Psalm 18:46

The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(46-50) The psalm concludes with a burst of joyous praise, in which the previous figures are recalled in brief touches.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 18:46. The Lord liveth — Jehovah, and he only, is the true and living God, and he hath manifested himself to be such for my comfort, and for the confusion of my enemies, when other gods are dead and impotent idols. Or, Let the Lord live, as חי יהוה, chai Jehovah, may be translated; and so it is a joyful and thankful acclamation, spoken after the manner in which earthly princes are addressed; and blessed be my rock — Let him have all blessing and praise, for he is worthy of it.

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

The Lord liveth - Yahweh - the name used here - is often described as the living God in contradistinction to idols, who are represented as without life, Deuteronomy 5:26; Joshua 3:10; 2 Kings 19:4; Psalm 42:2; Matthew 16:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:9. Compare Psalm 115:5; Psalm 135:16. It is probably in allusion to this idea that the phrase "The Lord liveth" is used here. It is a joyful exclamation in view of all that God had done; of all the deliverances which he had performed for the author of the psalm. In the remembrance of all this the psalmist says that God had shown himself to be the living, that is, the true God. These interpositions furnished abundant demonstration that Yahweh existed, and that he was worthy of adoration and praise as the true God. So, in view of mercy and salvation, the heart of the redeemed exultingly exclaims, "The Lord lives - there is a living God."

And blessed be my Rock - God, who has shown himself to be a refuge and a protector. See the note at Psalm 18:2.

And let the God of my salvation be exalted - The God who has saved me from my enemies. Let him be exalted, be praised, be honored, be adored. Let his name be exalted above all idol gods; above all the creatures that he has made. The wish is, that His name might be made prominent; that all creatures might praise and honor Him.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

46. The Lord liveth—contrasts Him with idols (1Co 8:4).

The Treasury of David

46 The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47 It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.

Psalm 18:46

"The Lord liveth." Possessing underived, essential, Independent and eternal life. We serve no inanimate, imaginary, or dying God. He only hath immortality. Like loyal subjects let us cry, Live on, O God. Long live the King of kings. By thine immortality do we dedicate ourselves afresh to thee. As the Lord our God liveth so would we live to him. "And blessed be my rock." He is the ground of our hope, and let him be the subject of our praise. Our hearts bless the Lord, with holy love extolling him.

Jehovah lives, my rock be blest!

Praised be the God who gives me rest!

"Let the God of my salvation be exalted." As our Saviour, the Lord should more than ever be glorified. We should publish abroad the story of the covenant and the cross, the Father's election, the Son's redemption, and the Spirit's regeneration. He who rescues us from deserved ruin should be very dear to us. In heaven they sing, "Unto him that loved us and washed us in his blood;" the like music should be common in the assemblies of the saints below.

Psalm 18:47

"It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me." To rejoice in personal revenge is unhallowed and evil, but David viewed himself as the instrument of vengeance upon the enemies of God and his people, and had he not rejoiced in the success accorded to him he would have been worthy of censure. That sinners perish is in itself a painful consideration, but that the Lord's law is avenged upon those who break it is to the devout mind a theme for thankfulness. We must, however, always remember that vengeance is never ours, vengeance belongeth unto the Lord, and he is so just and withal so long-suffering in the excercise of it, that we may safely leave its administration in his hands.

Psalm 18:48

From all enemies, and especially from one who was pre-eminent in violence, the Lord's anointed was preserved, and at the last over the head of Saul and all other adversaries he reigned in honour. The like end awaits every saint, because Jesus who stooped to be lightly esteemed among men is now made to sit far above all principalities and powers.

continued...

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He and he only is the true living God, and he hath manifested himself to be for my comfort, and for the confusion of mine enemies, when other gods are dead and impotent idols. Or, Let the Lord live. So it is a joyful and thankful acclamation, spoken after the manner of earthly princes.

Blessed be my rock; let him have all blessing and praise, for he is worthy of it.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock,.... This, with what follows, is the concluding part of the psalm, which ends with a celebration of the Divine Being, and with thankfulness for mercies received from him. The psalmist praises him on account of what he is in himself, what he was to him, and had done for him: in himself he is the living God, "the Lord liveth": he has life in himself, essentially, originally, and independently; and is the fountain and author of life to all others, even to all creatures that have life, whether rational or irrational: he is the giver of natural life to all men, and the supporter of it; and of spiritual and eternal life to his chosen people; and he continues to live, and ever will; wherefore the saints may conclude that their life in every sense is safe and secure. Some render the phrase, by way of wish, "may the Lord live" (r); but then it must be understood only that he would show himself more abundantly to be the living God, and that he might be acknowledged so by others. The next clauses are by way of petition; "and blessed be my Rock"; on which he was built and established, to which he betook himself in times of distress, which was his place of defence, and from whence he had a supply; wherefore he desires he might be blessed, not by invoking or conferring a blessing on him, neither of which can be; there being none greater than he to call upon, and he being "Elshaddai", God all sufficient, and in no need of any; but by declaring his blessedness, by celebrating his greatness and goodness, and by ascribing blessing and honour and glory to him;

and let the God of my salvation be exalted; God was the God of his salvation in a temporal sense, saving him daily from his many enemies; and in a spiritual sense, being the contriver, author, and applier of it to him; on which account he would have him be exalted both by himself, and in the high praises of his people; ascribing the whole of salvation to him, and giving him all the glory of it. Some render the words, "the God of my salvation is high" (s); he is the most high God, the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, and is above all others. In 2 Samuel 22:47 the words are read, "and exalted be the God of the Rock of my salvation".

(r) "vivat Jehova", Musculus, Tigurine version, Piscator, Muis; so some in Vatablus, Ainsworth. (s) "excelsus est", Gejerus.

Geneva Study Bible

The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

46. The Lord liveth] Life is the essential attribute of Jehovah. He is the Living God in contrast to the dead idols of the heathen. The experience of David’s life is summed up in these words. It had been to him a certain proof that God is the living, active Ruler of the world. Cp. Joshua 3:10.

and let &c.] R.V., and exalted be the God of my salvation. Cp. Psalm 24:5. 2 Sam. reads, “the God of the rock of my salvation.”

46–50. Concluding thanksgiving and doxology.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 46-50. - This glorious and triumphant psalm concludes with a solemn ascription of praise, blessing, and thanksgiving to Almighty God - partly recapitulation of what has preceded (vers. 47, 48), partly additional (vers. 46, 49, 50). Terms of praise are accumulated, and the whole is made to culminate in a Messianic burst, where David is swallowed up in his "Seed;" and the "Anointed King" presented to our view is rather the antitype than the type - rather Christ Jesus than the son of Jesse. Verse 46. - The Lord liveth. God was known to Israel as "the living God" from the time of Moses (Deuteronomy 5:26). The epithet exalted him above all other so-called gods, who were not living (comp. 2 Kings 19:4; Isaiah 37:4, 17; Daniel 6:26). But it had also a very precious, absolute meaning. God's life was the source of man's. It was through God (who had life in himself) breathing into man the breath of life that man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7). Hence "the living God" (Psalm 42:2) is "the God of our life" (Psalm 42:8). And blessed be my Rock (see vers. 1, 31). In blessing "his Rock," David blesses God for his qualities of firmness, steadfastness, and trustworthiness. And let the God of my salvation be exalted. "The God of my salvation" is a favourite phrase with David (see Psalm 25:5; Psalm 27:9; Psalm 38:22; Psalm 51:14; Psalm 88:1). Other writers use it rarely. When David prays that the God of his salvation (i.e. the God who continually saves him and preserves him) may be "exalted," he probably desires that he may be praised and honoured of all men. Psalm 18:46

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 18:47-49) The hymn now draws towards the end with praise and thanksgiving for the multitude of God's mighty deeds, which have just been displayed. Like the (צוּרי) בּרוּך which is always doxological, חי ה (vivus Jahve) is meant as a predicate clause, but is read with the accent of an exclamation just as in the formula of an oath, which is the same expression; and in the present instance it has a doxological meaning. Accordingly וירוּם also signifies "exalted be," in which sense it is written וירם (וירם equals וירם) in the other text. There are three doxological utterances drawn from the events which have just been celebrated in song. That which follows, from האל onwards, describes Jahve once more as the living, blessed (εὐλογητόν), and exalted One, which He has shown Himself to be. From ויּדבּר we see that הנּותן is to be resolved as an imperfect. The proofs of vengeance, נקמות, are called God's gift, insofar as He has rendered it possible to him to punish the attacks upon his own dignity and the dignity of his people, or to witness the punishment of such insults (e.g., in the case of Nabal); for divine vengeance is a securing by punishment (vindicatio) of the inviolability of the right. It is questionable whether הדבּיר (synonym רדד, Psalm 144:2) here and in Psalm 47:4 means "to bring to reason" as an intensive of דּבר, to drive (Ges.); the more natural meaning is "to turn the back" according to the Arabic adbara (Hitzig), cf. dabar, dabre, flight, retreat; debira to be wounded behind; medbûr, wounded in the back. The idea from which הדביר gains the meaning "to subdue" is that of flight, in which hostile nations, overtaken from behind, sank down under him (Psalm 45:6); but the idea that is fully worked out in Psalm 129:3, Isaiah 51:23, is by no means remote. With מפלטי the assertion takes the form of an address. מן רומם does not differ from Psalm 9:14 : Thou liftest me up away from mine enemies, so that I hover above them and triumph over them. The climactic אף, of which poetry is fond, here unites two thoughts of a like import to give intensity of expression to the one idea. The participle is followed by futures: his manifold experience is concentrated in one general ideal expression.