Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

Psalm 18. This is a royal psalm, i.e., it celebrates the way that God has shown his love to his people by giving them the Davidic monarchy and by preserving David through many dangers (see the title and v. 50). The text of the psalm is almost identical to 2 Samuel 22. The two songs differ, however, in their context: Second Samuel 22 is David's personal expression of gratitude to the Lord, while Psalm 18 is the adaptation of that song for the whole people to sing, because their well-being is now tied to the offspring of David (2 Sam. 7:4-17). When God's people sang this, then, they were to give thanks for the Davidic line and to pray that its heirs would be faithful to the Lord and would be valiant military leaders, so that Israel might carry out its God-given purpose of bringing light to the Gentiles.

18:1-3 The Lord Is My Strength. The opening verses summarize the theme of the psalm, namely, that David has found the Lord to be a reliable defender against his enemies.