Psalm 18:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him.

NIV: Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.

NASB: Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth was devouring; Coals burned from it.

CSB: Smoke rose from his nostrils, and consuming fire came from his mouth; coals were set ablaze by it.

NLT: Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him.

KJV: There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

NKJV: Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it.

David continues his description of God's anger against his enemies (Psalm 18:7). The prior verse compared God's powerful response to an earthquake. Volcanic activity is often connected to quakes, and here David suggests imagery related to an erupting volcano. David poetically describes the scene as smoke rising from the Lord's nostrils, with all-consuming flames shooting out of His mouth. The "glowing coals" are probably a description of lava. Just as an erupting volcano's lava flow destroys everything in its path, so the Lord's erupting anger engulfs and destroys the wicked.

About 500 years before David wrote Psalm 18, Moses and the people of Israel sang praises to God for destroying the Egyptian cavalry in the Red Sea. They gave a poetic description of God much like David's description in this verse. They sang: "At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up; the floods stood up in a heap" (Exodus 15:8). Near the end of his life, Moses warned the Israelites about the consequences of rebelling against the Lord. He quoted the Lord as saying, "For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains" (Deuteronomy 32:22).

It is frightful to rebel against the Lord as Saul did by seeking to kill David, the Lord's anointed king.

Psalm 18:1–19 expresses David's love for the Lord and his praise to God for delivering him from his enemies. This is very similar—perhaps an updated version—of David's song of praise recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 22. Psalms 3—5 recall David's prayer for deliverance from his foes and his trust in the Lord to deliver him from them. Psalms 48:1; 96:4; 145:3; and 150 also express praise to the Lord. An account of David's deliverance from his enemies is found in 2 Samuel 19—21. Other passages of Scripture that reveal God's deliverance of His people include Exodus 14; Joshua 10; Judges 7; 2 Kings 19:20–37; and Revelation 19:11–21.

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.