John Calvin Commentary Psalms 18:6

"In my distress I called upon Jehovah, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry before him came into his ears." — Psalms 18:6 (ASV)

In my distress, etc. It was a very clear proof of uncommon faith in David when, being almost plunged into the gulf of death, he lifted his heart to heaven in prayer. Let us therefore learn from this example set before us that no calamities, however great and oppressive, should hinder us from praying or create an aversion to it.

It was prayer that brought David the fruits or wonderful effects he speaks of a little later, and from this it appears even more clearly that his deliverance was effected by the power of God. In saying that he cried, he means, as we have observed elsewhere, the fervor and earnestness of devotion he had in prayer.

Again, by calling God his God, he separates himself from the flagrant despisers of God, or hypocrites, who, when compelled by necessity, call upon the Divine Majesty in a confused and tumultuous manner, but do not come to God intimately and with a pure heart, since they know nothing of His fatherly favor and goodness.

Therefore, when we approach God, faith goes before to illuminate the way, giving us the full persuasion that He is our Father. Then the gate is opened, and we may converse freely with Him, and He with us. David, by calling God his God and placing Him on his side, also intimates that God was opposed to his enemies; and this serves to show that he was motivated by true piety and the fear of God.

By the word temple, we are not to understand it here as the sanctuary, as in many other places, but as heaven; for the description that immediately follows cannot be applied to the sanctuary. Accordingly, the meaning is that when David was forsaken and abandoned in the world, and all people shut their ears to his cry for help, God stretched out His hand from heaven to save him.