Matthew Henry Commentary Psalms 18:1-19

"I love thee, O Jehovah, my strength. Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies. The cords of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me. 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. Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations also of the mountains quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet. And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; Yea, he soared upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness his hiding-place, his pavilion round about him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, Hailstones and coals of fire. Jehovah also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered his voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters appeared, And the foundations of the world were laid bare, At thy rebuke, O Jehovah, At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me. They came upon me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me." — Psalms 18:1-19 (ASV)

The first words, "I will love you, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm (Psalms 18:1). Those who truly love God may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy that magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God.

If we pray as he did, we will succeed as he did. God's manifestation of his presence is very fully described (Psalms 18:7–15). Little of man appeared, but much of God, in these deliverances. It is not possible to apply to the history of the son of Jesse those awesome, majestic, and stupendous words that are used throughout this description of the Divine manifestation. Every part of such a solemn scene of terrors tells us, a greater than David is here.

God will not only deliver his people out of their troubles in due time, but he will also bear them up under their troubles in the meantime. Can we meditate on verse 18 (Psalms 18:18) without directing one thought to Gethsemane and Calvary? Can we forget that it was in the hour of Christ's deepest calamity—when Judas betrayed him, when his friends forsook him, when the multitude derided him, and the smiles of his Father's love were withheld—that the powers of darkness confronted him?

The sorrows of death surrounded him; in his distress he prayed (Hebrews 5:7). God made the earth shake and tremble, and the rocks cleave, and brought him out in his resurrection, because he delighted in him and in his undertaking.