Psalm 18:36

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(36) Thou hast enlarged my steps.—Comp. Psalm 31:8, which explains the phrase; also Psalm 18:19 above.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 18:36. Thou hast enlarged my steps — Which before were confined within narrow limits, and entangled with the straitness and difficulty of the way. Thou hast set my feet in a large room, Psalm 31:8; Psalm 118:5. It must be observed, that the eastern writers were wont to denote any person’s condition in life by his steps, or goings. Hence narrow, or straitened steps, according to their phraseology, signified a state of distress and great affliction; and large and unconfined steps, the contrary state of prosperity and plenty. So that David here praises God for advancing him to great honour and prosperity. That my feet did not slip — Or stumble, as they are apt to do in narrow and uneven ways.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:32, and the following verses, are the gifts of God to the spiritual warrior, whereby he is prepared for the contest, after the example of his victorious Leader. Learn that we must seek release being made through Christ, shall be rejected. In David the type, we behold out of trouble through Christ. The prayer put up, without reconciliation Jesus our Redeemer, conflicting with enemies, compassed with sorrows and with floods of ungodly men, enduring not only the pains of death, but the wrath of God for us; yet calling upon the Father with strong cries and tears; rescued from the grave; proceeding to reconcile, or to put under his feet all other enemies, till death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. We should love the Lord, our Strength, and our Salvation; we should call on him in every trouble, and praise him for every deliverance; we should aim to walk with him in all righteousness and true holiness, keeping from sin. If we belong to him, he conquers and reigns for us, and we shall conquer and reign through him, and partake of the mercy of our anointed King, which is promised to all his seed for evermore. Amen.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me - The idea here is, "Thou hast made room for my feet, so that I have been enabled to walk without hindrance or obstruction. So in Psalm 31:8, "Thou hast set my feet in a large room." The idea is, that he was before straitened, compressed, hindered in his goings, but that now all obstacles had been taken out of the way, and he could walk freely.

That my feet did not slip - Margin, mine ancles. The Hebrew word here rendered in the text feet, and in the margin ancles, means properly a joint; small joint; especially the ancle. The reference here is to the ancle, the joint that is so useful in walking, and that is so liable to be sprained or dislocated. The meaning is that he had been enabled to walk firmly; that he did not limp. Before, he had been like one whose ancles are weak or sprained; now he was able to tread firmly. The divine favor given to him was as if God had given strength to a lame man to walk firmly.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

36. enlarged my steps—made ample room (compare Pr 4:12).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Thou hast enlarged my steps; which before were straitened and confined to a little compass, and entangled with the narrowness and difficulty of the way. Thou hast set my feet in a large room, Psalm 31:8 118:5, i.e. thou hast brought me out of all my straits and difficulties into a state of freedom and safety.

Slip, or stumble, as they are apt to do in narrow and uneven ways.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,.... Which is opposed to those straitened circumstances in which the psalmist was, Psalm 18:4; and is expressive of deliverance from his enemies, by whom he was surrounded, besieged, and shut up; see Psalm 31:8; and of freedom of walking at large, without being straitened for room, or interrupted by others, Proverbs 4:12; and of safety in standing; all which is true in a spiritual sense of believers in Christ, who being delivered by him out of the hands of their enemies, serve the Lord without fear in righteousness and holiness; walk at liberty by faith in Christ, and up and down in the name of the Lord their God; and have their feet established upon the Rock of ages, that sure and large foundation, Christ, from which there is no danger of slipping and falling; as follows;

that my feet did not slip; so as to fall and perish; for sometimes the steps of the saints are well nigh slipped; yea, in some sense they stumble; slip, and fall, but not so as to be utterly cast down and perish eternally; the bottom on which they are is so broad, and the foundation so sure, that it is not possible they should. The words will bear to be applied to Christ, who was in very pressed and straitened circumstances, when beset with the bulls of Bashan, encompassed with dogs, and enclosed with the assembly of the wicked; and was in slippery places, when he sunk in deep mire where there is no standing, Psalm 22:12; but now being delivered from all this, he is brought, as in Psalm 18:19, into a large place, into heaven, and made higher than the heavens, and is set down at the right hand of God, from whence he can never be moved.

Geneva Study Bible

Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

36. enlarged my steps &c.] Given me free space for unobstructed movement (cp. Psalm 18:19; Proverbs 4:12), and the power to advance with firm, unwavering steps.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 36. - Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip. Job often complained that God "hedged in his steps" (Job 3:23) and "fenced up his way" (Job 19:5), so that he had no liberty of movement. David enumerates among the blessings which he receives of God, the freedom which he enjoys (comp. Psalm 31:8). He is at liberty to go where he likes. and also his footsteps "do not slip." This is rather an independent clause than a consequence. Translate, and my ankles slip not. Psalm 18:36

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 18:36-37) Yet it is not the brazen bow in itself that makes him victorious, but the helpful strength of his God. "Shield of Thy salvation" is that consisting of Thy salvation. מגן has an unchangeable , as it has always. The salvation of Jahve covered him as a shield, from which every stroke of the foe rebounded; the right hand of Jahve supported him that his hands might not become feeble in the conflict. In its ultimate cause it is the divine ענוה, to which he must trace back his greatness, i.e., God's lowliness, by virtue of which His eyes look down upon that which is on the earth (Psalm 113:6), and the poor and contrite ones are His favourite dwelling-place (Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 66:1.); cf. B. Megilla 31a, "wherever Scripture testifies of the גבורה of the Holy One, blessed be He, it gives prominence also, in connection with it, to His condescension, ענותנוּתו, as in Deuteronomy 10:17 and in connection with it Deuteronomy 10:18, Isaiah 57:15 and Isaiah 57:15, Psalm 68:5 and Psalm 68:6." The rendering of Luther, who follows the lxx and Vulgate, "When Thou humblest me, Thou makest me great" is opposed by the fact that ענוה means the bending of one's self, and not of another. What is intended is, that condescension of God to mankind, and especially to the house of David, which was in operation, with an ultimate view to the incarnation, in the life of the son of Jesse from the time of his anointing to his death, viz., the divine χρηστότης καὶ φιλανθρωπία (Titus 3:4), which elected the shepherd boy to be king, and did not cast him off even when he fell into sin and his infirmities became manifest. To enlarge his steps under any one is equivalent to securing him room for freedom of motion (cf. the opposite form of expression in Proverbs 4:12). Jahve removed the obstacles of his course out of the way, and steeled his ankles so that he stood firm in fight and endured till he came off victorious. The praet. מעדו substantiates what, without any other indication of it, is required by the consecutio temporum, viz., that everything here has a retrospective meaning.