Psalms 18:1

18:1-19 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. 7-15. 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 their troubles in due time, but he will bear them up under their troubles in the mean time. Can we meditate on ver. 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, when his friends forsook, when the multitude derided him, and the smiles of his Father's love were withheld, that the powers of darkness prevented him? The sorrows of death surrounded him, in his distress he prayed, Heb 5:7.

Psalm 18:1-3 . I will love thee — Hebrew, ארחמךְ , erchamecha, I will love thee most affectionately, and with my whole soul. I can make thee no better return for all thy favours than my love, which I pray thee to accept. By loving the Lord, however, here and elsewhere, we are not only to understand giving him the inward affection of the soul, but also all the proper outward expressions and testimonies of it, in praising, glorifying, and serving him. O Lord, my strength — From whom alone I have received all my strength, and success, and my establishment in the peaceable possession of the kingdom, and in whom alone I trust, as it follows. The Lord is my rock and my fortress — To which I flee for refuge, as the Israelites did to their rocks and strong holds; and as David himself did when driven into banishment by Saul, and forced to conceal himself in rocks and caverns, and to retreat for safety to steep hills and precipices rendered by nature almost inaccessible. See Jdg 6:2 ; 1 Samuel 13:6 ; 1 Samuel 23:19 ; 1 Samuel 23:25 ; 1 Samuel 24:2 . My buckler — Or, shield, by whom I have been protected, amidst the dangers of those perilous wars in which I have been engaged, as the soldier is by the shield in his hand. The horn of my salvation — By which I have both defended myself and subdued my enemies: a metaphor taken from the horns of animals, which are their ornament and strength; by which they both protect themselves, and assault those who oppose or injure them.

The horn is frequently put for strength and power, by the sacred writers, as Psalm 92:10 ; Amos 6:13 , and elsewhere, as also for riches and dignity. The reader will observe that this verse contains a continued chain of metaphors, and is a sublime paraphrase on the first commandment, declaring that Jehovah, the God of Israel, alone, was the foundation of his confidence, and the author of his security and happiness: by whom he had been supported under his troubles, and delivered out of them; whose protection had secured him, and whose power had broken and scattered his enemies; by whose mercy and truth he was now set up on high above them all. I will call — Or, I did call, and was saved. For the future tense is commonly used for that which is past. And this seems best to agree with the whole context.

1 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 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. 3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised so shall I be saved from mine enemies. Psalm 18:1 "I will love thee, O Lord." With strong, hearty affection will I cling to thee; as a child to its parent, or a spouse to her husband. The word is intensely forcible, the love is of the deepest kind. "I will love heartily, with my inmost bowels." Here is a fixed resolution to abide in the nearest and most intimate union with the Most High. Our triune God deserves the warmest love of all our hearts. Father, Son and Spirit have each a claim upon our love. The solemn purpose never to cease loving naturally springs from present fervour of affection. It is wrong to make rash resolutions, but this when made in the strength of God is most wise and fitting. "My strength." Our God is the strength of our life, our graces, our works, our hopes, our conflicts, our victories. This verse is not found in 1 Samuel 22, and is a most precious addition, placed above all and after all to form the pinnacle of the temple, the apex of the pyramid. Love is still the crowning grace.

Psalm 18:2 "The Lord is my rock and my fortress." Dwelling among the crags and mountain fastnesses of Judea, David had escaped the malice of Saul, and here he compares his God to such a place of concealment and security. Believers are often hidden in their God from the strife of tongues and the fury of the storm of trouble. The clefts of the Rock of Ages are safe abodes. "My deliverer," interposing in my hour of peril. When almost captured the Lord's people are rescued from the hand of the mighty by him who is mightier still. This title of "deliverer" has many sermons in it, and is well worthy of the study of all experienced saints. "My God;" this is all good things in one. There is a boundless wealth in this expression; it means, my perpetual, unchanging, infinite, eternal good. He who can say truly "my God," may well add, "my heaven, my all." "My strength;" this word is really "my rock," in the sense of strength and immobility. My sure, unchanging, eternal confidence and support. Thus the word rock occurs twice, but it is no tautology, for the first time it is a rock for concealment, but here a rock for firmness and immutability. "In whom I will trust." Faith must be exercised, or the preciousness of God is not truly known; and God must be the object of faith, or faith is mere presumption. "My buckler, warding off the blows of my enemy, shielding me from arrow or sword. The Lord furnishes his warriors with weapons both offensive and defensive.

(1) I will love thee .—Better, Dearly do I love thee. The line is wanting in Samuel. My strength.—This strikes the keynote of the whole poem. The strong, mighty God is the object in David’s thought throughout. It is a warrior’s song, and his conception of Jehovah is a warrior’s conception.

Verse 1. - I will love thee, O Lord, my Strength. This opening is very remarkable. The verb translated "I will love" expresses the very tenderest affection, and is elsewhere never used to denote the love of man towards God, but only that of God towards man. The entire verse, moreover, is withdrawn from the "second edition" of the psalm ( 2 Samuel 22 .) - which was perhaps prepared for liturgical use - as too sacred and too private to suit a public occasion. Psalm 18:1

PSALM 18 Ps 18:1-50. "The servant of the Lord," which in the Hebrew precedes "David," is a significant part of the title (and not a mere epithet of David), denoting the inspired character of the song, as the production of one entrusted with the execution of God's will. He was not favored by God because he served Him, but served Him because selected and appointed by God in His sovereign mercy. After a general expression of praise and confidence in God for the future, David gives a sublimely poetical description of God's deliverance, which he characterizes as an illustration of God's justice to the innocent and His righteous government. His own prowess and success are celebrated as the results of divine aid, and, confident of its continuance, he closes in terms of triumphant praise. 2Sa 22:1-51 is a copy of this Psalm, with a few unimportant variations recorded there as a part of the history, and repeated here as part of a collection designed for permanent use. 1. I will love thee—with most tender affection.

1 . I will love thee ] Fervently do I love thee, a word occurring nowhere else in this form, and denoting tender and intimate affection. This verse is omitted in 2 Sam. 1–3 . Introductory prelude, in which one title is heaped upon another to express all that experience had proved Jehovah to be to David.