Psalms 118:13

"Thou didst thrust sore at me that I might fall;

But Jehovah helped me.

Jehovah is my strength and song;

And he is become my salvation.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is the tents of the righteous.

The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.

The right hand of Jehovah is exalted:

The right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly.

I shall not die, but live,

And declare the works of Jehovah."

"Thou didst thrust sore at me" (Psalms 118:13). The "thou" here is a reference to the enemies that encompassed David.

"Rejoicing in the tents of the righteous" (Psalms 118:15). These were the faithful followers of the Lord who had supported David in his long and bitter contest with the wicked Saul.

"I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of Jehovah" (Psalms 118:17). King Saul had devoted all the resources of the kingdom to accomplish the death of David; and for a long while the issue was in doubt; but victory at the time of this psalm had been won. Saul was dead and David was on the throne.

"Some of these verses refer to a symbolical humiliation of the king,"[8] as McCaw stated it, and this is the viewpoint of a number of commentators, but there is no evidence that there was anything "symbolical" about the death threats against David. There was nothing symbolical about that javelin that Saul cast at David with the intention of thrusting him through. It is our conviction that most of the commentators are simply wrong about this psalm. All that imagination about the liturgical procession of the singers is simply not in the picture at all.