Psalm 18
David’s Hymnic Retrospect of a Life Crowned with Many Mercies
Pt. 2

Ps 18:4-6
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. (KJV)

Ps 18:4-6 – In these verses David gathers into one collective figure all the fearful dangers to which he had been exposed during his persecution by Saul, together with the marvellous answers and deliverances he experienced, that which is unseen, which stands in the relation to that which is visible of cause and effect, rendering itself visible to him. David here appears as passive throughout; the hand from out of the clouds seizes him and draws him out of mighty waters: (from Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament: New Updated Edition, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.)

Ps 18:4 – The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. [The sorrows of death compassed me], the cables or cords of death. He was almost taken in those nets or schemes, by which, if he had been entangled, he would have lost his life. The schemes to which he refers were those that were intended for his destruction, hence called the cables or cords of death.
[The floods of ungodly men] Troops of wicked men were rushing upon him like an irresistible torrent; or like the waves of the sea, one impelling another forward in successive ranks; so that, thinking he must be overwhelmed by them, he was for the moment affrighted; but God turned the torrent aside, and he escaped.

18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

[The sorrows of hell], the cables or cords of the grave. Is not this a reference to the cords or ropes with which they lowered the corpse into the grave? or the bandages by which the dead were swathed? He was as good as dead.
[The snares of death prevented me.] I was just on the point of dropping into the pit which they had digged for me. In short, I was all but a dead man; and nothing less than the immediate interference of God could have saved my life. (from Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Electronic Database.
Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft)

Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

[In my distress I called] His enemies had no hope of his destruction unless God should abandon him. They hoped that this was the case, and that therefore they should prevail. But God heard his cry and came down to his help; and this interference is most majestically described in the 7 th and following verses. (from Adam Clarke’s Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1996 by Biblesoft)

We should note that the Lord delivered David by means that were not his own instigation nor in his control. The Philistines prepared an attack against Israel and Saul went out to meet them with the armies of Israel.
He had defeated the Philistines on a number of occasions but this time the men of Israel lacked the will to fight and ran away before the attack of the Philistines. Saul’s sons were taken and killed and Saul himself attempted suicide and then begged a passing Amalekite to end his life.

David was delivered but he did not deliver himself. He had trusted in the Lord as his defender, kept himself alive and faithful, and waited for God’s hand to deliver him. Such is the pattern of scripture

— April 21, 2020