Psalms 18:37
in Psalms 18I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them; Neither will I turn again till they are consumed.
KJV
I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
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This verse in Psalms 18
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThe mind must not through disbelief in the promised blessings give way to despair; and the soul once marked out for perdition must not refuse to apply remedies on the ground that its wounds are past curing.… Lo, I hear his promise: "I will pursue mine enemies and overtake them; neither will I turn again till they are consumed," so that I, who was once your enemy and a fugitive from you, shall be laid hold of by your hand. Cease not from pursuing me till my wickedness is consumed.
This site's exposition
I pursued my enemies and overtook them
on Psalms 18:37-42
The psalm reports the battle in a king's own words. He pursued and overtook them, crushed them, ground them as dust in the wind, and trampled them like mud in the streets. They cried to the LORD for help, and He did not answer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
This is done for me through your grace, so that my feet are not ensnared nor am I cut off by the nets of my enemies or by the offenses that they had cast.
If you pray against your passions or the demons that assail you recall to mind [this verse].… You are to say this at the appropriate moment, thus arming yourself against your adversary with humility.
Not only do we avoid the ones pursuing us as we flee, but we pursue our enemies, and we seize them, and we do not turn back until they fail.
"I will follow up mine enemies, and seize them" [Psalm 18:37]. I will follow up my carnal affections, and will not be seized by them, but will seize them, so that they may be consumed. "And I will not turn, till they fail." And from this purpose I will not turn myself to rest, till they fail who make a tumult about me.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"I will pursue." Above the Psalmist set forth his fitness for conquering; here he treats of the victory, how he pursued those who fled. And regarding this he does two things. First he sets forth the manner of pursuit; second, he shows the inability to …
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them,.... Which may refer to David's pursuing the Amalekites, who overtook them and recovered all they had carried away, 1Sa 30:8; so Kimchi explains it; neither did I turn again till they were consumed; for not a man escaped, save four hundred young men that rode on camels and fled, Psa 18:17.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
The preservation of the saints bodes ill for their adversaries. The Amelekites thought themselves clear away with their booty, but when David's God guided him in the pursuit, they were soon overtaken and cut in pieces. When God is with us sins and sorrows flee, and all forms of evil are "consumed" before the power of grace. What a noble picture this and the following verses present to us of the victories of our glorious Lord Jesus!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them - He had not only routed them, but had had strength to pursue them; he had not only pursued them, but he had been enabled to come up to them. The idea is that of complete success and absolute triumph. Neither did I turn again - I was not driven back, nor was I weary and exhausted, and compelled to give over the pursuit. Till they were consumed - Until they were all either slain or made captive, so that the hostile forces vanished. None of my enemies were left.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶרְדּ֣וֹף | ʾerdof | I pursued | H7291 → | 143 times |
| א֭וֹיְבַי | ʾoyvai | enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| וְאַשִּׂיגֵ֑ם | veasigem | and I overtook them | H5381 → | 50 times |
| וְלֹֽא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָ֝שׁוּב | ʾashuv | I returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| כַּלּוֹתָֽם׃ | kalotam | destroyed them | H3615 → | 208 times |
אֶרְדּ֣וֹףI pursued
ʾerdofH7291 →143 times
א֭וֹיְבַיenemies my
ʾoyvaiH341 →282 times
וְאַשִּׂיגֵ֑םand I overtook them
veasigemH5381 →50 times
וְלֹֽא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
אָ֝שׁוּבI returned
ʾashuvH7725 →1056 times
עַד־until
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
כַּלּוֹתָֽם׃destroyed them
kalotamH3615 →208 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 44:5Through You we repel our foes; through Your name we trample our enemies.
it leads to
- Psalms 108:13
With God we will perform with valor, and He will trample our enemies.
- Psalms 60:12
With God we will perform with valor, and He will trample our enemies.
- Psalms 118:10–13
All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off.
- Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
- Deuteronomy 33:17
His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the…
- Psalms 108:13
Through
Psalms 37:20But the wicked and enemies of the LORD will perish like the glory of the fields. They will vanish; like smoke they will fade away.
it leads to
- Psalms 68:2
As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.
- Psalms 102:3
For my days vanish like smoke, and my bones burn like glowing embers.
- Psalms 68:2
Through
Psalms 35:5May they be like chaff in the wind, as the angel of the LORD drives them away.
it leads to
- Job 21:18
Are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a storm?
- Job 21:18
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Arnobius the Younger, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 18; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 18; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 18:38; Evagrius Ponticus, CHAPTERS ON PRAYER 135; Jerome, LETTER 122.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.