Psalm 18:21-35

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 18:29

For by thee I have run through a troop ,.... Or, "I have run to a troop": to meet one F6 ארוץ גדוד "occurram turmae", so some in Vatablus. with courage and intrepidity, as some interpret it F7 Apud Kimchi in loc. ; or, as others F8 Apud Aben Ezra in loc. , "I have run after a troop": that is, pursued after one, as David pursued after the troops of the Amalekites who burnt Ziklag, 1 Samuel 30:8 ; to which Jarchi refers this passage; or rather, "I have broke a troop",... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 18:30

As for God, his way is perfect ,.... Or "without spot" F13 תמים αμωμος , Sept. "impolluta", V. L. so Syriac. Aethiop. , as the Septuagint render the word; without any just charge of inequality, or unrighteousness; such is God's way of providence, though sometimes his methods of providence are cavilled at by wicked men, and murmured at by his own people: they are at a loss, at times, to reconcile promises and providences together, and to account for the justice and equity of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 18:31

For who is God save the Lord ?.... Or Jehovah: there is but one God, and Jehovah is he; there is none besides him, nor any like him: there are many that are called gods, nominal deities, who are not by nature gods; fictitious ones, the idols of the Gentiles, made of gold, silver, brass, wood, and stone; but there is but one true God: there are gods, in an improper sense, as civil magistrates; but there is none really and truly so but the Lord; which is to be understood, not of Jehovah the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 18:32

It is God that girdeth me with strength ,.... For battle, as in Psalm 18:39 ; with strength of body and fortitude of mind; both which are from the Lord, and were in David; and were acknowledged by him as bestowed on him by the Lord; and which confirms what he had before said of him: or with spiritual strength, with strength in his soul, against sin, Satan, and the world; and to do the will and work of God: saints are girt by the Lord with the whole armour of God, and among the rest with... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 18:33

He maketh my feet like hind's feet ,.... As light and swift as theirs, as the Targum; that is, either to flee, when there was a necessity for it, as Kimchi observes; or rather to pursue after the enemy, to run through a troop, and leap over a wall, as before; see 1 Chronicles 12:8 ; the same phrase is used in Habakkuk 3:19 ; and may be understood in a spiritual sense of that readiness and cheerfulness with which the saints run the ways of God's commandments, when their hearts are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 18:34

He teacheth my hands to war ,.... From whence it appears, that war, in some cases, is lawful; and that all the skilfulness and art in training men for war, in the use of armour, in marshalling of armies, in forming sieges, &c.; is all from God; see Psalm 144:1 ; and so is all that spiritual skill, in making use of the whole armour of God against every enemy, sin, Satan, and the world; and even the wisdom and skill, counsel and instruction, which Christ as man and Mediator had, when it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Psalms 18:35

Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation ,.... Meaning either temporal salvation, which was a shield to him when he had no outward one, as when he fought with Goliath; and was what preserved him in all his battles at other times: or spiritual salvation, which is of the Lord, of his contriving, effecting:, and applying, and in which his glory is concerned; interest in which is a free gift of his, as are the knowledge, application, and possession of it; and this is as a shield, which... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 18:21

I have kept the ways of the Lord - I was neither an infidel nor a profligate; I trusted in God, and carefully observed all the ordinances of his religion. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 18:22

All his judgments were before me - I kept his law before my eyes, that I might see my duty and know how to walk and please God. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 18:23

I was also upright - The times in which David was most afflicted were the times of his greatest uprightness. Adversity was always to him a time of spiritual prosperity. Mine iniquity - Probably meaning what is generally termed the easily-besetting sin; the sin of his constitution, or that to which the temperament of his body most powerfully disposed him. What this was, is a subject of useless conjecture. read more

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