Psalm XVIII
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spalco unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,
1 I WILL love thee, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my sti-eugth, in whom I will trust;
My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made
me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God:
He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured: — coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under
his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings
of the wind.
11 He made darkness his secret place;
His pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, — hail-stones
and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Highest gave his voice; — hail-stones and coals of fire.
14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; And he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
15 Then the channels of water were seen, and the foundations of the world
were discovered At thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy.
And from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
18 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: — but the Lord was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a large place; — he delivered me, because he
delighted me.
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed
from my God.
22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his
statutes from me.
23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
24 Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; With an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;
And with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
27 For thou wilt save the afilicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
28 For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God -will enlighten my
darkness.
29 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped
over a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
31 For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?
32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation:
And thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet’did not slip.
37 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: — they are fallen
under my feet.
39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against mc.
40 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; That I might destroy them that hate me.
41 They cried, but there was none to save them: — even unto the Lord, but
he answered them not.
42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people -. And thou hast made me the head of the heathen:
A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me:
The strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
46 The Lord liveth! and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
48 He delivereth me from mine enemies:
Yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me. Thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore will I give thanks imto thee, 0 Lord, among the heathen, And sing praises unto thy name.
50 Greatdeliverancegiveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, To David, and to his seed for evermore.
This is a Psalm of “The Lord’s Servant,” a title given to one called to specific services for God. It was given into the hands of “The Chief Musician” on the day when the Lord had delivered from every foe. The circumstances were peculiar, and so is the style of the song. Thus ver. 1, “/ will love thee” is expressed by the unusual word D^“^^?, which can be expressed only by some such paraphrase as” My bowels yearn in love to thee“* And then the next term,” My strength,” ‘’pfri is rare but very expressive, equivalent to, ‘’ Thou who hast held me up firm and fast.”
It is meant for a greater than David, but David’s circumstances furnished an appropriate occasion for giving to the Church a song such as might suit Messiah, and all his members too. David’s circumstances, that made him suitable to be the vehicle of this divine communication, have moulded the lan-
* Sternhold had no doubt felt that there was something veiy energetic in the original, and so he has versified it thus, with considerable success: “0 God, my strength and fortitude Of force I must love thee; Thou art my castle and defence In my necessity.“’ guage; but we are not to carry the allusion to his history too far. Some have supposed that there is reference in verses 7-15 to some tempest that helped David’s victory on some occasion; but we may be content with observing that the style is coloured by David’s experience. Thus, ver. 2 amplifies the ph of ver. 1.” The Lord is my )^^D:” my precipitous rock (like 1 Sam. xxiii. 28), which foes find inaccessible. “My iTlliiD stronghold” amid such rocks; like those of Engedi, 1 Sam. xxiii. 29. “My deliverer,” not leaving me simply to the defence of rocks, but himself interposing with his loving arm. “My God! “not deliverance only to me, but every thing, my all in all!” My lii,” my firm, immoveable rock (Isa. xxvi. 4) who never changes. “In Him will 1 trust” In such a one as this may I not be satisfied? And when I go forth to the battle field, this Jehovah is “My Shield;” and by Him I win victory; “The horn of my Salvation!” And as I return to my encampment on yonder height, such as 1 Sam. xxvi. 1 3 used to be to me, far above the reach of foes, I sing of Him as” My High Place’’’ the height where I repose secure.
But the Psalm was meant for the Lord Jesus very specially. It presents a singular history of some portions of our Lord’s mighty undertakings, all related in such a manner as that his members (and David among the rest) might often use it for themselves. In Heb. ii. 1 3, Paul quotes verse 2 as our Lord’s words: “/ will put my trust in him;” to shew that Christ, as our brother, leant on God, just as we ourselves would lean our weakness on Almighty strength. And again, in Rom. xv. 9, he quotes verse 49, “I will confess to thee among the Gentiles,” to shew Christ’s deep interest in the world at large. So that we have, by means of these two references, — one from the beginning, the other from the close, — the whole Psalm marked out (bracketed within these two quotations) as belonging to Christ in a special and direct manner.
It is, then, our Brother who here sings. (Heb. ii. 13.) He begins with telling his younger brethren what his Father (“His Father and ours”) did for him in the day of the sadness of his heart. He is relating some of the hidden things, which are nowhere (^Ise recorded, but which fit in to the time of Gethse-J mane suffering, and the three hours’ darkness, and the earthquake, and the rending of the Temple veil, — things that took place in the view of other spectators than man, when the “prince of the air” was overthrown, and the Father, with his legions of angels, came forward to deliver.
The mention of the “cherub” in verse 10 is not to be overlooked: “He rode upon a cherub.” Like a king or warrior, the Lord is represented as going forth in his chariot; but he mounts, on that memorable day, a chariot whose coat of arms is the cherub. He goes forth in his cherub-chariot, and this is sufficient to shew the errand on which he is gone out: it is redemption. For that symbol is the redemption-symbol. Cherubim in paradise after the fall; cherubim on the mercy-seat, with their feet touching the blood, and their whole weight on the ark; cherubim on the veil that was rent; — everywhere cherub 1711 (the four living beings of Rev. iv.) represented the Redeemed. How significant to the universe, when Jehovah rose up with the symbol of man’s redemption, to go forth to the aid of man’s Redeemer.
Let us begin, then. The true Sweet Singer of Israel, the firstborn among many brethren, stands on the shore of his Red Sea, and sings, in verses 1 and 2, the grace and glory of his God. What a God he is: “My strength, my rock,* my fortress,” &c. Then comes the story of his awful conflict. He traverses the field with us, and tells us of his cries that pierced the heavens and the Father’s heart (ver. 3-6), — a commentary on Heb. v. 7. But from verse 7 to 15 what a scene of terrific incidents is opened to view! “The cords” of the hunter “death” were enclosing him; and the “torrents of Belial” — floods swollen with all the mischief of hell and hellish men, — were sweeping down upon him, when his cry began to be noticed, and the Father rose up. Earth shook — smoke and fire were seen by those same angels who were witnesses of the smoke and fire on Sinai, attesting the majesty of the law; and the same heavens bowed that bowed when the Law was given,
* The clause, “God of my rock,” in 2 Sam. xxii. 3, is properly “my rock-God,” i.e., my strong, rock-like, God.
the same darkness attended this descent, for now the Law-fuliUler was about to present the law fulfilled. He came with the c/(!,ert6-symbol, inasmuch as there was now to be redemption from the curse of the law. But there was no abatement of his glory — no obscuring of his majesty; on the contrary, there was the same covering of darkness, as when the law was given, and thereafter the same brightness shot forth. Hailstones, too, as when He overcame his enemies at Bethhoron, attested the presence of the same majesty and power: the same thunder uttered its voice, the same lightning-an-ows flew abroad. It was Israel’s God in his majesty; yes, the same that laid bare the Red Sea’s channel, (verses 14, 15), who then appeared in still greater displays of majesty. It was a scene not witnessed by mortal eyes, but, no doubt, “seen of angels.”
At length the Redeemer was delivered. “He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters” (Verses 1 6-18). In vain do the scribes and elders triumph, sealing the sepulchre stone, and setting a watch; in vain does Satan exult, as if he had crushed the woman’s seed.
“They prevented me, {i.e. got before me, as if between me and my refuge,) in the day of my calamity.^’
But Jehovah came — resurrection followed, with all its consequences. He stood in “a large place;” and soon sat down at the right hand of Majesty on high. And in that hour every member of his body was virtually “raised with Him, and made to sit with Him in the heavenly places,” — in a large room!
And was all this done in conformity with law and righteousness? The law was honoured then, and is honoured and magnified for ever, by all that the Redeemer wrought. Vers. 20- 26 declares it:
“Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness.
“According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
“Because I kept the ways of the Lord —
“All his judgments were before me,
“And I did not put away his statutes from me.”
“Yea, I was npright before Nim” &c.
Henceforth, nothing hinders the application of his redemption-work on the part of God; and on man’s part there is nothing required but the poverty of spirit that is willing to receive a gift. Pride, that caused the fall, hinders the rising again of the fallen.
“For thou wilt save the people that are poor,’’
“But will bring doion high looks” (ver. 27).
Our Brother, having brought us thus far in his history, tells us once more of the Father’s love to Him and his people, and how fully the Father, who equipped Him for the former struggle, has equipped him for whatever remains for him to do. (Verses 28-35). The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. He seems suddenly to remind the Father of this, (verses 35, 36), in preparation for what is coming, saying, —
“Thy gentleness hath made me great.”
Then follows the final assault (long deferred) upon his unyielding enemies.* (Verses 37-42.) It is evidently the day of his Second Coming; for we hear the cry (v. 41), when “there is none to save:” the Master has risen up and shut to the door. Rocks and mountains cannot shelter foes, any more than could the cave of Makkedah the five kings that fled to it. Our Joshua calls them out, and puts his own foot upon their necks. (V. 40, compared with Josh. x. 24). And then is earth subdued under Him. (Ver. 43, 44, 45). Isaiah lii. 15 is fulfilled: nations coming to Him, as did the Queen of Sheba, attracted by the report of his grace and glory.
* The linD of V. 45, is the same word used in Ps. lxvi. 3, and lxxxi. 16. It originally expressed ‘■’■feigned obedience,” through fear or flattery; the kind of submission yielded by men to irresistible conquerors. But here we must understand the word to be accommodated to the circumstances of the case, and to express the completeness of the homage rendered to Messiah, arising from the feeling of his irresistible greatness. It is q. d. all the homage that was ever given by subdued nations to their conquerors, shall be given to Messiah. The feignedness of the submission is not to be considered. Just as in Isaiah viii. 13,” Make Jehovah your dread, the object of your terror;’’ (yipQ). The allusion is to what idolators felt toward their horrid idols: but it is only an allusion, q.d., let Jehovah be the object of your heart’s reverence, — this is your dread!
The Lord alone is exalted in that day. The glory resounds to Him (verses 46-48); and “nin’’“‘n” is the watchword, or congratulatory acclamation (1 Kings i. 25, 31), of all the earth — “Jehovah liveth!” Jew and Gentile are seen in union; for the Deliverer (ver. 49-50) declares his celebration of Jehovah’s name among the Gentiles, while he shews kindness “to David and his seed for ever.”
Well may we join with all the members of our Head, “made more than conquerors” in Him, and enjoying our share in all these triumphs along with Him, — well may we join in the exclamation of ver. 50,
‘’ Thou ivlio makest great the salvations of his King! “‘The full, salvation-work wrought out by our appointed King, is called “JTiJ^W;” and these things are all done in the way of might and majesty.
But now see how we too may sing all this; even as David could sing it, as well as David’s son. We sing of our deliverances, and remember all the while that the source of them was God’s rising up for us in all his power, invisible yet awfully great. And then in ver. 20-27, we, like David, may speak before the Lord of the righteousness we have got, and of the purity He himself has bestowed. It is with our eye on Christ’s righteousness imputed, and Christ’s Spirit imparted, that we so sing, humbly declaring what He has wrought for us. As for ver. 28-86, they tell our experience to the life; and as for ver. 87-45, they tell, in our case, of the day when we shall share with our Head, in bruising Satan under our feet, and when Rev. iii. 9 shall be fulfilled. What are we that we should be called upon to join in such a song! What are we, Lord, that thy Son should be our elder brother, and work all this for us! Enable us for evermore to love, serve, glorify, and follow fully that Saviour who was saved when he took our place! And never may we sing this Psalm but with burning love to Him, as we think of
The Righteous One saved and glorified.