Psalms 18:43

Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
delivered	תְּפַלְּטֵנִי֮ te.fa.le.te.Ni	H6403	to slip out · verb, piel imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
strivings	מֵרִ֪יבֵ֫י me.Ri.Vei	H7379	a contest (personal or legal) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
people	עָ֥ם 'am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
made	תְּ֭שִׂימֵנִי Te.si.me.ni	H7760	to put (used in a great variety of applications · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix
head	לְרֹ֣אשׁ le.Rosh	H7218	the head (as most easily shaken) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
heathen	גּוֹיִ֑ם go.Yim	H1471	a foreign nation · noun, common masculine plural absolute
people	עַ֖ם 'am	H5971	a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
known	יָדַ֣עְתִּי ya.Da'.ti	H3045	to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
serve	יַֽעַבְדֽוּנִי Ya.'av.Du.ni	H5647	to work (in any sense) · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural + pronominal suffix

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Isaiah 55:5 Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and…
2 Samuel 3:1 Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: but David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed…
Isaiah 52:15 So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that…
1 Peter 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
2 Samuel 19:9 And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he deli…
Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
2 Samuel 22:44-46 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall se…
Psalms 22:27-28 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 18:29–end

In these verses, I. David looks back, with thankfulness, upon the great things which God had done for him. He had not only wrought deliverance for him, but had given him victory and success, and made him triumph over those who thought to triumph over him. When we set ourselves to praise God for one mercy we must be led by that to observe the many more with which we have been compassed about, and followed, all our days. Many things had contributed to David's advancement, and he owns the hand of God in them all, to teach us to do likewise, in reviewing the several steps by which we have risen to our prosperity. 1. God had given him all his skill and understanding in military affairs, which he…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:43

Not only does He conquer civil foes, but foreigners, who are driven from their places of refuge.

John Gill on Psalms 18:43

Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people,.... In 2 Samuel 22:44, it is read "my people", meaning the people of Israel; either Saul and his men, who contended with David, and sought his life; or rather the tribes of Israel, who, after Saul's death, refused to acknowledge David as their king, but afterwards came and anointed him in Hebron. The words may very well be interpreted of the contentions of the Scribes and Pharisees with Christ, and of the opposition from sinners, which he for a while endured, but is now delivered from them all; and thou hast made me the head of the Heathen; which, if understood of David, refers to the Philistines, Syrians, Moabites, and Edomites, bein…

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John Calvin on Psalms 18:41-45

Psalm 18:41-45 41. They shall cry, but there shall be no savior for them; even unto Jehovah, but he shall not answer them. 42. And I will beat [or grind] them small as the dust which is driven by the wind; [432] as the mire of the streets I will tread them under foot. 43. Thou shalt deliver me from the contentions of the people; thou shalt make me the head of the nations; a people whom I have not known shall serve me. 44. At the hearing of the ear, [433] they shall obey me; the children of strangers [434] shall lie to me. [435] 45. The children of strangers shall lose their courage, and tremble out of their places of concealment. 41. They shall cry, etc. The change of the tense in the verb…

The Church Fathers

"A people," he says.… But what is the "people" that was ignorant of God, but ours, who in days bygone knew not God? And who, in the hearing of the ear, gave heed to him, but we, who forsaking idols, have been converted to God?
— Tertullian, AN ANSWER TO THE JEWS 3

"Thou wilt deliver Me from the contradictions of the people." Thou wilt deliver Me from the contradictions of them who said, "If we send Him away, all the world will go after Him." "Thou shalt make Me the head of the Gentiles. A people whom I have not known have served Me." The people of the Gentiles, whom in bodily presence I have not visited, have served Me.
— Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 18

He truly sees with his mind's eye that all the peoples throughout the whole world of the human race, whether barbarians or Greek, or of whatever accent or language, carry David respectfully in their memory, and they all speak his name with honor, who lift up his words through all the churches of Christ; and does anyone not assert the truth in these very words, if he attentively considers the people gathered from the nations, known by no sign to David, as they perform their duties of service with Davidic hymns and canticles, and as they hear the song repeated and recite it, receiving the psalms entrusted by him that were written from the long ages back.
— Eusebius of Caesarea, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 18:44-46

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Psalms, Book Of — The present Hebrew name of the book is Tehill’im, “Praises;” but in the actual superscriptions of the psalms the word Tehillah is applied only to one, (Psalms 145:1) ... which is indeed emphatically…
Strife · Saints should: Praise God for protection from — Saints should: Praise God for protection from

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Psalms 18:43

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 18:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:43

John Gill on Psalms 18:43

John Calvin on Psalms 18:41-45

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Psalms 18:43

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Psalms 18:29–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:43

John Gill on Psalms 18:43

John Calvin on Psalms 18:41-45

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Psalms 18:43-45

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Psalms 18:43-45

Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 18:43