Psalms 18:32

God's perfection is the source of his own, which has resulted from his trust on the one hand, and God's promised help on the other. tried--"as metals are tried by fire and proved genuine" (Ps 12:6). Girding was essential to free motion on account of the looseness of Oriental dresses; hence it is an expressive figure for describing the gift of strength.

Surveying all the armour in which he fought and conquered, the joyful victor praises the Lord for every part of the panoply. The girdle of his loins earns the first stanza: "It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect." Girt about the loins with power from heaven, the warrior was filled with vigour, far above all created might; and, whereas, without this wondrous belt he would have been feeble and effeminate, with relaxed energies and scattered forces, he felt himself, when braced with the girdle of truth, to be compact in purpose, courageous in daring, and concentrated in power; so that his course was a complete success, so undisturbed by disastrous defeat as to be called "perfect." Have we been made more than conquerors over sin, and has our life hitherto been such as becometh the gospel? Then let us ascribe all the glory to him who girt us with his own inexhaustible strength, that we might be unconquered in battle and unwearied in pilgrimage.

Some repetitions are not vain repetitions. Second thoughts upon God's mercy should be and often are the best. Like wines on the lees our gratitude grows stronger and sweeter as we meditate upon divine goodness. The verses which we have now to consider are the ripe fruit of a thankful spirit; they are apples of gold as to matter, and they are placed in baskets of silver as to their language. They describe the believer's victorious career and his enemies' confusion.

God - girdeth me with strength - The girdle was a necessary part of the Eastern dress; it strengthened and supported the loins; served to confine the garments close to the body; and in it they tucked them up when journeying. The strength of God was to his soul what the girdle was to the body. I need not add, that the girdle was also an ornamental part of the dress, and from it the sword was suspended. And maketh my way perfect - He directs me so that I do not go astray; he blesses me in my undertakings; and by him the issue of my labors is crowned with prosperity.

It is God that girdeth me with strength - Who gives me strength. The word girdeth contains an allusion to the mode of dress among the orientals, the long flowing robe, which was girded up when they ran or labored, that it might not impede them; and, probably, with the additional idea that girding the loins contributed to strength. It is a common custom now for men who run a race, or leap, or engage in a strife of pugilism, to gird or bind up their loins. See Job 40:7, note; and Mat 5:38-41, notes. And maketh my way perfect - Gives me complete success in my undertakings; or, enables me so to carry them out that none of them fail.