Psalms 18:1

_I WILL LOVE THEE, O LORD, MY STRENGTH._ The time was the close of David's life. (2 Samuel 22:1; 2 Samuel 23:1.) The varied form in 2 Samuel 22:1, which omits the words "to the chief Musician," was subsequent to the form here, which was for liturgical use in the sanctuary. The psalm is 'a great Hallelujah, with which David retires from the theater of life,' praising God for all past deliverances. Compare with the title, Moses' song, Deuteronomy 31:30; also Exodus 15:1. THE SERVANT OF THE LORD - a title of dignity,

1._And he said, etc. _I will not stop to examine too minutely the syllables, or the few words, in which this psalm differs from the song which is recorded in the twenty-second chapter of the Second Book of Samuel. When, however, we meet with any important difference, we shall advert to it in the proper place; and we find one in the remarkable sentence with which this psalm commences, _I will love thee affectionately, O Jehovah, my strength, _which is omitted in the song in Samuel. As the Scripture does not use the verb רהם, _racham, _for _to love, _except in the conjugation _pihel, _and as it is here put in the conjugation _kal, _some of the Jewish expositors explain it as here meaning _to seek mercy; _as if David had said, Lord, since I have so often experienced thee to be a merciful God, I will trust to and repose in thy mercies for ever. And certainly this exposition would not

1-19 The first words, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that 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 which 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 shall speed as he did. God's manifestation of his presence is very fully described, ver. Psalms 18:7. Little appeared of man, but much of God, in these deliverances. It is not possible to apply to the history of the son of Jesse those awful, majestic, and stupendous words which are used through this description of the Divine manifestation. Every part of so solemn a scene of terrors tells us, a greater than David is here. God will not only deliver his people out of th...

PSALM XVIII _David's address of thanks to Jehovah_, 1-3. _A relation of sufferings undergone, and prayers made for_ _assistance_, 4-6. _A magnificent description of Divine interposition in behalf_ _of the sufferer_, 7-15; _and of the deliverance wrought for him_, 16-19. _That this deliverance was in consideration of his_ _righteousness_, 20-24; _and according to the tenor of God's equitable proceedings_, 25-28. _To Jehovah is ascribed the glory of the victory_, 29-36;...

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, either by David as expressive of his ardent love for the Lord in view of his merciful interpositions in his behalf, and on the most careful and most mature review of those mercies, or by the collector of the Psalms when they were adapted to purposes of public worship, as a proper commencement of the psalm - expressive of the feeling which the general tenor of the psalm was fitted to inspire. It is impossible now to determine by whom it was added; but no one can doubt that it is a proper commencement of a psalm that is designed to recount so many mercies. It is the feeling which all should have when they recall the goodness of God to them in their past lives. MY STRENGTH - The

EXPOSITION THIS psalm has many characteristics which distinguish it, not only from all that have preceded it in the collection, but from all those which are assigned to David by their titles. In the first pace, it is the longest of such psalms, extending, as it does, to fifty distinguish it, not only from all that have verses, or a hundred and fourteen lines, but from all Hebrew poetry. Next, it is continuous, not broken into strophes (Hengstenberg). Thirdly, it appears, not only in the Psalter, but also in one of the historical books the Second Book of Samuel, in what seems to be a second edition. Further, it is in itself a very remarkable composition, being distinguished alike by "vigour and grace; full of archaic grandeur, and yet free from abrupt transitions and thoughts labouring for utterance, such as make some of the earlier psalms difficult to understand" ('Speaker's Commentary')...

I WILL LOVE THEE, O LORD, MY STRENGTH. These words are not in twenty second chapter of Second Samuel: the psalm there begins with Psalms 18:2. The psalmist here expresses his love to the Lord, and his continuance in it; that Jehovah the Father was, is, and ever will be the object of Christ's love, is certain; and which has appeared by his readiness in the council and covenant of grace to do his will; by his coming down from heaven to earth for that purpose; by his delight in it, it being his meat and drink to do it; and by his sufferings and death, which were in compliance with, and obedience to it, John 14:31; and as in David, so in all regenerate ones, there is love to God; Jehovah is loved by them in all his persons; Jehovah the Father is loved, and to be loved, for the perfections of his nature, b

Psalms 18:1. _I will love thee, O Lord, my strength._ «I do love thee, and I will love thee yet more and more. I bind myself to thee for the future as well as the present.» Psalms 18:2. _The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower._ Note how David delights to heap up poetic imagery to describe his God. They who glory in the Lord would fain speak worthily of him; and because there is no one object in nature that can fully set him forth, they mention many, as David does here. Like him, if we would convey even a faint idea of what God is to us, we must think of all things that are strong, and worthy of our confidence, and putting them all together,

Psalms 18 The Story of God's Power in Behalf of Christ _ 1. In the jaws of death (Psalms 18:1)_ 2. God appearing and delivering (Psalms 18:7) 3. God gave Him glory (Psalms 18:19) 4. His enemies subdued (Psalms 18:28) 5. The head of the nations (Psalms 18:43) Psalms 18:1. This is another remarkable Psalm. Though David wrote it not everyt

XVIII. See p. 367 for the reasons which make it impossible to ascribe this Ps. to David. Even scholars who hold traditional views admit that he cannot have written it as it stands, and that additional matter has been interpolated by later scribes. The language, which is Aramaic in its colouring, confirms the view that it is late, and so does the theophany in Psalms 18:3 when compared with Deuteronomy 32. Possibly a later writer composed it and put it by a very permissible license in David's mouth. If so, he paints David not as he was, but as a later age conceived him to be, a warrior on the one hand, a strict observer of the Law upon the other. The portrait would then agree with that given in Chronicles. It is, however, quite as likely that the Ps. is intended to glorify the success of a hero in the Maccabean age, the first time known in which legal piety was united with leadership in ba...