He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me.
Parallel translations
- WEB He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
- KJV He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
- BSB He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from foes too mighty for me.
- NASB He saved me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
- NLT He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God delivered David from a powerful enemy too strong for him. It matters because God saves his people from foes they cannot defeat on their own.
Overview
David acknowledges that his enemies were too mighty for him, but God rescued him from them. The rescue magnifies God's strength against overwhelming odds. Believers likewise are saved by God's power, not their own, from enemies of sin and death too strong for them, through the victory of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Heb 2:14–15Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
- Ps 142:6Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need. deliver me from my persecutors, For they are stronger than me.
- Job 16:9He has torn me in his wrath, and persecuted me. He has gnashed on me with his teeth. My adversary sharpens his eyes on me.
- Ps 35:10All my bones shall say, “Yahweh, who is like you, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; yes, the poor and the needy from him who robs him?”
- Ps 69:4–14Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn’t take away.
- Eph 6:10–12Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
- Ps 118:7Yahweh is on my side among those who help me. Therefore I will look in triumph at those who hate me.
- 2 Sam 22:1David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,
- Ps 18:40–41You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.
- Ps 38:19But my enemies are vigorous and many. Those who hate me without reason are numerous.
- 2 Sam 22:18He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
- Ps 9:13Have mercy on me, Yahweh. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death;
- Ps 25:19Consider my enemies, for they are many. They hate me with cruel hatred.
- Luke 19:14But his citizens hated him, and sent an envoy after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to reign over us.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 18:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.