He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
Parallel translations
- WEB He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
- KJV He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
- NKJV He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.
- NASB He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.
- NLT He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his 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 parts the heavens and descends with thick darkness beneath his feet. It matters because it pictures God himself coming down to rescue his servant.
Overview
David envisions Yahweh bowing the heavens and coming down, with dark storm clouds beneath his feet. The picture conveys both God's transcendence and his nearness in acting to save. That the exalted God stoops to deliver his people anticipates the ultimate condescension of God coming down in the incarnation of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Ps 144:5–15Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
- 2 Sam 22:10He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
- 2 Pet 3:10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
- Deut 33:26“There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the heavens to your aid, and the clouds in His majesty.
- Matt 24:29Immediately after the tribulation of those days: ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’
- Heb 12:26At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth, but heaven as well.”
- Rev 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- Mark 15:33From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.
- John 13:7Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”
- Joel 3:16The LORD will roar from Zion and raise His voice from Jerusalem; heaven and earth will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for His people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.
- Deut 5:22–23The LORD spoke these commandments in a loud voice to your whole assembly out of the fire, the cloud, and the deep darkness on the mountain; He added nothing more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
- Isa 51:6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.
- Ps 68:4Sing to God! Sing praises to His name. Exalt Him who rides on the clouds—His name is the LORD—and rejoice before Him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 18:9 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.