Psalms 18:1 - Meaning and Application

The title tells us when David wrote this psalm. We had that account before in (2 Samuel 22:1), but here we are also told that the psalm was given to the chief musician, the leader of temple songs. Private prayers and songs by godly people can serve the whole church, so others may learn both light from their lamp and warmth from their fire. Example often teaches better than rules.

David is also called the servant of the Lord, as Moses was. This is true of every good person, since all believers belong to God, but David served God in a special way. With his rule, his sword, and his writing, he greatly helped the kingdom of God in Israel. It was a greater honor that he was the Lord's servant than that he was king over a great nation, and David himself felt that way too, as in (Psalm 116:16), "Lord, truly I am your servant."

Here David praises God and speaks of his close relationship with him. The opening words of the psalm, "I love you, O Lord, my strength," are really the theme of the whole song. Love for God is the first and greatest command in the law, because it is the source of all true praise and obedience. Every mercy God gives us should make our hearts grow in love for him. He asks for this love and gladly receives it, and we are ungrateful if we give him so small a return.

A lover finds joy in belonging to the one he loves, so David presses on this point with pleasure. He says, "The Lord Jehovah is my God," and then God is his rock, his fortress, and everything he needs in his present trouble. There is nothing his people need that is not found in God for them. He is my rock, my strength, and my fortress in two senses: first, David had found him to be so in great dangers and hard times. Second, David had chosen him to be so, turning away from all others and resting on God alone for protection.

Those who truly love God can speak this way with confidence, and they can call on him with trust, as David does in (Psalm 18:3). We should also learn this from our deliverances. They should not only make us love God more, but also make us love prayer more. We should keep calling on him as long as we live, especially in trouble, because we have this promise, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Acts 2:21).

David then begins to describe the deliverances God gave him so that his praise might be fuller. It is good for us to notice every part of a mercy, because each part shows more of God's power and kindness. The greater and more threatening the danger, the greater the mercy of being rescued from it. David remembered how his enemies rushed at him like floods of wicked men, many enough to overwhelm him. They surrounded him, trapped him, and came close to catching him. Their snares went before him, and while danger was outside, fear and grief were inside too, as in (Psalm 18:4-5). His spirit was crushed, and he looked on himself as a lost man, as in (Psalm 116:3).

The more earnestly we have prayed for help, and the more clearly the help answers our prayers, the more thankful we should be. David's deliverances were like that, as in (Psalm 18:6). He was a man who prayed, and God showed himself to be a God who hears prayer. If we pray as David did, we shall also be helped as he was. Even when trouble drives us to prayer, God is not deaf to us. Since he is full of pity, he is all the more ready to help us.

God's work in these rescues was also wonderful, and that makes the deliverance even greater, as seen in (Psalm 18:7) and following. Human power appeared small, but God's power appeared large. He showed himself as the God of almighty power, shaking the earth and moving the very foundations of the hills, as at Mount Sinai. When ordinary people are struck with fear, it is as if the earth trembles. When great people are thrown into confusion, it is as if the hills move.

He also showed his anger against the enemies and persecutors of his people. He was angry, and his wrath burned like fire, even like devouring fire, as in (Psalm 18:8). The coals were kindled by it. Those who, by their own sins, make themselves fuel for that fire will be consumed by it. He prepares his arrows against persecutors and sends them out when he chooses, and they never miss their mark. Those arrows are lightning, as in (Psalm 18:14).

God also showed how ready he is to defend his people's cause and bring them relief. He rode upon a cherub and flew, acting to uphold justice and rescue his troubled servants, as in (Psalm 18:10). No resistance can stop him who rides on the wings of the wind, who rides on the heavens to help his people and, in his greatness, on the skies. He also showed his tenderness by taking notice of David's case. He bowed the heavens and came down, as in (Psalm 18:9). He did not merely send an angel, but came himself, as one who feels the sorrows of his people with them.

God wrapped himself in darkness, yet he also brought light out of that darkness for his people, as in (Isaiah 45:15). He is a God who hides himself. He made darkness his covering, as in (Psalm 18:11). His glory cannot be seen fully, his plans are too deep for us, and his ways cannot be traced. To us, clouds and darkness are around him, and we do not know where he is going even when he is coming toward us in mercy. But when his purposes are hidden, they are still good. Though he hides himself, he is the God of Israel, the Savior. When his brightness appears, the thick clouds pass away, as in (Psalm 18:12). Comfort returns, the whole situation changes, and what seemed gloomy and threatening becomes calm and pleasant.

The harder the path to deliverance, the more glorious the rescue. To free David, the waters had to be parted until the bottom was seen, and the earth had to be split until its very foundations were uncovered, as in (Psalm 18:15). He was in deep and many waters, waters from which he had to be drawn out, as in (Psalm 18:16). This recalls Moses, whose name means one drawn out of water, literally in his case, and in a figurative sense here for David. His enemies were strong and hated him. If he had been left to himself, they would have been too strong for him, as in (Psalm 18:17). They were also too quick for him, because they came upon him in the day of his trouble, as in (Psalm 18:18). Yet in all his troubles, the Lord was his support, so that he did not sink.

God will not only bring his people out of trouble at the right time, but he will also hold them up while they are still in it.

What made this rescue especially great was that it gave David comfort, and God’s favor was the source of that comfort. First, it opened the way to greater honor, as Psalm 18:19 says: “He brought me out into a wide place,” meaning a place where he was free, safe, and able not only to move, but to prosper.

Second, it showed that God was pleased with him, and that made the deliverance even sweeter: “He delivered me because he delighted in me.” This was not because David deserved it, but because of God’s grace and good will. Compare this with 2 Samuel 15:26, where David says, “If he says, I have no delight in you, here I am.” We owe our salvation, that great rescue, to the Father’s delight in the Son of David, Jesus, in whom he said he was well pleased.

As we sing this, we should rejoice in God and trust him. We can also apply it to Christ, the Son of David. The sorrows of death surrounded him, and in his distress he prayed (Hebrews 5:7). God made the earth shake, the rocks split, and then brought him out in his resurrection into a wide place, because he delighted in him and in the work he came to do.