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This psalm we met with before, in the history of David's life, 2Sa 22:1-51 That was the first edition of it; here we have it revived, altered a little, and fitted for the service of the church. It is David's thanksgiving for the many deliverances God had wrought for him; these he desired always to preserve fresh in his own memory and to diffuse and entail the knowledge of them. It 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. I. He triumphs in God, Ps 18:1-3. II. He magnifies the deliverances God had wrought for him, Ps 18:4-19. III. He takes the comfort of his integrity, which God had thereby cleared up, Ps 18:20-28. IV. He gives to God the glory of all his achievements, Ps 18:29-42. V. He encourages himself with the expectation of what God would further do for him and his, Ps 18:43-50.

This psalm is found, with some unimportant variations, in 2 Samuel 22. In that history, as in the inscription of the psalm here, it is said to have been composed by David on the occasion when the Lord "delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul." There can, therefore, be no doubt that David was the author, nor can there be any as to the occasion on which it was composed. It is a song of victory, and is beyond doubt the most sublime ode that was ever composed on such an occasion. David, long pursued and harassed by foes who sought his life, at length felt that a complete triumph was obtained, and that he and his kingdom were safe, and he pours forth the utterances of a grateful heart for God's merciful and mighty interposition, in language of the highest sublimity, and with the utmost grandeur of poetic imagery. Nowhere else, even in the sacred Scriptures, are there to be found images more beautiful, or expressions more sublime, than those which occur in this psalm.

From the place which this psalm occupies in the history of the life of David (2 Samuel 22), it is probable that it was composed in the latter years of his life, though it occupies this early place in the Book of Psalms. We have no reason to believe that the principle adopted in the arrangement of the Psalms was to place them in chronological order; and we cannot determine why in that arrangement this psalm has the place which has been assigned to it; but we cannot well be mistaken in supposing that it was composed at a somewhat advanced period of the life of David, and that it was in fact among the last of his compositions. Thus, in the Book of Samuel, it is placed (1 Samuel 22) immediately preceding a chapter (1 Samuel 23) which professes (1 Samuel 23:1) to record "the last words of David." And thus in the title it is said to have been composed when "the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies," an event which occurred only at a comparatively late period of his life.

The circumstance which is mentioned in the title - "and out of the hand of Saul" - does not necessarily conflict with this view, or make it necessary for us to suppose that it was composed immediately after his deliverance from the hand of Saul. To David, recording and recounting the great events of his life, that deliverance would occur as one of the most momentous and worthy of a grateful remembrance, for it was a deliverance which was the foundation of all his subsequent successes, and in which the divine interposition had been most remarkable. At any time of his life it would be proper to refer to this as demanding special acknowledgment. Saul had been among the most formidable of all his enemies. The most distressing and harassing events of his life had occurred in the time of his conflicts with him. God's interpositions in his behalf had occurred in the most remarkable manner, in delivering him from the dangers of that period of his history.

It was natural and proper, therefore, in a general song of praise, composed in view of all God's interpositions in his behalf, that he should refer particularly to those dangers and deliverances. This opinion, that the psalm was composed when David was aged, which seems so obvious, is the opinion of Jarchi and Kimchi, of Rosenmuller and DeWette. The strong imagery, therefore, in the psalm, describing mighty convulsions of nature Psalm 18:6-16, is to be understood, not as a literal description, but as narrating God's gracious interposition in the time of danger, "as if" the Lord had spoken to him out of the temple; "as if" the earth had trembled; "as if" its foundations had been shaken; "as if" a smoke had gone out of his nostrils; "as if" he had bowed the heavens and come down; "as if" he had thundered in the heavens, and had sent out hailstones and coals of fire, etc.

From the fact that there are variations, though not of an essential character, in the two copies of the psalm, it would seem not improbable that it had been revised by David himself, or by some other person, after it was first composed, and that one copy was used by the author of the Book of Samuel, and the other by the collector and arranger of the Book of Psalms. These variations are not important, and by no means change the essential character of the psalm. It is not very easy to see why they were made, if they were made designedly, or to account for them if they were not so made. They are such as the following: The introduction, or the title of it, is adapted, in the psalm before us, to the purposes for which it was designed, when it was admitted into the collection. "To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words," etc. The first verse of Psalm 18, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," is not found in the psalm as it is in the Book of Samuel. The second verse of the psalm is, "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."

In Samuel, the corresponding passage is, "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock, in him will I trust; he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence." In Psalm 18:4, the reading is, "The sorrows of death compassed me" etc.; in Samuel, "The waves of death compassed me." Similar variations, affecting the words, without materially affecting the sense, occur in Psalm 18:2-4, Psalm 18:6-8, Psalm 18:11-16, Psalm 18:19-21, Psalm 18:23-27, also in Psalm 18:28-30, Psalm 18:32-45, and Psalm 18:47-51. See these passages arranged in Rosenmuller's Scholia, vol. i., pp. 451-458. In no instance is the sense very materially affected, though the variations are so numerous.

It is impossible now to account for these variations. Hammond, Kennicott, and others, suppose that they occurred from the errors of transcribers. But to this opinion Schultens opposes unanswerable objections. He refers particularly

(a) to the multitude and variety of the changes;

(b) to the condition or state of the codices;

(c) to the nature of the variations, or to the fact that changes are made in words, and not merely in letters of similar forms which might be mistaken for each other.

See his arguments in Rosenmuller, Schol., vol. i., pp. 441-443. It seems most probable, therefore, that these changes were made by design, and that it was done either by David, who revised the original composition. and issued two forms of the poem, one of which was inserted in the history in Samuel, and the other in the collection of the Psalms; or that the changes were made by the collector of the Psalms, when they were arranged for public worship. The former supposition is a possible one; though, as the psalm was composed near the close of the life of David, it would seem not to be very probable. The most natural supposition, therefore, is, that the changes were made by the collector of the Psalms, whoever he might be, or by the person who presided over this part of public worship in the temple, and that the changes were made for some reason which we cannot now understand, as better adapting the psalm to musical purposes.

Doederlein supposes that the recension was made by some later poet, for the purpose of "polishing" the language; of giving it a more finished poetic form; and of adapting it better to public use; and he regards both forms as "genuine, elegant, sublime; the one more ancient, the other more polished and refined." It seems most probable that the changes were made with a view to some rhythmical or musical effect, or for the purpose of adapting the psalm to the music of the temple service. Such changes would depend on causes which could be now little understood, as we are not sufficiently acquainted with the music employed in public worship by the Hebrews, nor are we now competent to understand the effect which, in this respect, would be produced by a slight change of phraseology. Variations of a similar nature now exist in psalms and hymns which could not be well explained or understood by one who was not familiar with our language and with our music, and which, after as long an interval as that between the time when the Psalms were arranged for musical purposes and the present time, would be wholly unintelligible.

The psalm embraces the following subjects:

I. A general acknowledgment of God, and thanks to him, as the Deliverer in the time of troubles, and as worthy to be praised, Psalm 18:1-3.

II. A brief description of the troubles and dangers from which the psalmist had been rescued, Psalm 18:4-5.

III. A description, conceived in the highest forms of poetic language, of the divine interposition in times of danger, Psalm 18:6-19,

IV. A statement of the psalmist that this interposition was of such a nature as to vindicate his own character, or to show that his cause was a righteous cause; that he was right, and that his enemies had been in the wrong; that God approved his course, and disapproved the course of his enemies: or, in other words, that these interpositions were such as to prove that God was just, and would deal with men according to their character, Psalm 18:20-30.

V. A recapitulation of what God had done for him, in enabling him to subdue his enemies, and a statement of the effect which he supposed would be produced on others by the report of what God had done in his behalf, Psalm 18:31-45.

VI. A general expression of thanksgiving to God as the author of all these blessings, and as worthy of universal confidence and praise, Psalm 18:46-50.

Psalm 18:itle

"To the chief Musician." See the notes to the title of Psalm 4:1-8.

A Psalm of David - The words "A Psalm" are not here in the original, and may convey a slightly erroneous impression, as if the psalm had been composed for the express purpose of being used publicly in the worship of God. In the corresponding place in 2 Samuel 22, it is described as a "Song" of David: "And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song." It was originally an expression of his private gratitude for God's distinguishing mercies, and was afterward, as we have seen, probably adapted to purposes of public worship by some one of a later age.

The servant of the Lord - This expression also is wanting in 2 Samuel 22. It is undoubtedly an addition by a later hand, as indicating the general character which David had acquired, or as denoting the national estimate in regard to his character. The same expression occurs in the title to Psalm 36:1-12. The Aramaic Paraphrase translates this title: "To be sung over the wonderful things which abundantly happened to the servant of the Lord, to David, who sang," etc. The use of the phrase here - "the servant of the Lord" - by him who made the collection of the Psalms, would seem to imply that he regarded the psalm as having a sufficiently public character to make it proper to introduce it into a collection designed for general worship. In other words, David was not, in the view of the author of the collection, a private man, but was eminently a public servant of Yahweh; and a song of grateful remembrance of God's mercies to him was entitled to be regarded as expressing the appropriate feelings of God's people in similar circumstances in all times.

Who spake unto the Lord - Composed it as giving utterance to his feelings toward the Lord.

The words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him - When the Lord "had" delivered him; when he felt that he was completely rescued from "all" his foes. This does not mean that the psalm was composed on a particular day when God had by some one signal act rescued him from impending danger, but it refers to a calm period of his life. when he could review the past, and see that God had rescued him from "all" the enemies that had ever threatened his peace. This would probably, as has been suggested above, occur near the close of his life.

From the hand of all his enemies - Out of the hand, or the power. There is here a "general" view of the mercy of God in rescuing him from all his foes.

And from the hand of Saul - Saul had been one of his most formidable enemies, and the wars with him had been among the most eventful periods of the life of David. In a general review of his life, near its close, he would naturally recur to the dangers of that period, and to God's gracious interpositions in his behalf, and it would seem to him that what God had done for him in those times deserved a special record. The original word here - כף kaph - is not the same as in the corresponding place in 2 Samuel 22 - יד yâd - though the idea is substantially the same. The word used here means properly the "palm" or "hollow" of the hand; the word used in Samuel means the hand itself. Why the change was made we have not the means of ascertaining.

And he said - So 2 Samuel 22:2. What follows is what he said.

David's address of thanks to Jehovah, Psalm 18:1-3. A relation of sufferings undergone, and prayers made for assistance, Psalm 18:4-6. A magnificent description of Divine interposition in behalf of the sufferer, Psalm 18:7-15; and of the deliverance wrought for him, Psalm 18:16-19. That this deliverance was in consideration of his righteousness, Psalm 18:20-24; and according to the tenor of God's equitable proceedings, Psalm 18:25-28. To Jehovah is ascribed the glory of the victory, Psalm 18:29-36; which is represented as complete by the destruction of all his opponents, Psalm 18:37-42. On these events the heathen submit, Psalm 18:43-45. And for all these things God is glorified, Psalm 18:46-50.

The title: "To the chief Musician, 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 from the hand of Saul."

Except the first clause, this title is taken from 2 Samuel 22:1. The reader is requested to turn to the notes on 2 Samuel 22:1, for some curious information on this Psalm, particularly what is extracted from Dr. Kennicott. This learned writer supposes the whole to be a song of the Messiah, and divides it into five parts, which he thus introduces: -

"The Messiah's sublime thanksgivings, composed by David when his wars were at an end, towards the conclusion of his life. And in this sacred song the goodness of God is celebrated,

1. For Messiah's resurrection from the dead, with the wonders attending that awful event, and soon following it.

2. For the punishment inflicted on the Jews; particularly by the destruction of Jerusalem. And,

3. For the obedience of the Gentile nations. See Romans 15:9; Hebrews 2:13; and Matthew 28:2-4; with Matthew 24:7, Matthew 24:29."

And that the title now prefixed to this hymn here and in 2 Samuel 22:1, describes only the time of its composition, seems evident; for who can ascribe to David himself as the subject, 2 Samuel 22:5, 2 Samuel 22:6, 2 Samuel 22:8-17, 2 Samuel 22:21-26, 2 Samuel 22:30, 2 Samuel 22:42, 2 Samuel 22:44, etc.?

In Dr. Kennicott's remarks there is a new translation of the whole Psalm, p. 178, etc.

The strong current of commentators and critics apply this Psalm to Christ; and to oppose a whole host of both ancients and moderns would argue great self-confidence. In the main I am of the same mind; and on this principle chiefly I shall proceed to its illustration; still however considering that there are many things in it which concern David, and him only. Drs. Chandler and Delaney have been very successful in their illustration of various passages in it; all the best critics have brought their strongest powers to bear on it; and most of the commentators have labored it with great success; and Bishop Horne has applied the whole of it to Christ. My old Psalter speaks highly in its praise: "This Psalme contenes the sacrement of al chosyn men, the qwilk doand the law of God thurgh the seven fald grace of the Haly Gast fra al temptaciouns, and the pouste of dede and of the devel lesid: this sang thai syng til God; and thankes him and says, I sal luf the Lord, noght a day or twa, bot ever mare: my strength, thurgh quam I am stalworth in thoght."

INTRODUCTION TO Psalm 18

To the chief Musician, a Psalm of David. This is the same with that in 2 Samuel 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 submission and obedience to him; just as the apostles under the New Testament, on account of their office, so style themselves in their epistles:

who spake unto the Lord the words of this song; that is, who delivered and sung this song in so many express words, in public, before all the congregation of Israel, to the honour and glory of God:

in the day [that] the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, Not that this psalm was composed and sung the selfsame day that David was delivered from Saul, and set upon the throne; for it seems to have been written in his old age, at the close of his days; for immediately after it, in the second book of Samuel, it follows, "now these be the last words of David", 2 Samuel 23:1, but the sense is, that whereas David had many enemies, and particularly Saul, who was his greatest enemy, the Lord delivered him from them all, and especially from him, from him first, and then from all the rest; which when he reflected upon in his last days, he sat down and wrote this psalm, and then sung it in public, having delivered it into the hands of the chief musician for that purpose. There are two passages cited out of it in the New Testament, and applied to Christ; Psalm 18:2, in Hebrews 2:13, and Psalm 18:49 in Romans 15:9; and there are many things in it that very well agree with him; he is eminently the "servant" of the Lord as Mediator; he was encompassed with the snares and sorrows of death and hell, and with the floods of ungodly men, when in the garden and on the cross God was his helper and deliverer, as man; and he was victorious over all enemies, sin, Satan, the world, death and hell; as the subject of this psalm is all along represented: and to Christ it does most properly belong to be the head of the Heathen, whose voluntary subjects the Gentiles are said to be, Psalm 18:43; and which is expressed in much the same language as the like things are in Isaiah 55:4; which is a clear and undoubted prophecy of the Messiah; to which may be added, that the Lord's Anointed, the King Messiah, and who is also called David, is expressly mentioned in Psalm 18:50; and which is applied to the Messiah by the Jews (q) as Psalm 18:32 is paraphrased of him by the Targum on it;

and he said; the following words:

(q) Echa Rabbati, fol. 50. 2. & Midrash Tillim in Tzeror Hammor, fol. 47. 3.

XVIII.

This magnificent ode is David’s, if anything at all of David’s has come down to us. Its recurrence in 2 Samuel 22, the mention of the monarch by name in the last verse (see, however, Note), and the general contents, in the eyes of all but one or two critics[14], bear out the tradition of the title.

[14] Grätz, the latest commentator, allows part of this psalm to be David’s.

If no other literary legacy had been left by the Hebrew race, we should have from this psalm a clear conception of the character of its poetic genius. Its wealth of metaphor, its power of vivid word-painting, its accurate observation of nature, its grandeur and force of imagination, all meet us here; but above all, the fact that the bard of Israel wrote under the mighty conviction of the power and presence of Jehovah. The phenomena of the natural world appealed to his imagination as to that of poets generally, but with this addition, that they were all manifestations of a supreme glory and goodness behind them.

In rhythm the poem is as fine as in matter.

Title.—See 2Samuel 22:1. The differences are such as might be expected between a piece in a collection of hymns and the same introduced into an historical book.

At length the warrior-king was at peace. The hairbreadth escapes of his flight from Saul, when his life was in hourly peril and he knew not whither to turn for safety; the miseries and bitterness of civil strife, through which though chosen by Jehovah to rule His people he had to fight his way to the throne; the wars with surrounding nations, which, jealous of Israel’s rising power, had leagued together to crush the scarcely consolidated kingdom;—all were past and over. David had been preserved through every danger; victory had accompanied his arms; he was the accepted king of an united people; the nations around acknowledged his supremacy. To crown all, Jehovah’s message communicated by Nathan had opened out the prospect of a splendid future for his posterity.

In this hour of his highest prosperity and happiness David composed this magnificent hymn of thanksgiving. He surveys the course of an eventful life; he traces the hand of Jehovah in every step; and his heart overflows with joyous gratitude. The inspiring thought of the whole Psalm is that Jehovah has made him what he is. To His loving care and unfailing faithfulness he owes it that he has been preserved and guided and raised to his present height of power.

By expressive metaphors he describes what Jehovah had proved Himself to be to him (Psalm 18:1-3); and then depicting in forcible figures the extremity of peril to which he had been brought (Psalm 18:4-6), he tells how in answer to his prayer Jehovah manifested His power (Psalm 18:7-15), and delivered him from the enemies who were too strong for him (Psalm 18:16-19). In strong and simple consciousness of his own integrity (Psalm 18:20-23), he delights to trace in this deliverance a proof of Jehovah’s faithfulness to those who are faithful to Him, in accordance with the general law of His dealings (Psalm 18:24-27). To Him alone he owes all that he is (Psalm 18:28-30); He, the unique and incomparable God, has given him strength and skill for war (Psalm 18:31-34); He it is who has made him victorious over his enemies (Psalm 18:35-42); He it is who has made him king over his people and supreme among surrounding nations (Psalm 18:43-45). It is Jehovah alone; and His praise shall be celebrated throughout the world. Nor is His lovingkindness limited to David only; the promise reaches forward, and embraces his posterity for evermore (Psalm 18:46-50).

That David was the author of this Psalm is generally admitted, except by critics who question the existence of Davidic Psalms at all. Not only does it stand in the Psalter as David’s, but the compiler of 2 Samuel embodied it in his work as at once the best illustration of David’s life and character, and the noblest specimen of his poetry.

The internal evidence of its contents corroborates the external tradition. The Psalmist is a distinguished and successful warrior, general, and king (Psalm 18:29; Psalm 18:33-34; Psalm 18:37 ff., Psalm 18:43): he has had to contend with domestic as well as foreign enemies (Psalm 18:43 ff.), and has received the submission of surrounding nations (Psalm 18:44). He looks back upon a life of extraordinary trials and dangers to which he has been exposed from enemies among whom one was conspicuous for his ferocity (Psalm 18:4 ff., Psalm 18:17; Psalm 18:48). He appeals to his own integrity of purpose, and sees in his deliverance God’s recognition of that integrity (Psalm 18:20 ff.); yet throughout he shews a singular humility and the clearest sense that he owes to Jehovah’s grace whatever he has or is. These characteristics, taken together, point to David, and to no one else of whom we have any knowledge: and the intense personality and directness of the Psalm are a strong argument against the hypothesis that it is a composition put into his mouth by some later poet.

At what period of David’s life the Psalm was written has been much debated. But title and contents both point unmistakably to the middle period of his reign, when he was in the zenith of his prosperity and power, rather than to the close of his life. His triumphs over his enemies at home and abroad are still recent; the perils of his flight from Saul are still fresh in his memory. On the other hand there is not a trace of the sins and sorrows which clouded the later years of his reign. The free and joyous tone of the Psalm, and its bold assertions of integrity, point to a time before his sin with Bath-sheba, and Absalom’s rebellion. The composition of the Psalm may therefore most naturally and fitly be assigned to the interval of peace mentioned in 2 Samuel 7:1, which may (see notes there) have been subsequent to some at least of the wars described in ch. 8, for the arrangement of the book does not appear to be strictly chronological. But it must be placed after the visit of Nathan recorded in 2 Samuel 7, as Psalm 18:50 clearly refers to the promise then given: unless indeed Psalm 18:50 is to be regarded as a later addition to the Psalm. In that time of tranquillity David reviewed the mercies of Jehovah in this sublime ode of thanksgiving, and planned to raise a monument of his gratitude in the scheme for building the Temple, which he was not allowed to carry out.

The title of the Psalm is composite. The first part of it, For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, is analogous to the titles of other psalms in this collection: the second part is taken from 2 Samuel 22:1, or from the older history which the compiler of Samuel made use of.

Comp. the similar titles in Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:30.

Here, as in the title of Psalms 36, David is styled Jehovah’s servant. Cp. 2 Samuel 3:18; 2 Samuel 7:5; 2 Samuel 7:8; 1 Kings 8:24; Psalm 78:70; Psalm 89:3; Psalm 89:20; Psalm 132:10. Any Israelite might profess himself Jehovah’s servant in addressing Him, but only a few who were raised up to do special service or who stood in a special relation to Jehovah, such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Job, are honoured with this distinctive title.

Saul is mentioned by name as the most bitter and implacable of David’s enemies. (For the form of expression cp. Exodus 18:10.) David’s preservation in that fierce persecution which was aimed at his very life was the most signal instance of the providence which had watched over him. Much of the language of this Psalm reflects the experience of that time of anxiety and peril.

The Two Recensions of Psalms 18

The existence of this Psalm in two forms or recensions, in the Psalter and in 2 Sam., is a fact of the highest interest and importance in its bearing on the history and character of the Massoretic text of the O.T. Two questions obviously arise: (1) how are the variations to be accounted for? and (2) which text is to be preferred as on the whole nearest to the original?

Defenders of the integrity of the Massoretic text have maintained that both recensions proceeded from the poet himself, and are both equally authentic. That in Samuel is supposed to be the original form; that in the Psalter is supposed to be a revision prepared by David himself, probably towards the close of his life, for public use. This hypothesis can neither be proved nor disproved, but few will now maintain it. It is certain that many of the variations are due to errors of transcription (see on Psalm 18:4; Psalm 18:10; Psalm 18:41-42; Psalm 18:50); and the great probability is that those which appear to be due to intentional alteration were the work of a later reviser (see on Psalm 18:11; Psalm 18:32; Psalm 18:45).

Critics differ widely as to the relative value of the two texts. Both texts have unquestionably been affected by errors of transcription, and the text in 2 Sam. has suffered most from this cause, less care having been bestowed on the preservation of the historical books. On the other hand the text in the Psalter appears to the present editor to have been subjected to a literary revision at a later date, in which peculiar forms, which were possibly “licences of popular usage” have been replaced by the forms in ordinary use; unusual constructions simplified; archaisms and obscure expressions explained. If this view is correct, the text in Samuel best preserves the original features of the poem, while at the same time it frequently needs correction from the text in the Psalter.

Ps 18:1-50.

"The servant of the LORD," which in the Hebrew precedes "David," is a significant part of the title (and not a mere epithet of David), denoting the inspired character of the song, as the production of one entrusted with the execution of God's will. He was not favored by God because he served Him, but served Him because selected and appointed by God in His sovereign mercy. After a general expression of praise and confidence in God for the future, David gives a sublimely poetical description of God's deliverance, which he characterizes as an illustration of God's justice to the innocent and His righteous government. His own prowess and success are celebrated as the results of divine aid, and, confident of its continuance, he closes in terms of triumphant praise.

2Sa 22:1-51

is a copy of this Psalm, with a few unimportant variations recorded there as a part of the history, and repeated here as part of a collection designed for permanent use.

1. I will love thee--with most tender affection.

I will love thee, O Lord - This verse is not found in the song in 2 Samuel 22. It appears to have been added after the first composition of the psalm, either by David as expressive of his ardent love for the Lord in view of his merciful interpositions in his behalf, and on the most careful and most mature review of those mercies, or by the collector of the Psalms when they were adapted to purposes of public worship, as a proper commencement of the psalm - expressive of the feeling which the general tenor of the psalm was fitted to inspire. It is impossible now to determine by whom it was added; but no one can doubt that it is a proper commencement of a psalm that is designed to recount so many mercies. It is the feeling which all should have when they recall the goodness of God to them in their past lives.

My strength - The source of my strength, or from whom all my strength is derived. So Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is the strength of my life." Psalm 28:8, "he is the saving strength of his anointed." Compare Psalm 29:11; Psalm 46:1; Psalm 73:26; Psalm 81:1; Psalm 140:7.