Psalms 18:48
in Psalms 18who delivers me from my enemies. You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He rescueth me from mine enemies; Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me; Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Psalms 18
Commentary
11 notes on this verseHe delivereth me - That is, he hath delivered me, and continues to deliver me, from all that rise up against me. The violent man - Saul; this applies particularly to him.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"From them that rise up against Me You will exalt Me" [Psalm 18:48]. From the Jews that rise up against Me in My passion, You will exalt Me in My resurrection. "From the unjust man You will deliver Me." From their unjust rule You will deliver Me.
"From them that rise up against Me You will exalt Me" [Psalm 18:48]. From the Jews that rise up against Me in My passion, You will exalt Me in My resurrection. "From the unjust man You will deliver Me." From their unjust rule You will deliver Me.
All these things will happen to us through him who placed his arms on the cross as a bow in the sky, and daily he intercedes for us.
Just as David after the advent of our Savior is able to be presented just as if he were alive and living among people, and he sings praises to the God of the universe among all the peoples through his own writings, canticles and hymns, so also he who has come from his seed, to whom these words refer that we now explain, with like reasoning when he overcomes the ones lying in wait for him, he may rightly say, "You will exalt me above the ones rising against me."
The Medieval Church1 voice
"God." Here the subject matter of thanksgiving is set forth, both for the benefit of deliverance from evil and for the benefit of promotion to good; hence he says, "God," etc. And this can be said in the person of the Church, because those who …
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
And David is here called the servant of the Lord, as Moses was, not only as every good man is God's servant, but because, with his sceptre, with his sword, and with his pen, he greatly promoted the interests of God's kingdom in Israel. It was more his honour that he was a servant of the Lord than that he was king of a great kingdom; and so he himself accounted it ( Ps. cxvi.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
He delivereth me from mine enemies,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The language of Ps 18:50 justifies this view in its distinct allusion to the great promise (compare 2Sa 7:12). In all David's successes he saw the pledges of a fulfilment of that promise, and he mourned in all his adversities, not only in view of his personal suffering, but because he saw in them evidences of danger to the great interests which were committed to his keeping.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
He delivereth me from mine enemies - From all my foes. Yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me - So that I triumph over them. Instead of being subdued by them, and trampled under their feet, I am exalted, and they are humbled. Thou hast delivered me from the violent man - Margin, as in Hebrew, man of violence; the man characterized by injustice and wrong; the man who endeavored to overcome and subdue me by force and arms. There is probably a special allusion here by the psalmist to Saul as his great enemy, but perhaps he had also in his eye others of the same kind, and the meaning may be that he had been delivered from all of that class of people.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְפַלְּטִ֗י | mefaleti | [he has] delivered me | H6403 → | 26 times |
| מֵאֹ֫יְבָ֥י | meoyevai | from enemies my | H341 → | 282 times |
| אַ֣ף | ʾaf | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| מִן־ | min- | more than | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| קָ֭מַי | kamai | [those who] rose against me | H6965 → | 628 times |
| תְּרוֹמְמֵ֑נִי | teromeni | you have exalted me | H7311 → | 190 times |
| מֵאִ֥ישׁ | meish | from a man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| חָ֝מָ֗ס | chamas | violence | H2555 → | 60 times |
| תַּצִּילֵֽנִי׃ | tatzileni | you have rescued me | H5337 → | 212 times |
מְפַלְּטִ֗י[he has] delivered me
mefaletiH6403 →26 times
מֵאֹ֫יְבָ֥יfrom enemies my
meoyevaiH341 →282 times
אַ֣ףalso
ʾafH637 →134 times
מִן־more than
min-H4480 →1188 times
קָ֭מַי[those who] rose against me
kamaiH6965 →628 times
תְּרוֹמְמֵ֑נִיyou have exalted me
teromeniH7311 →190 times
מֵאִ֥ישׁfrom a man of
meishH376 →1663 times
חָ֝מָ֗סviolence
chamasH2555 →60 times
תַּצִּילֵֽנִי׃you have rescued me
tatzileniH5337 →212 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 140:1Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence,
it leads to
- Psalms 71:4
Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 140:4
Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble.
- Habakkuk 1:2–3
How long, O LORD, must I call for help but You do not hear, or cry out to You, “Violence!” but You do not save?
- Psalms 17:13
Arise, O LORD, confront them! Bring them to their knees; deliver me from the wicked by Your sword,
- Psalms 140:11
May no slanderer be established in the land; may calamity hunt down the man of violence.
- Psalms 71:4
Through
Psalms 140:4Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked. Keep me safe from men of violence who scheme to make me stumble.
it leads to
- Psalms 36:11
Let not the foot of the proud come against me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
- Psalms 17:5
My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped.
- Psalms 36:11
Through
Psalms 86:14The arrogant rise against me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life, with no regard for You.
it leads to
- Psalms 54:3
For strangers rise up against me, and ruthless men seek my life— men with no regard for God. Selah
- Psalms 54:3
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; 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, Vol. 1; Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 18:50-51; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.