Psalm 18:19

He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(19) A large place.—Comp. Psalm 4:1. But there is direct historical allusion to the settlement of Israel in Canaan, as will be seen by a comparison of the Hebrew with Exodus 3:8, and Numbers 14:8.

Benson Commentary

Psalm 18:19. He brought me forth also — Out of my straits and difficulties; out of the little caves in which I was shut up and imprisoned; into a large place — Into a state of freedom, and plenty, and comfort. David was several times shut up in close confinement in rocks and caverns; but God had now set him at liberty, and placed him in such happy circumstances that he could live and act with the utmost freedom, without any constraint of his enemies, or danger of his person. Because he delighted in me — Or, loved me, or had good will toward me, as חפצ בי, chapetz bi, commonly signifies. Whereby he ascribes all his mercies to God’s good pleasure and free grace, as the first spring of them. Which he thought fit to premise, lest the following expressions should seem to savour of boasting of his own merits, which he often disclaims.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

18:1-19 The first words, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength, are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy which magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God. If we pray as he did, we shall speed as he did. God's manifestation of his presence is very fully described, ver. 7-15. Little appeared of man, but much of God, in these deliverances. It is not possible to apply to the history of the son of Jesse those awful, majestic, and stupendous words which are used through this description of the Divine manifestation. Every part of so solemn a scene of terrors tells us, a greater than David is here. God will not only deliver his people out of their troubles in due time, but he will bear them up under their troubles in the mean time. Can we meditate on ver. 18, without directing one thought to Gethsemane and Calvary? Can we forget that it was in the hour of Christ's deepest calamity, when Judas betrayed, when his friends forsook, when the multitude derided him, and the smiles of his Father's love were withheld, that the powers of darkness prevented him? The sorrows of death surrounded him, in his distress he prayed, Heb 5:7. God made the earth to shake and tremble, and the rocks to cleave, and brought him out, in his resurrection, because he delighted in him and in his undertaking.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He brought me forth also into a large place - Instead of being hemmed in by enemies, and straitened in my troubles, so that I seemed to have no room to move, he brought me into a place where I had ample room, and where I could act freely. Compare the note at Psalm 4:1.

He delivered me - He rescued me from my enemies and my troubles.

Because he delighted in me - He saw that my cause was just, and he had favor toward me.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

19. a large place—denotes safety or relief, as contrasted with the straits of distress (Ps 4:1). All his deliverance is ascribed to God, and this sublime poetical representation is given to inspire the pious with confidence and the wicked with dread.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

He brought me forth out of my straits and difficulties, out of the little caves in which I was shut up and imprisoned.

Into a large place; into a state of freedom, and plenty, and comfort.

Because he delighted in me, or loved me, or had a good will to me, as this phrase commonly signifies; whereby he ascribes all his mercies and blessings to God’s good pleasure and free grace, as the first spring of them; which he thought fit to premise, lest the following expressions should seem to favour of boasting of his own merits, which he oft disclaims.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

He brought me forth also into a large place,.... Into heaven, a place of the glorious liberty of Christ, after his captivity to death and the grave, whither he ascended leading captivity captive, and of the children of God; and a spacious place, where there is room enough for Christ and all his people; here he now is, and will remain till his second coming, and from hence we expect him; see John 14:2. Compare with this Psalm 31:8;

he delivered me, because he delighted in me; God delivered David from all his enemies, because he was a man after his own heart, in whom he delighted; not for any merit and worthiness in him, but of his good will and pleasure: he delivered Christ because he was his elect, in whom his soul delighted; and who was daily his delight, rejoicing in his presence before the world was: and he delivers his church and people, because they are his Hephzibah, in whom is his delight, Isaiah 62:4; the Father delighted in them, and therefore chose them to salvation; the Son delighted in them, and gave himself for them, and ransomed them out of the hands of him that is stronger than they; the Holy Spirit delighted in them, and therefore regenerates, renews, and sanctifies them, and seals them up unto the day of redemption.

Geneva Study Bible

He brought me forth also into a large place; {p} he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

(p) The cause of God's deliverance is his favour and love for us.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

19. From the straits of peril he is brought forth into the freedom of safety. Cp. Psalm 4:1, Psalm 31:8.

because he delighted in me] This was the ground of God’s deliverance, and it now becomes the leading thought of the Psalm. Cp. Psalm 22:8, Psalm 41:11; 2 Samuel 15:26; and also Matthew 3:17. The latter reference gains fresh significance if it is remembered that the theocratic king was called Jehovah’s son (Psalm 2:7; 2 Samuel 7:14).

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 19. - He brought me forth also into a large place (comp. Psalm 31:8; Psalm 118:5). By "a large place" is probably meant open ground, not encompassed by snares, or nets, or enemies in ambush. He delivered me, because he delighted in me. David now proceeds to explain the grounds of God's favour towards him. He begins by summing up all in a word, "God delighted in him." He then goes on to explain the causes of God's "delight" (vers. 20-26). Psalm 18:19

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

(Heb.: 18:17-20) Then Jahve stretches out His hand from above into the deep chasm and draws up the sinking one. The verb שׁלח occurs also in prose (2 Samuel 6:6) without יד (Psalm 57:4, cf. on the other hand the borrowed passage, Psalm 144:7) in the signification to reach (after anything). The verb משׁה, however, is only found in one other instance, viz., Exodus 2:10, as the root (transferred from the Egyptian into the Hebrew) of the name of Moses, and even Luther saw in it an historical allusion, "He hath made a Moses of me," He hath drawn me out of great (many) waters, which had well nigh swallowed me up, as He did Moses out of the waters of the Nile, in which he would have perished. This figurative language is followed, in Psalm 18:18, by its interpretation, just as in Psalm 144:7 the "great waters" are explained by מיּד בּני נכר, which, however, is not suitable here, or at least is too limited.

With Psalm 18:17 the hymn has reached the climax of epic description, from which it now descends in a tone that becomes more and more lyrical. In the combination איבי עז, עז is not an adverbial accusative, but an adjective, like רוּחך טובה Psalm 143:10, and ὁ ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός (Hebrerbrief S. 353). כּי introduces the reason for the interposition of the divine omnipotence, viz., the superior strength of the foe and the weakness of the oppressed one. On the day of his איד, i.e., (vid., on Psalm 31:12) his load or calamity, when he was altogether a homeless and almost defenceless fugitive, they came upon him (קדּם Psalm 17:13), cutting off all possible means of delivering himself, but Jahve became the fugitive's staff (Psalm 23:4) upon which he leaned and kept himself erect. By the hand of God, out of straits and difficulties he reached a broad place, out of the dungeon of oppression to freedom, for Jahve had delighted in him, he was His chosen and beloved one. חפץ has the accent on the penult here, and Metheg as a sign of the lengthening (העמדה) beside the ē, that it may not be read ĕ.

(Note: In like manner Metheg is placed beside the ee of the final closed syllable that has lost the tone in חפץ Psalm 22:9, ותּחולל Psalm 90:2, vid., Isaiah S. 594 note.)

The following strophe tells the reason of his pleasing God and of His not allowing him to perish. This כּי חפץ בּי (for He delighted in me) now becomes the primary thought of the song.