Albert Barnes Commentary Psalms 18

I will love thee, O Lord - This verse is not found in the song in 2 Samuel 22. It appears to have been added after the first composition of the psalm. This addition could have been made either by David, as an expression of his ardent love for the Lord in view of His merciful interventions on his behalf and upon the most careful and mature review of those mercies.

Alternatively, it may have been added by the collector of the Psalms when they were adapted for public worship, serving as a proper commencement for the psalm—expressive of the feeling that the general tenor of the psalm was suited to inspire.

It is impossible now to determine by whom it was added, but no one can doubt that it is a proper commencement for a psalm designed to recount so many mercies. It is the feeling that all should have when they recall the goodness of God to them in their past lives.

My strength - This refers to the source of my strength, or the One from whom all my strength is derived. So, in Psalms 27:1, it says, “The Lord is the strength of my life.” In Psalms 28:8, “he is the saving strength of his anointed.” Compare Psalms 29:11; Psalms 46:1; Psalms 73:26; Psalms 81:1; Psalms 140:7.

The Lord is my rock - The idea in this expression, and in the subsequent parts of the description, is that the psalmist owed his safety entirely to God. He had been to him as a rock, a tower, a buckler, etc. — that is, he had derived from God the protection which a rock, a tower, a citadel, or a buckler furnished to those who depended on them, or which they were designed to secure.

The word "rock" here refers to the fact that in times of danger, people would seek a lofty rock as a place of safety, or they would fly to it to escape their enemies. Such rocks abound in Palestine. And because they are elevated and difficult to access, or because those who fled to them could find shelter behind their projecting crags, or because they could find security in their deep and dark caverns, these rocks became places of refuge in times of danger. Protection was often found there when it could not be found in the plains below.

(Psalms 27:5; Psalms 61:2). Also, Josephus, Antiquities, Book 14, Chapter 15.

And my fortress - He has been to me as a fortress. The word fortress means a place of defense, a place so strengthened that an enemy could not approach it, or where one would be safe. Such fortresses were often constructed on rocks or on hills, where those who fled there would be doubly safe. . See also the notes at Isaiah 33:16.

And my deliverer - Delivering or rescuing me from my enemies.

My God - Who has been to me a God; that is, in whom I have found all that is implied in the idea of "God" — a Protector, Helper, Friend, Father, Saviour. The notion or idea of a "God" is different from all other ideas, and David had found, as the Christian now does, all that is implied in that idea, in Yahweh, the living God.

My strength - Margin, "My rock." So the Hebrew, although the Hebrew word is different from that which is used in the former part of the verse. Both words denote that God was a refuge or protection, as a rock or crag is to one in danger , though the exact difference between the words may not be obvious.

In whom I will trust - That is, I have found him to be such a refuge that I could trust in him, and in view of the past I will confide in him always.

My buckler - The word used here is the same which occurs in Psalm 3:3, where it is translated "shield." See the notes at that verse.

And the horn of my salvation - The "horn" is to animals the means of their defense. Their strength lies in the horn. Hence, the word is used here, as elsewhere, to represent that to which we owe our protection and defense in danger; and the idea here is, that God was to the psalmist what the horn is to animals, the means of his defense. (Psalms 75:4–5, 10; Psalms 92:10; Psalms 132:17; Psalms 148:14).

And my high tower - He is to me what a high tower is to one who is in danger. (Compare to Proverbs 18:10: The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.) The word used here occurs in Psalm 9:9, where it is rendered "refuge." (Margin, "A high place.") See the notes at that verse. Such towers were erected on mountains, on rocks, or on the walls of a city, and were regarded as safe places mainly because they were inaccessible. So the old castles in Europe — as that at Heidelberg, and generally those along the Rhine — were built on lofty places, and in such positions as not to be easily accessible.

I will call upon the Lord - The idea here is that he would constantly call upon the Lord. In all times of trouble and danger he would go to Him and invoke His aid. The experience of the past had been such as to lead him to put confidence in Him in all time to come. He had learned to flee to Him in danger, and he had never put his trust in Him in vain. The idea is that a proper view of God’s dealings with us in the past should lead us to feel that we may put confidence in Him in the future.

Who is worthy to be praised - More literally, “Him who is to be praised I will call upon, Jehovah.” The prominent—the leading thought—is that God is a being in every way worthy of praise.

So shall I be saved from my enemies - Ever onward, and at all times. He had had such ample experience of His protection that he could confide in Him as one who would deliver him from all his foes.

The sorrows of death compassed me—Surrounded me. That is, he was in imminent danger of death, or in the midst of such pangs and sorrows as are commonly supposed to attend death. He probably refers to some period in his past life—perhaps during the persecutions of Saul—when he was so beset with troubles and difficulties that it seemed to him that he must die.

The word rendered “sorrows”—חבל chebel—means, according to Gesenius, “a cord, a rope,” and hence, “a snare, gin, noose.” The idea here is, according to Gesenius, that he was taken as if in the snares of death, or in the bands of death (Psalms 116:3).

Our translators, however, and it seems to me more correctly, regarded the word as derived from the same noun differently pointed—הבל chēbel—meaning “writhings, pangs, pains,” as in Isaiah 66:7; Jeremiah 13:21; Jeremiah 22:23; Hosea 13:13; and Job 39:3. So the Aramaic Paraphrase states, “Pangs as of a woman in childbirth came around me.” So the Vulgate, “dolores.” So the Septuagint, ὠδῖνες ōdines.

The corresponding phrase in 2 Samuel 22:5 is: The waves of death. The word used there—משׁבר mishbâr—properly means waves that break upon the shore—“breakers” (Psalms 88:7; Jonah 2:3).

Why the change was made in the psalm, it is not possible to determine. Either word denotes a condition of great danger and alarm, as if death was inevitable.

And the floods of ungodly men—Margin, as in Hebrew, “Belial.” The word “Belial” properly means “without use or profit,” and then worthless, abandoned, wicked. It is applied to wicked men as being “worthless” to society and to all the proper ends of life. Although the term here undoubtedly refers to “wicked” men, it also refers to them as being worthless or abandoned—low, common, useless to mankind.

The word rendered “floods”—נחל nachal—means in the singular, properly, a stream, brook, or rivulet, and then, a torrent, as formed by rain and snow-water in the mountains (Job 6:15).

The word used here refers to such men as if they were poured forth in streams and torrents—in such multitudes that the psalmist was likely to be overwhelmed by them, as one would be by floods of water. Made me afraid. This made me apprehensive of losing my life. To what particular period of his life he refers here, it is now impossible to determine.

The sorrows of hell - Margin, “cords.” The word used here is the same that occurs in the previous verse, and that is there translated “sorrows.” It is correctly translated here, as in that verse, “sorrows,” though the parallelism would seem to favor the interpretation in the margin—cords. If it means “sorrows,” the idea is that such sufferings encompassed him, or seized upon him, as we associate with the idea of the descent to the underworld, or the going down to the dead. If it means “cords, or bands,” then the idea is that he was seized with pain as if with cords thrown around him, and that these were dragging him down to the abodes of the dead.

Luther, DeWette, Prof. Alexander, Hengstenberg, and others translate the word, in each of these places, “bands.” On the word here translated “hell,” שׁאול sh^e'ôl—see the notes at Isaiah 14:9. It means here the “underworld, the regions of the dead.” It is a description of one who was overcome with the dread of death.

The snares of death - The word “snares” refers to the traps, snares, or nets that are used in taking wild beasts, by suddenly throwing cords around them, and binding them fast. The idea here is that “Death” had thus thrown around him its nets or snares, and had bound him fast.

Prevented me - The word used here in Hebrew, as our word “prevent” originally did, means to “anticipate, to go before.” The idea here is that those snares had, as it were, suddenly rushed upon him, or seized him. They came before him on his path and bound him fast.