Commonplace –
“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” (Psalm 18:2).
David’s own introduction to Psalm 18 is worthy of noting:
“A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and the hand of Saul” (Psalm 18).
Here is a song of victory. Yet in it, there is no conceit, no arrogance, no smugness. David heaps his gratitude on God and gives God all the glory for the defeat of his enemy. Matthew Henry’s description of Psalm 18 is especially insightful.
[Psalm 18] is an admirable composition. The poetry is very fine, the images are bold, the expressions lofty, and every word is proper and significant; but the piety far exceeds the poetry. Holy faith, and love, and joy, and praise, and hope, are here lively, active, and upon the wing” (241).
With Psalm 18, David was setting down a stone of remembrance of the occasion of his victories over his enemies. We have encountered many psalms where David was in distress and beseeching God for assistance. It is right and good that when he receives the answer to his prayer he recognize the gift and give thanks for it, and here he did so in a beautiful way.
In regard to this point, Matthew Henry notes:
“The private compositions of good men, designed by them for their own use, my be serviceable to the public, that others may not only borrow light from their candle, but heat from their fire” (241).
As Matthew Henry points out, the passion David pours out in Psalm 18 is an encouragement for our own times of struggle to keep going. We can borrow some of his joy to fuel our own hope.
To Matthew Henry’s point about “borrowing light from their candle”, in Psalm 18, David also left us a worthy model of offering thanks to God, which we can use to illuminate our own expressions of thankfulness to God in times of intense and hard fought victories. Matthew Henry has taken David’s model and broken it down into a helpful outline, which we can employ for our own use.
I. “[David] triumphs in God (v.1-3).
II. He magnifies the deliverances God had wrought for him (v. 4-19).
III. He takes the comfort of his integrity, which God had thereby cleared up (v. 20-28).
IV. He gives to God the glory of all his achievements (v.29-42).
V. He encourages himself with the expectation of what God would further do for him and his (v.43-50)” (241).
It is essential to take note when God has given us a victory in our own life for a few reasons.
- It is important to thank the giver for the gift.
- It is an important reminder to ourselves that the victory was granted to us.
- It increases our faith, because we realize God hears and answers our prayers.
- In future struggles, we can look back and remind ourselves of the hard times we previously faced and the victories gained, which will gives us strength and encouragement to stay the course.
Works Cited
Henry, Matthew. “Psalm 18.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2025 Angela Hormberg
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