To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This is the same with that in 2 Sam. 22:1, with some variations, omissions, and alterations: the servant of the Lord; not only by creation, nor merely by regeneration, but by office, as king of Israel, being put into it by the Lord, and acting in it in…

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. ] These words are not in twenty second chapter of Second Samuel: the psalm there begins with . 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…

The Lord is my rock To whom the saints have recourse for shelter and safety, for supply, support, and divine refreshment; and in whom they are secure, and on whom they build their hopes of eternal life and happiness, and so are safe from all enemies, and from all danger.

I will call upon the Lord In prayer, for fresh mercies, and further appearances of himself, and discoveries of his grace and favour; who is worthy to be praised; for the perfections of his nature, the works of his hands, his providential goodness, and more especially for his covenant grace and…

The sorrows of death compassed me These words and the following, in this verse and , as they respect David, show the snares that were laid for his life, the danger of death he was in, and the anxiety of mind he was possessed of on account of it; and as they refer to Christ, include all the sorrows…

The sorrows of hell compassed me about Or “the cords of the grave” [[17]], under the power of which he was detained for awhile; the allusion may be to the manner of burying among the Jews, who wound up their dead bodies in linen clothes; so that they were as persons bound hand and foot; and thus…

In my distress I called upon the Lord The great Jehovah, the everlasting I AM, who is the most High in all the earth, and who is able to save, ; and cried unto my God; as Jesus did, ; so the members of Christ, when in distress, as they often are, through sin and Satan, through the hidings of God’s…

Then the earth shook and trembled As it did quickly after Christ called upon the Lord, and cried to his God upon the cross, (Matt. 27:50, Matt. 27:51) ; and so some time after, when his people were praying together, the place where they were assembled was shaken, ; as a token of God’s presence…

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils This, with what follows, describes a storm of thunder; the “smoke” designs thick black clouds, gathered together; “fire” intends lightning; and “coals of fire”, hot thunderbolts; and the whole is borrowed from, and is an allusion to what was at the giving…

He bowed the heavens also, and came down To execute wrath and vengeance on wicked men; which is always the sense of these phrases when they go together; see (Isa. 64:1, Isa.

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly The Targum renders it in the plural number, “cherubim”; and so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions; and by whom may be meant, either the angels, who are as horses and chariots, on whom Jehovah rides, and who art he makes use of as executioners of his…

He made darkness his secret place Which, and the dark waters in the next clause, are the same with the thick clouds in the last, in which Jehovah is represented as wrapping himself, and in which he lies hid as in a secret place; not so as that he cannot see others, as wicked men imagine, (Job…

At the brightness that was before him, The lightning that came out of the thick clouds; which may denote, either the coming of Christ to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, which was swift and sudden, clear and manifest; or the spreading of the Gospel in the Gentile world, in which Christ, the…

The Lord also thundered in the heavens By his apostles and ministers, some of which were Boanergeses, sons of thunder, whose ministry was useful to shake the consciences of men, and bring them to a sense of themselves, ; and the Highest gave his voice; the same with thunder; for thunder is often…

Yea, he sent out his arrows By which thunderbolts, cracks of thunder, and flashes of lightning, seem to be meant; see (Ps. 77:17, Ps. 77:18) ; comparable to arrows shot, and sent out of a bow; and may denote, either the doctrines of the Gospel, which were sharp in the hearts of Christ’s enemies,…

Then the channels of water were seen Or, “of the sea”; as in . There seems to be an allusion to the drying up of the sea when the Israelites passed through it.

He sent from above Either his hand, as in ; he exerted and displayed his mighty power in raising Christ from the dead; or he sent help from his sanctuary; as in ; and helped and strengthened him in a day of salvation; or when he wrought out the salvation of his people; or “he sent his word”, as in…

He delivered me from my strong enemy Which, as it may respect David, may be understood of Goliath the Philistine champion, who was a man of war from his youth; or Saul, king of Israel; and, as it may respect David’s antitype, may design either the chief priests, Scribes, and Pharisees, who were men…

They prevented me in the day of my calamity Referring to the times of his distress in the garden and upon the cross; the time of his sufferings and death, which was a dark and cloudy day, as the word but the Lord was my stay; or staff, on whom he leaned, relied, and depended, believing he would…

He brought me forth also into a large place Into heaven, a place of the glorious liberty of Christ, after his captivity to death and the grave, whither he ascended leading captivity captive, and of the children of God; and a spacious place, where there is room enough for Christ and all his people;…

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness Which, if applied to David, cannot be understood of his own personal righteousness, or of works of righteousness done by him, for these merit nothing at the hand of God; no reward, in strict justice, is due to them, or given to them: a man’s own…

For I have kept the ways of the Lord Not those which the Lord himself walks in, his ways of providence, or of grace; though these are and should be taken notice of and observed by good men, as the word [[23]] used will bear to be rendered; but the ways which he has prescribed and directed men to…

For all his judgments were before me That is, the precepts of the law of God, which David had a respect unto, loved, took delight and pleasure in, and so had them all in his sight, and made them the rule of his actions; and the law of God is delighted in by regenerate persons, after the inward man;…

I was also upright before him In heart and conversation, being sincere and faithful; so David was in the sight of God; but this is much more true of Christ, in whom there was no unrighteousness nor guile, neither in his heart, nor in his lips; he was of perfect integrity, and faithful in all things…

Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness Having proved and supported this proposition by the above reasons, it is repeated, for confirmation’s sake; according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight; this phrase, “in his eyesight”, is here added, to show that the…

With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful The merciful man is the good, gracious, holy, and godly man, as the word with an upright man thou wilt show thyself upright; an upright man, as the word [[0]] used signifies, is a perfect man, not absolutely, but comparatively; not in himself, but…

With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure None of Adam’s posterity are pure by nature; they are all defiled with sin; and though some are pure in their own eyes, they are far from being cleansed from their filthiness; such only are pure who are sanctified by the Spirit of God, have clean hearts…

For thou wilt save the afflicted people As the people of God commonly are; they are afflicted with sin, and the corruption of their own hearts, and with Satan and his temptations, and with the world, its reproaches, and persecutions; but God in his own time saves them out of them, if not here, yet…

For thou wilt light my candle Or lamp [[3]]: in , it is, “Thou art my lamp, O Lord”; which may either design outward prosperity, and the flourishing condition of David’s kingdom; or internal spiritual light, and an increase of it, by giving fresh supplies of the oil of grace, to cause the lamp to…

For by thee I have run through a troop Or, “I have run to a troop”: to meet one [[5]] with courage and intrepidity, as some interpret it [[6]]; or, as others [[7]], “I have run after a troop”: that is, pursued after one, as David pursued after the troops of the Amalekites who burnt Ziklag, ; to…

As for God, his way is perfect Or “without spot” [[11]], 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…

For who is God save the Lord? &c.] 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…

It is God that girdeth me with strength For battle, as in ; 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…

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 (2 Sam. 3:18, 2 Sam.

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 is all from God; see ; and so is all that spiritual skill, in making use of the…

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,…

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me Which is opposed to those straitened circumstances in which the psalmist was, (Ps. 18:4, Ps. 18:5) ; and is expressive of deliverance from his enemies, by whom he was surrounded, besieged, and shut up; see ; and of freedom of walking at large, without being…

I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them Which may refer to David’s pursuing the Amalekites, who overtook them and recovered all they had carried away, (1 Sam. 30:8, 1 Sam. 30:10, 1 Sam. 30:18, 1 Sam.

I have wounded them, that they were not able to rise Which was not only true of the Amalekites, but of all with whom David engaged in war; they are fallen under my feet; either dead, or become subject and tributaries to him; as the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, and Edomites; see (2 Sam.

For thou hast girded me with strength unto battle See ; that natural strength, courage and valour, which David had, were from the Lord; and so is the Spirit of power, love, and of a sound mind, which believers have; and likewise that strength which Christ, as man, had and used in his combat with…

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies Either to slay them, or to trample or put a yoke upon them; or rather the sense is, thou hast made them to fly before me, to turn their necks or backs unto me, as the word is used in ; and it is expressive of an utter rout and vanquishing of them;…

They cried, but there was none to save them It is in ; “they looked”; that is, they looked round about, here and there, to see if there were any near at hand to help and deliver them; they cried in their distress, and because of the anguish of their spirits, and for help and assistance, but in…

Then did I beat them small, as the dust before the wind They being given up by God, and he not answering to their cries; the phrase denotes the utter ruin and destruction of them, and represents their case as desperate and irrecoverable; being, as it were, pounded to dust, and that driven away with…

Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people In , it is read “my people”, meaning the people of Israel; either Saul and his men, who contended with David, and sought his life; or rather the tribes of Israel, who, after Saul’s death, refused to acknowledge David as their king, but…

As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me That is, as soon as they should hear of Christ, through the preaching of the word, by which faith would come, they should readily and at once receive, embrace, and profess the Gospel, and yield a cheerful submission to the ordinances of it; and which…

The strangers shall fade away Like the leaves of trees in autumn, when they fall and perish; to which hypocrites and nominal professors are compared, (Jude 12) ; and be afraid out of their close places; their towers and fortified places, or the rocks and mountains to which they betake themselves…

The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock This, with what follows, is the concluding part of the psalm, which ends with a celebration of the Divine Being, and with thankfulness for mercies received from him.

It is God that avengeth me Or “gives vengeance unto me”, or “for me” [[18]]: vengeance only belongs to God, and he repays it for and in behalf of his people.

He delivereth me from mine enemies From Saul and his men, from Ishbosheth and Abner, from Absalom, and the conspirators with him; so all believers are delivered out of the hands of their enemies by Christ, as that they can serve the Lord without fear; and so Christ himself is delivered from all his…

Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the Heathen These words are cited by the apostle, in ; and applied to the conversion of the Gentiles, which is manifestly prophesied of in some preceding verses of this psalm: there it is rendered, “I will confess to thee among the Gentiles”;…

Great deliverance giveth he to his king Not that is king over him; for he is King of kings and Lord of lords; but that is made king by him, as David was; who did not usurp the throne, but was anointed king by the appointment of God, and was placed by him upon the throne; to whom he gave great…