Psalm 18:39 - Printer Friendly

ESV: For you equipped me with strength for the battle; you made those who rise against me sink under me.

NIV: You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me.

NASB: For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.

CSB: You have clothed me with strength for battle; you subdue my adversaries beneath me.

NLT: You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet.

KJV: For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

NKJV: For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

David's victories (2 Samuel 8:1–8) led him to praise God—however, they didn't make him arrogant or self-centered. The acknowledgement David has offered in this Psalm is that the Lord is the ultimate source of his success (Psalm 18:1–3; 32–36). David remained humble and grateful to the Lord for the success he realized. It was God, not David, who originated the strength needed to obtain victory. Because the Lord equipped him with strength, David saw his foes fall under his feet.

The apostle John pays tribute to the Lord and His Word for the victories his readers realized in their spiritual lives. He addresses the young men as those who "have overcome the evil one" (1 John 2:13). He adds in 1 John 2:14 "I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one."

When we experience victory over a temptation, we need to be humble and grateful to the Lord for the victory. It is presumptuous and dangerous to think we were victorious in our own strength. First Corinthians 10:12 warns: "Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." Proverbs 16:18, too, warns, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." David did not fall at the feet of his enemies because he humbly credited God with his strength.

Psalm 18:28–45 celebrates the Lord's goodness to David during his wilderness experience (2 Samuel 22:1). Second Samuel 22:29–46 is a companion passage, and 2 Samuel chapter 8 features several of David's victories. Other passages that focus on the victory God gives His people are Romans 8:28–39, 1 Corinthians 15:50–58, 2 Corinthians 1:8–11, 2:14–17, Ephesians 6:10–20, Philippians 1:12–26, 1 Peter 1:3–9, and 1 John 5:1–5.

In 2 Samuel chapter 22, David expresses praise for all the times in his life where God gave him victory. That prayer or song is copied almost identically here. Psalm 18, itself, might have been adapted for use in public worship. David remembers dire situations where God rescued him. He dramatically recounts how God provided rescue and power. David also credits God with rewarding his obedience by making him a powerful and successful military leader. For these reasons, David commits himself to the praise and worship of the Lord.

This psalm is David's prayer to the Lord in which David praises the Lord for making him victorious over his enemies. Second Samuel 5, 8, and 10 are companion chapters, and 2 Samuel 22 provides another version of this psalm. Second Samuel 22:1 tells us David composed Psalm 18 on the day the Lord delivered him from his enemies and Saul. Second Samuel 19 reports David's victorious return to Jerusalem after David vanquished his enemies.

The book of Psalms is composed of individual songs, hymns, or poems, each of which is a ''Psalm'' in and of itself. These works contain a wide variety of themes. Some Psalms focus on praising and worshipping God. Others cry out in anguish over the pain of life. Still other Psalms look forward to the coming of the Messiah. While some Psalms are related, each has its own historical and biblical context.