is careful not to exalt as if his strength was his own.
Psa 18:35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation. Your right
hand sustains me. Your gentleness has made me great-
God’s gentleness, His humility / bowing down (Heb.) has made us great,
lifted us up (Ps. 18:35). And we respond to it by humbling
ourselves. Paul's take on "the shield of your salvation" is
that it means "the shield of faith" (Eph. 6:16). If we enquire 'Faith in
exactly what?', the answer is 'faith in salvation at the end of the day,
that God will finally save me'.
The Hebrew can mean gentleness but
it has the idea of condescension, so the idea may be 'Your answers to my
prayers for help'.
Psa 18:36 You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped-
David in his earlier Psalms exalts and boasts to God that his feet have
not slipped, indeed he was overly confident that his feet would never slip
/ "be moved" (Ps. 17:5; 21:7; 55:22; 62:2,6; 125:1). His more mature
reflection is that he had wrongly said "I shall never slip [AV "be
moved"]" (Ps. 30:6), and his feet had indeed slipped, not least over the
Bathsheba incident (Ps. 38:16; 94:18). But now at the end of his
life, he considers his feet haven't slipped. But David's feet did slip
terribly in relation to the Bathsheba affair. But he looks back on his
life and whitewashes himself. Solomon didn't learn this lesson,
for he likewise assumed that the righteous would never be moved / slip
(Prov. 10:30), although he appears to accept that even a righteous man
like his father had indeed slipped (Prov. 25:26). And Solomon himself did
so, not learning the lesson from his father's mistaken assumption that the
righteous can never slip.
Psa 18:37 I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. Neither will I turn
again until they are consumed- This is written after God had
subdued Saul and David's other enemies (:1). He is taking this as a
portent of future victory against all other enemies. But I will explain on
:39-42 that David did not use all the potential authority and power of
judgment which he was given. David pursuing his enemies alludes to
David pursuing and overtaking a band of his enemies (1 Sam. 30:8). But
again, David is alluding back to heroic deliverances and victories in his
twenties. But human life isn't solely the halcyon years of youth. His life
post Bathsheba was nothing to write home about. And he makes hardly any
reference to it now at age 70 as he looks back on his life. In Ps. 18:37
“overtaken them", alluding to Ex. 15:9- again, David is saying that God's
work for him was as dramatic as His salvation of Israel at the Exodus.
Psa 18:38 I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to
rise. They shall fall under my feet- See on :37. This refers to the
potential power of judgment David felt he had been given, but this is not
to say he would use it.
Psa 18:39 For You have armed me with strength to the battle, You have
subdued under me those who rose up against me- In
Ps. 18:39 (2 Sam. 22:40), David reflects how his victory in battle by
God's strength meant that all was subdued under him (s.w. Ps. 8:6), a
Psalm about the victory over Goliath). The victory in battle
which he had in view was supremely that over Goliath, his most major and
applauded victory, where he stood over Goliath in triumph.
But again, he is harping on about his halcyon days and not taking into
account the majority of his adult life post Bathsheba. To a far greater extent, the victory of the Lord Jesus
meant not simply the subjugation of Israel beneath Him, but of all
creation, including the natural creation.
Psa 18:40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I
might cut off those who hate me- Those who hated David surely refer
to the house of Saul (:1). But David did not cut them off- even though he
was given the opportunity of doing so. Literally, "I
silenced those who hated me". The reference would then be to the defenders
of Jebus / Jerusalem who hated David / were hated by David (2 Sam. 5:8).
Perhaps his 'leaping over a wall' (:30) references his capture of the
walled city of Jebus.
Psa 18:41 They cried, but there was none to save; even to Yahweh, but He
didn’t answer them- A reference to God refusing to answer Saul just
before he died (1 Sam. 28:6). David is
enjoying making the point that his enemies had no salvation, Saul's shield
was cast away and he died in battle: "the shield of the mighty was
shamefully cast away, the shield of Saul was not anointed with oil" (2
Sam. 1:21). David rejoices that in contrast, "you gave to me the shield of
Your salvation" (:36). David fails to realize that the historical record
actually paints Saul and himself as sinning in parallel. If anything,
David sinned worse than Saul. He was saved by Divine grace because he had
a heart for God. But instead he here posits that God chose to save him and
not Saul because he was somehow more pure and righteous than Saul. He
totally misses the grace of God towards him.
Psa 18:42 Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them
out as the mire of the streets- I noted on :40 that David didn't
execute the judgments against the house of Saul which he could have done.
The language of being "cast out" and being driven by the wind is that of
Divine judgment. It could be that David intends us to understand that
although he was given the opportunity of judging them ["that I might cut
off...", :40], he didn't- he left it to God's judgment.
2 Sam. 22 adds "and spread them abroad". The 'spreading abroad' may refer to him making Moabite captives lay down and be slain: "he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive" (2 Sam. 8:2). This was hardly David at his best, and surely is an example of how he shed blood indiscriminately. But he rejoices in it as if it were some special reward from God for his piety.
Psa 18:43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people, You have
made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall
serve me- David expected in faith that now he was solidly established
as Israel's king, the surrounding Gentiles would come to serve him and his
God (see on :49). We could render "You kept me as head of the
nations" in which case the allusion would be to how under Achish the
Philistine he was made “keeper of my head” (1 Sam. 28:2). Again, an
allusion to his pre Bathsheba life.
Psa 18:44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me; the foreigners
shall submit themselves to me- David's vision was that his kingdom
would take the good news of Israel's God to the surrounding Gentiles (see
on :49). Some of them would submit to David and his God, whereas others
would not (:45). But if we read as past tenses, the reference
would be to how at the mere rumour of David’s victories, Toi king of
Hamath submitted to David (2 Sam. 8:9). But the Hebrew for "submit" is
strictly 'to feign obedience'. This is exactly what happened with the
Amalekite who lied about killing Saul (2 Sam. 1:2–16), coming kneeling to
David; and Baanah and Rechab (2 Sam 4:5–12), who each came to David
expecting a reward from him. Again we note these were all incidents
pre-Bathsheba.
Psa 18:45 The foreigners shall fade away, and shall come trembling out of
their close places- This may allude to how Saul's persecutors of
David included "foreigners" such as Cush (see on Ps. 7:1) and Doeg the
Edomite (1 Sam. 22:22). We should read in the past tense, "faded
away", like plants scorched by the burning sun, which is the figure in Ex.
18:18. The idea repeatedly is that as God did for His people at the
Exodus, so He had done for David. And so He does for us all.
Psa 18:46 Yahweh lives; and blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my
salvation- David had earlier lamented that Saul "My enemy" (= Saul, 1
Sam. 18:29; 19:17) was "exalted over me" (Ps. 13:2 s.w.). The David who
had once triumphed over his enemy Goliath now felt that Saul was
triumphing over him. This, in the bigger Divine picture, may have been to
keep David from pride at the amazing victory and triumph. And he learned
the lesson. David was indeed to triumph / be exalted over Saul (Ps.
18:48), but he saw it is God triumphing / being exalted (Ps. 18:46). His
praise Psalms are full of this word and idea- of the exaltation of God
(Ps. 57:5,11) and not himself.
Psa 18:47 even the God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples
under me- An allusion to how David had restrained himself from
murdering Saul when he could have done, and instead had trusted in God to
execute vengeance. Here David reflects that God had indeed cast down the
peoples under him (2 Sam. 22:48; Ps. 18:47); by saying
this he considers that his prayer of Ps. 56:7 has been answered: "In anger
cast down the peoples, God". Perhaps when he prayed it, he just wanted
God's anger to be poured out immediately, the day of judgment to come
there and then, when the scales will be adjusted and men and nations cast
down or lifted up. But he reflects that in a sense that had happened in
his life, in that the peoples were cast down beneath him.
This is what Baanah and Rechab told David when they presented him with Ishbosheth’s head: "Behold, the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus, the Lord has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his descendants" (2 Sam. 4:8). As ever, David is alluding to things in the pre-Bathsheba part of his life. And he is citing his own refusal to personally take vengeance on Saul (1 Sam. 24,26 ,"May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you" (1 Sam 24:13)) as the basis for God giving him the throne over the people, who had [so David claims] been brought down under him. David's response to Baanah and Rechab is to comment that "Yahweh... has redeemed my life from all distress" (2 Sam. 4:9). He alludes to how he had told Saul "so may my life be highly valued in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me from all distress (1 Sam. 26:24). Even at that point, he had the idea that his deliverances by Yahweh were because he had not taken vengeance upon Saul. Now apparently at the end of his life, he has the same attitude. Grace to him by God doesn't seem to be in his thinking. David also seems to have forgotten that he had intended taking vengeance on Nabal, but was stopped from this by God's grace through Abigail's wisdom urging David not to avenge himself with his own hand (1 Sam. 25:23–35). It was only because this stopped him taking vengeance that God took vengeance for him. But the grace of it all is lost upon David.
We can read "who brought down the people [peoples could be an intensive plural for the great people, Israel] under me". The reference would be to his overcoming the internal opposition to his rule. But that opposition was because of the great disillusion with David because of his actions over Bathsheba and Uriah and his subsequent politically foolish moves. He ought to have resigned the kingship, but he didn't. Yet here he credits God for keeping him on the throne, leaving us to ponder whether he really appreciated God's undeserved grace in this... And again he is sanitizing how things were. The series of revolts against David in the later years of his reign rather question his claim that the people had been "brought down" beneath him. The cry of Sheba the Benjamite "To your tents O Israel! What portion have we in the son of Jesse?" was to be repeated at the end of Solomon's reign. Even on his deathbed, David had to deal with a rebellion by his son Adonijah, backed by Joab his own general.
Psa 18:48 He rescues me from my enemies. Yes, You lift me up above those
who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man-
"Deliver" translates the word commonly used in the record of David's escape from Saul when his house was surrounded one night (1 Sam. 19:10,11,12,17,18). Again we see David harking back to his glory days and the deliverances when he was a young man- and glossing over the majority of his kingship. David's enemies were the Philistines and other nations, from whom God had given David "rest" at the time of 2 Sam. 7:11 ("Yahweh has given you rest from all your enemies"). But the term is also used of Absalom and his followers by Ahimaaz and the Cushite (2 Sam. 18:32 "the enemies of my lord the king [are] like the young man" Absalom). But God's deliverance of David from Absalom and his supporters was not at David's hand; he didn't go out to fight in the battle. The victory was because of Joab daring to disobey David's order not to kill Absalom. And Joab rightly mocks David for having more sympathy with his enemies than with his own men. This was hardly David at his most glorious and heroic on the battlefield, but he likes to spin it that way.
See on
:46. The violent
man was initially Saul (see on :1). The Hebrew word
hamas
[basically meaning 'physical violence arising from wicked plans'] is quite
common in Scripture, and the usages speak of how God is provoked by
hamas
to bring judgment upon the enemies of His people (Gen. 6:11-13; Mic. 6:12;
Zeph. 1:9) and also to intervene in order to save His people (Ps. 18:49;
Ps. 72:14). How amazingly appropriate that an organization actually called
hamas
has arisen in these last days to do violence to Israel! If Biblical
history means anything to us, clearly enough God's intervention in
appropriate judgment and salvation cannot be far off. Note how Hagar's
persecution of Sarah- typical of the Arab-Jew conflict- is described as
her
hamas
(Gen. 16:5).
Psa 18:49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, Yahweh, among the nations,
and will sing praises to Your name- Again we see how David was one of
the few in the Old Testament who had a sense of taking the good news of
Yahweh's covenant to the Gentiles. And he apparently did so through
exporting his musical productions to the surrounding peoples, who may well
have been able to understand David's Hebrew.
Psa 18:50 He gives great deliverance to His king, and shows grace to His
anointed, to David and to his seed, forevermore-
"Deliverance" is 'salvation'. This could be a reference to how at the time of Absalom's rebellion people considered that "there is no salvation for him in Yahweh" (Ps. 3:3). It's good to see that David does end with gratitude for grace and that he does mention the eternity of the promises made to him in 2 Sam. 7. David's song is presenting himself as the ideal king of Israel, who loved Yahweh and His word, saved Israel and was eternally blessed. We as readers know this is a highly sanitized view of himself. But in his "last words" in 2 Sam. 23 David appears to admit that his "house" was "not so with God", and "he that rules over men must be just"- and he had not been that.
The Psalm concludes with a reference to David as the anointed, so this could be a Psalm composed when Saul was slain and David was finally declared king, and his anointing came to fulfilment. But the reference to eternal salvation for "his seed" could suggest it was composed after he had received the promises of 2 Sam. 7.
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