The Three-Hundred-Seventeenth (Psalm 18)
As you can tell by the title, we’re going to look at one of the psalms this week. It’s a psalm that’s also recorded in the book of second Samuel (2 Samuel 22). While there are some slight differences between the two versions, that’s not going to be our main focus. Instead, we’ll take a look at some of the language and imagery used, and we’ll see if there’s anything there that can help us understand other parts of scripture.
The first thing to understand is that in both the 2 Samuel and Psalm 18 (Psalm 18) versions, we’re told that this was a song sung by David after being delivered from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. Specifically, in 2 Samuel, this song is recorded well after Saul is killed in battle. The previous chapter talks about a three-year famine that occurred at some point in David’s reign (2 Samuel 21:1).
David made amends with the Gibeonites which caused YHWH to end the famine, and some time after that the Philistines once again warred against Israel (2 Samuel 21:15). It was during one of these Philistine battles that David was almost killed, and his men subsequently told him he’s never to join them in battle again. They were worried that he may be killed and the “lamp of Israel” would be extinguished (2 Samuel 21:17).
While we don’t know exactly when David wrote or sang these words, or perhaps if it was a song he sang regularly when YHWH delivered him from enemies, but it was likely inserted here based on the fact that David wasn’t going to be actually fighting in battles for the rest of his life. The next chapter has David’s last song (2 Samuel 23:1-7), and as we move into the first book of Kings we see a David that’s “old and well along in years,” (1 Kings 1:1). Even in this context for the song though, we can find something that helps us elsewhere in scripture.
As we’ve learned in previous studies, scriptural Hebrew can be slightly different from English when it comes to singular and plural nouns. A singular “tree” can be used in scripture when referring to multiple trees, and vice versa, and the context is intended to help us determine which version to use, singular or plural. A perfect example is when YHWH tells Moses he will be like “God” to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:1).
In that verse, the plural Hebrew word elohim is used in reference to Moses rather than the singular eloah. Now, you could argue that YHWH was speaking in the context of Pharaoh’s understanding because he did believe in multiple gods, and perhaps that’s true. A more accurate translation would then be, “the gods,” rather than the singular, “God.” You’d also have to figure out how his brother Aaron could be a singular prophet to multiple gods, but the point is that every single English translation of this verse has the singular “God” rather than the plural, and some even specify “a God,” putting a point on the singularness.
At any rate, when we come to this context in 2 Samuel, we see that David sang this song on the “day” that YHWH delivered him from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. The Hebrew word is the singular, “day,” not plural, “days.” Either David sang this song after every deliverance from his enemies, because it specifies, “his enemies and…Saul,” which clearly occurred on different days, and the Hebrew used the singular “day” to refer to all those occurrences, or he sang this song once, on one day, after it was decided that he would never go into battle again.
The possibility that in this context, “day,” could refer to multiple days means that when we read about other singular days, like the “day of the LORD,” for example, we can’t necessitate that it is referring to a singular day. We can’t assume that there is only one “day of the LORD,” to which every use of this phrase in scripture is referring to, and we also can’t assume that even if there is only one, singular event in history/future that it will occur within one, 24-hour period. It’s actually interesting, because even when someone believes that all references to the Day of YHWH point to one occurrence, most of the time they still believe that occurrence will take place across multiple days! The most common belief is that it will be a three-and-a-half-year period!
As we continue looking at this psalm, we’re going to find that there is actually a lot of common imagery and language between it and the Day of YHWH prophecies. First, however, we see David call YHWH his rock, his fortress, and his deliverer. He also calls YHWH his shield, stronghold, and the horn of his salvation (Psalm 18:2, 2 Samuel 22:2-3). These are all pictures of being protected and saved from enemies, and David is showing that because YHWH is all those things, when David calls upon Him, he will be saved (Psalm 18:3, 2 Samuel 22:4).
That’s all pretty common and self-explanatory, but what I want to really focus in on is YHWH being David’s rock. This image is used multiple times in this song other than here (Psalm 18:31, 46, 2 Samuel 22:32, 47), and what’s interesting about that is in the latter verses of the translation I normally use the translators decided to capitalize this word. You might think it’s because in the earlier verse the Hebrew word used is the possessive, as in “my rock,” whereas in the latter verses it’s not possessive, “the Rock.” However, in one verse both of these versions of the word are used and they’re both capitalized.
Your guess is as good as mine as to why they did this. It’s not the first place, either. We read in the song of Moses about YHWH being a rock as well, and in one of those verses, “their rock,” is not capitalized, but “our Rock,” is, even though the previous verse has, “their Rock,” capitalized.
We’re not going to dig into that this week, but the reason for pointing it out is that these types of things can either give false impressions as to what scripture is saying or even lead to, or at least be used to support, beliefs or doctrines that are completely wrong. That’s not to say anyone presenting a certain doctrine is using a translation’s capitalization to prove it (if they do, run!). It’s simply to say that when you read those things it creates a subconscious predisposition in your mind.
Once that predisposition is there, it’s really hard to get rid of it. This is especially true when there are widely taught doctrines that use these types of verses to support it. If you don’t take the time to look at those specific words and how they’re used across scripture, you’ll walk right into the false doctrine yourself. In the case of the rock imagery, it’s simply used to represent something strong, immovable, and steady; something that never waivers. It doesn’t mean that every time the imagery of a rock is used in scripture that it refers to YHWH.
In the next stanza, we see David using imagery related to death (Psalm 18:4-6, 2 Samuel 22:5-7). We’ve studied this previously and we see it elsewhere as well (Jonah 2:1-3), so we won’t dwell on it too much. There are really two things to point out here.
First, we can see the water imagery connected with death and Sheol just like we do in many other places in scripture. Water, the sea, and chaos were commonly connected to death in the ancient Middle Eastern cultures, and one of the common threads throughout all of scripture is emphasizing the dichotomy between YHWH, who brings order and life, and death, which is connected to chaos. He brought forth the earth, order, and life from nothingness, chaos, and lack of life (death) at the beginning of time (Genesis 1), and He will restore the earth, order, and life at the end of time (Revelation 21:1-5, 22:1-3).
Second, we start to see connections between this song and Revelation imagery. YHWH hears David’s cry for help from His temple. This is where YHWH is shown to be in John’s vision (Revelation 4:2), and where He dispenses the implements of His wrath (Revelation 8:2-4, 11:19, 14:15-18, 15:5-6). In fact, this imagery transitions perfectly into the next stanza where there is even more Revelation-connected language.
In the next portion of the song, we see earthquakes, mountains tremble and shake, the heavens parting, hailstones, thunder, and coals of fire (Psalm 18:7-12, 2 Samuel 22:8-13). Now, other than the obvious connections to the judgment language of Revelation (Revelation 11:19, 16:18), the Hebrew phrase for “coals of fire” can be found in another very interesting place. The very first place this phrase is used is in YHWH’s instructions of how Aaron, and all subsequent high priests, were to make atonement for themselves and for their household, once a year, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:12).
In fact, this is the only place where this phrase is used in connection with a physical action. In all other occurrences, this phrase is used as spiritual imagery in visions or songs (Psalm 18:8, 12, 2 Samuel 22:9, 13, Ezekiel 1:13, 10:2). In the case of the high priest’s actions on the Day of Atonement, the coals of fire burned incense that protected him from death while he sprinkled the bull’s blood (Leviticus 16:13-14). In the case of David’s song, the coals of fire are associated with the coming of YHWH and His protection and deliverance.
The other thing we can see in these verses is language of YHWH parting the heavens and coming down. Sounds a lot like Revelation, doesn’t it? We see the heavens receding like a scroll (Revelation 6:14), and we see heaven standing open and Yeshua coming down and striking the nations (Revelation 19:11-16).
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Yeshua is YHWH, it just means that when we see things like the heavens opening and beings coming from heaven like YHWH and Yeshua, we shouldn’t assume that it’s talking about a physical presence coming to earth. Did YHWH physically come down and protect David? No, and we see in the next stanza that He actually thundered from heaven, shot arrows, hurled lightning, etc. (Psalm 18:13-15, 2 Samuel 22:14-16).
No one would claim that YHWH physically reached down and took hold of David (Psalm 18:16, 2 Samuel 22:17), yet when we read words in prophecy like this in relation to Yeshua, for example, we immediately want to attribute them to a physical fulfillment. It’s understandable, isn’t it? I mean, I want Him to come back physically just as much as the next believer. We just have to be careful about misinterpreting these types of things and then misunderstanding what YHWH is actually telling us in scripture.
The next key portion of this song to look at is when David talks about why YHWH saves him (Psalm 18:20-24, 2 Samuel 22:21-25). It’s because of David’s righteousness…wait, what? Righteousness?! Didn’t we just read about him having an affair not too long ago with a married woman and then getting her husband killed in order to hide it??? (2 Samuel 11)
David goes on to talk about faithfulness and purity, which he’s obviously connecting to himself (Psalm 18:25-27, 2 Samuel 22:26-28), but how can he make such connections given his past indiscretions? This is one of the things believers commonly misunderstand about living according to YHWH’s instruction, His Torah. It was never about being perfect, otherwise David could never justifiably make these statements.
YHWH always had a way to restore righteousness after someone sins, it was given by Him in His instruction. The only difference between that restoration today and back in David’s time is that today Yeshua can do it rather than us having to make an animal sacrifice. The reason Israel was judged and ultimately divorced from YHWH was not because they sinned, it was because they gradually lost a key aspect of the restoration process: true repentance. The sacrifices became purely ritual vice restoration. And make no mistake, the same can happen to believers today with the same result.
The rest of this song of David is praise, thanksgiving, and recognition by David of where his strength, capability, and protection truly comes from: YHWH. There’s a few key things to point out in this last section. They have to do with light, foreigners, and what David says he will do because of YHWH’s salvation.
In this song is another example of connecting YHWH to light, or more specifically to a lamp (Psalm 18:28, 2 Samuel 22:29). In one version, YHWH lights the lamp and in the other He is the lamp, but either way the imagery is of YHWH bringing light to the darkness. This is another example of distinguishing between evil’s darkness/gloom/death and YHWH’s light/brightness/life. It’s recognition that being in YHWH gives us the ability to see what evil is trying to hide.
Later on in the song, we see a familiar word, don’t we? When David talks about foreigners cowering before him and losing heart, coming from their strongholds trembling (Psalm 18:44-45, 2 Samuel 22:45-46), the Hebrew word there is nekar, so he’s referring to those that are actively opposing YHWH and His will. These are not the sojourners who came to join YHWH’s people or the isles who live indifferently rather than actively choosing either the side of YHWH or the side of Satan. Because of YHWH’s deliverance and His exaltation of David above all people, the foreigners fear him and the power of YHWH that is behind him.
Finally, we see David promise that because of all that YHWH has done for Him, he will praise YHWH among the people and praise His name (Psalm 18:49, 2 Samuel 22:50). This is an acknowledgement by David that the only way he could have been saved, throughout all the times in his life in which the enemy was at his doorstep, is by the power of YHWH. David knew he couldn’t take any credit for any of it because he never had the power or capability to do any portion of it himself, and we better have that same attitude as believers today. In fact, this verse is one of the ones Paul quotes when talking about unbelievers coming to glorify YHWH for His mercy (Romans 15:9).
Isn’t it amazing how one psalm can give us so much insight into what we read elsewhere in scripture? Not only that, it teaches us the mindset we need to have and how we need to recognize what YHWH does for us in our lives. Let’s keep that in mind as we go through this week and the rest of our lives!
We hope you have a great week! Shabbat shalom and YHWH bless you!
-Rob and Sara Gene
The Gospel
We are born sinful as a result of Adam and Eve's sin (Genesis 2:17, 3:6, 1 John 1:8)
The consequence of sin, which is unavoidable through our own works, is death (Romans 6:23)
Yeshua, the Son of YHWH, lived sinless and was put to death (Hebrews 4:15)
His death, therefore, cleanses us of sin that would have required our death
He rose on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4)
Because of His resurrection, we are confident in our future resurrection and eternal life
Comments