Psalms 18:50

Great deliverance giveth he to his king,.... Not that is king over him; for he is King of kings and Lord of lords; but that is made king by him, as David was; who did not usurp the throne, but was

The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted. Closing recapitulation of the whole subject.- Verse 46. The Lord liveth; and blessed be my Rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

To his king; to the king whom God himself chose, and anointed, or constituted. To his seed; to all his posterity, and especially to the Messias, who is called David’ s Seed, ; and his Son, 90:1, compared with ; and the Seed by way of eminency, ; and God’ s Anointed and King, .

Psalms 18:50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.Ver. 50. Great deliverance giveth he to his king] In Samuel it is, He is the tower of salvation for his king. This tower is Messias, say the Jewish doctors, Qui est turris salutis. Oh that those poor creatures would once run to that strong tower and be safe. To David and to his seed for evermore] That is, to Christ (who was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, Romans 1:3 Acts 13:23), and to all faithful Christians, who are called Christ’ s seed, Isaiah 53:10 Psalms 72:17. Filiabitur nomine eius, the name of Christ shall endure for ever, it shall be begotten as one generation is begotten of another; there shall be a succession of it to the world’ s end.

(50) This verse is by many treated as a late liturgical addition to the hymn. The change to the third person is certainly somewhat suggestive of this, but by no means conclusive. The question of the relation of the two copies of this hymn to each other is far too complicated and difficult for discussion here. Each has been again and again claimed as the original. The best explanation of the variations is that the compositions were independent copies of some original, and that the psalm, like many others, was altered in preparation for the choir use.

Verse 50. Great deliverance giveth he to his king] David was a king of God's appointment, and was peculiarly favoured by him. Literally, He is magnifying the salvations of his king. He not only delivers, but follows up those deliverances with innumerable blessings. Showeth mercy - to David] I have no claim upon his bounty. I deserve nothing from him, but he continues to show mercy. To his seed] His posterity. So the words זרע zera and σπερμα, in the Old and New Testament, should be universally translated. The common translation is totally improper, and now more so than formerly, when anatomy was less understood. For evermore.] עד עולם ad olam, for ever; through all duration of created worlds. And more - the eternity that is beyond time. This shows that another David is meant, with another kind of posterity, and another sort of kingdom. From the family of David came the man Christ Jesus; his posterity are the genuine Christians; his kingdom, in which they are subjects, is spiritual. This government shall last through all time, for Christianity will continue to prevail till the end of the world: and it will be extended through eternity; for that is the kingdom of glory in which Jesus reigns on the throne of his Father, and in which his followers shall reign with him for ever and ever. It has already been remarked that this whole Psalm has been understood as relating to the passion and victories of CHRIST, and the success of the Gospel in the earth. In this way Bishop Horne has understood and paraphrased it; and in the same way it is considered by the ancient Psalter, so often mentioned. Many of the primitive fathers and modern interpreters have taken the same view of it. Those passages which I judged to have this meaning I have pointed out, and have only to add that, as David was a type of Christ, many things spoken of him primarily, refer to our Lord ultimately; but much judgment and caution are required in their application. To apply the whole Psalm in this way appears to me very injudicious, and often derogatory from the majesty of Christ. Let this be my excuse for not following the same track in which many of my predecessors have gone. ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTEENTH PSALM David's Επινικιον or song of triumph after his conquest of ail his enemies. This Psalm may be divided into four parts: - I. David shows what God is to his servants, and the effect it wrought upon him, Psalms 18:1-3. II. The great danger in which he was from the power and multitude of his enemies, Psalms 18:4-28. III. His glorious victories, and their consequences, Psalms 18:29-45. IV. His thanksgiving for those victories, Psalms 18:46-50. I. What God is to his servants, and to him especially. 1. Strength. 2. Rock. 3. Fortress. 4. Deliverer. 5. Tower. 6. Buckler. 7. Horn of salvation. 8. High tower, Psalms 18:1; Psalms 18:2. (See the notes.) The effect it wrought in him. It produced, 1.

50. These closing words may be due to a later poet, who thus sums up the lessons of the Psalm. But they may well be David’s own. He drops the first person, and surveys his own life from without, in the light of the great promise of 2 Samuel 7:12-16. These are the deliverances Jehovah has wrought for the king of His choice; this is a sample of the lovingkindness which He has shewn to His Anointed, and will shew to his seed for evermore. The words reach forward to the perfect life, and the world-wide victories, of the Christ, the Son of David. Great deliverance &c.] Lit. He magnifieth the salvations of his king. Cp. Psalms 20:6. The Kthîbh and the Versions in 2 Sam. have the same reading: but the Qrç, which the A.V. follows, has “He is a tower of deliverance for his king.” Cp. Psalms 61:3; Proverbs 18:10.The consonants of the two words, as originally written defectively and without vowels, are identical. mercy] lovingkindness. Cp. Psalms 17:7; 2 Samuel 7:15.

Great deliverance giveth he to his king - To David, as king. The word in the original, which is rendered “deliverance,” means properly salvations, and is here in the plural number.

50. Great deliverance giveth he to his king—Hebrew, magnifying the salvations of his king. In the parallel place (2 Samuel 22:51) the Keri, or Hebrew margin, reads, “tower of salvations,” and this is the sense here.