You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.
Parallel translations
- WEB For you have armed me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
- KJV For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
- NKJV For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
- NASB For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.
- NLT You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
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 arms David with strength for battle and subdues his adversaries beneath him. Every victory is attributed to the Lord's enabling power.
Overview
David repeatedly returns to the theme that God, not himself, accomplishes the conquest. The Lord both equips ('armed me with strength') and acts ('subdued under me'). This humble crediting of God models the believer's posture: our spiritual victories are wholly of grace, won for us in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 2 Sam 22:40–41You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.
- Ps 18:32It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear.
- 1 Cor 15:25–28For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.
- Isa 45:14This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”
- Eph 1:22And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
- John 15:23Whoever hates Me hates My Father as well.
- 1 Chr 22:18“Is not the LORD your God with you, and has He not granted you rest on every side? For He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand, and the land has been subdued before the LORD and His people.
- Ezek 30:24–25I will strengthen the arms of Babylon’s king and place My sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, who will groan before him like a mortally wounded man.
- Prov 8:36But he who fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death.”
- Ps 34:21Evil will slay the wicked, and the haters of the righteous will be condemned.
- Lam 5:5We are closely pursued; we are weary and find no rest.
- Phil 3:21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
- Ps 66:3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.
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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 18:39 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.