Psalms 18:39
in Psalms 18You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
KJV
For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
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This verse in Psalms 18
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle - See the note at Psa 18:32. Compare Job 12:18; Pro 31:17. Thou hast subdued under me - Margin, as in Hebrew, caused to bow. That is, God had caused them to submit to him; he had enabled him to overcome them; still acknowledging that all this was from God, and that the praise was due to Him, and not to the power of his own arm.
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.
This site's exposition
You have subdued my foes beneath me
Verse 39 turns from David's deeds to God's. The strength here repeats the gift of verse 32, and Albert Barnes noted that the Hebrew for subdued means caused to bow. Charles Spurgeon added that the triumph belongs far more to the Lord than to the fighter.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"And You have girded me with strength to the war" [Psalm 18:39]. And the loose desires of my flesh have You bound up with strength, that in such a fight I may not be encumbered. "You have supplanted under me them that rose up against me." You have caused them to be deceived, who followed upon me, that they should be brought under me, who desired to be over me.
If fighters find themselves being assailed and assailing in return, and if the demons fight against us, then they too when they assail us will be assailed by us in return. Scripture says, "I will assail them, and they will not be able to stand"; …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And all this is because "you have girded me." Here he treats of their total abandonment, and he commemorates two things. First, the divine benefit; second, their final destruction, at "and I will grind them," etc. And because the things he has said seem to …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For thou hast girded me with strength unto battle,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
It is impossible to be too frequent in the duty of ascribing all our victories to the God of our salvation. It is true that we have to wrestle with our spiritual antagonists, but the triumph is far more the Lord's than ours. We must not boast like the ambitious votaries of vainglory, but we may exult as the willing and believing instruments in the Lord's hand of accomplishing his great designs.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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 words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתְּאַזְּרֵ֣נִי | vateazereni | and you girded me | H247 → | 16 times |
| חַ֭יִל | chayil | strength | H2428 → | 246 times |
| לַמִּלְחָמָ֑ה | lamilchamah | for the battle | H4421 → | 320 times |
| תַּכְרִ֖יעַ | takhria' | you made bow down | H3766 → | 36 times |
| קָמַ֣י | kamai | [those who] rose against me | H6965 → | 628 times |
| תַּחְתָּֽי׃ | tachtai | under me | H8478 → | 505 times |
וַתְּאַזְּרֵ֣נִיand you girded me
vateazereniH247 →16 times
חַ֭יִלstrength
chayilH2428 →246 times
לַמִּלְחָמָ֑הfor the battle
lamilchamahH4421 →320 times
תַּכְרִ֖יעַyou made bow down
takhria'H3766 →36 times
קָמַ֣י[those who] rose against me
kamaiH6965 →628 times
תַּחְתָּֽי׃under me
tachtaiH8478 →505 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
Ephesians 1:22And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
it leads to
- Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
- Colossians 2:10
And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.
- 1 Corinthians 15:25–27
For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
- Colossians 1:18
Through
Psalms 18:32It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear.
it leads to
- Isaiah 45:5
I am the LORD, and there is no other; there is no God but Me. I will equip you for battle, though you have not known Me,
- Psalms 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song.
- 2 Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim that anything comes from us, but our competence comes from God.
- 2 Samuel 22:33
God is my strong fortress and He makes my way clear.
- Isaiah 45:5
Through
Isaiah 45:14This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge…
it leads to
- Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
- Isaiah 49:23
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 18; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Evagrius Ponticus, PRAKTIKOS 72; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.