Ps. xviii. 50. Great deMverance giveth he to his King : and sheweth mercy to his Anointed, to David, a7id to his seed for evermore.
THE Psalm before us is also recorded in the Second Book of SamueP. There it stands, as it v^^as dravv^n up at first by David for his own immediate use : but here it is inserted, with some slight alterations and improvements, for the use of the Church in all ages. The title informs us on what occasion it was written, namely, on David's deliverance from the hand of all his enemies, and especially from the hand of Saul. But, as in most of his psalms, so in this, David speaks, not in his own person only, but in the person of the Messiah, whose type he was. It is a composition of very peculiar beauty : the figures are extremely bold, and the poetry is sublime. Of course the expressions are not to be so literally taken, as if they were an unadorned relation of facts : some of them are altogether figurative ; and were verified, not at all in the letter, but only in the Spirit : some are more applicable to David himself, and others to Christ : but altogether it is a poem highly wrought, and exquisitely finished. It is our intention to set before you,
I. The diversified import of this psalm —
The psalm admits of a threefold interpretation ;
1. Historical, as it relates to David —
[David from his youth experienced many troubles. — From the moment that Saul's envy and jealousy were awakened by the fame of David's exploits, this youth became the object of his incessant persecution ; insomuch, that he was forced to flee for his life, and for several years was kept in constant fear of falling
a sacrifice to the rage of Saul " The sorrows of death
and hell compassed him," as it were, continually*".
But his deliverances tvere great and manifold. — Repeatedly did he, almost by miracle, escape the stroke of the javelin that
^ Chap. xxii. '^ ver. 4, 5.