The Lord is my rock - The idea in this expression, and in the subsequent parts of the description, is that he owed his safety entirely to God. He had been unto him as a rock, a tower, a buckler, etc. - that is, he had derived from God the protection which a rock, a tower, a citadel, a buckler furnished to those who depended on them, or which they were designed to secure. The word "rock" here has reference to the fact that in times of danger a lofty rock would be sought as a place of safety, or that men would fly to it to escape from their enemies. Such rocks abound in Palestine; and by the fact that they are elevated and difficult of access, or by the fact that those who fled to them could find shelter behind their projecting crags, or by the fact that they could find security in their deep and dark caverns, they became places of refuge in times of danger; and protection was often found there when it could not be found in the plains below. Compare Judges 6:2; Psalm 27:5; Psalm 61:2. Also, Josephus, Ant., b. xiv., ch. xv.

And my fortress - He has been to me as a fortress. The word fortress means a place of defense, a place so strengthened that an enemy could not approach it, or where one would be safe. Such fortresses were often constructed on the rocks or on hills, where those who fled there would be doubly safe. Compare Job 39:28. See also the notes at Isaiah 33:16.

And my deliverer - Delivering or rescuing me from my enemies.

My God - Who hast been to me a God; that is, in whom I have found all that is implied in the idea of "God" - a Protector, Helper, Friend, Father, Saviour. The notion or idea of a "God" is different from all other ideas, and David had found, as the Christian now does, all that is implied in that idea, in Yahweh, the living God.

My strength - Margin, "My rock" So the Hebrew, although the Hebrew word is different from that which is used in the former part of the verse. Both words denote that God was a refuge or protection, as a rock or crag is to one in danger (compare Deuteronomy 32:37), though the exact difference between the words may not be obvious.

In whom I will trust - That is, I have found him to be such a refuge that I could trust in him, and in view of the past I will confide in him always.

My buckler - The word used here is the same which occurs in Psalm 3:3, where it is translated "shield." See the notes at that verse.

And the horn of my salvation - The "horn" is to animals the means of their defense. Their strength lies in the horn. Hence, the word is used here, as elsewhere, to represent that to which we owe our protection and defense in danger; and the idea here is, that God was to the psalmist what the horn is to animals, the means of his defense. Compare Psalm 22:21; Psalm 75:4-5, Psalm 75:10; Psalm 92:10; Psalm 132:17; Psalm 148:14.

And my high tower - He is to me what a high tower is to one who is in danger. Compare Proverbs 18:10, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." The word used here occurs in Psalm 9:9, where it is rendered "refuge." (Margin, "A high place.") See the notes at that verse. Such towers were erected on mountains, on rocks, or on the walls of a city, and were regarded as safe places mainly because they were inaccessible. So the old castles in Europe - as that at Heidelberg, and generally those along the Rhine - were built on lofty places, and in such positions as not to be easily accessible.

The Lord is my rock -

2. I stand on him as my foundation, and derive every good from him who is the source of good. The word סלע sela signifies those craggy precipices which afford shelter to men and wild animals; where the bees often made their nests, and whence honey was collected in great abundance. "He made him to suck honey out of the rock," Deuteronomy 32:13.

3. He was his fortress; a place of strength and safety, fortified by nature and art, where he could be safe from his enemies. He refers to those inaccessible heights in the rocky, mountainous country of Judea, where he had often found refuge from the pursuit of Saul. What these have been to my body, such has the Lord been to my soul.

Deliverer -

4. מפלתי mephalleti, he who causes me to escape. This refers to his preservation in straits and difficulties. He was often almost surrounded and taken, but still the Lord made a way for his escape - made a way out as his enemies got in; so that, while they got in at one side of his strong hold, he got out of the other, and so escaped with his life. These escapes were so narrow and so unlikely that he plainly saw the hand of the Lord was in them.

5. My God, אלי ,doG Eli, my strong God, not only the object of my adoration, but he who puts strength in my soul.

6. My strength, צורי tsuri. This is a different word from that in the first verse.

Rabbi Maimon has observed that צור tsur, when applied to God, signifies fountain, source, origin, etc. God is not only the source whence my being was derived, but he is the fountain whence I derive all my good; in whom, says David, I will trust. And why? Because he knew him to be an eternal and inexhaustible fountain of goodness. This fine idea is lost in our translation; for we render two Hebrew words of widely different meaning, by the same term in English, strength.

7. My buckler, מגני maginni, my shield, my defender, he who covers my head and my heart, so that I am neither slain nor wounded by the darts of my adversaries.

8. Horn of my salvation. Horn was the emblem of power, and power in exercise. This has been already explained; see on 1 Samuel 2:1 (note). The horn of salvation means a powerful, an efficient salvation.

9. My high tourer; not only a place of defense, but one from which I can discern the country round about, and always be able to discover danger before it approaches me.

The Lord is my rock,.... To whom the saints have recourse for shelter and safety, for supply, support, and divine refreshment; and in whom they are secure, and on whom they build their hopes of eternal life and happiness, and so are safe from all enemies, and from all danger. Christ is called a Rock on all these accounts, Psalm 61:2;

and my fortress; or garrison; so the saints are kept in and by the power of God as in a garrison, 1 Peter 1:5;

and my deliverer: out of all afflictions, and from all temptations, and out of the hands of all enemies; from a body of sin and death at last, and from wrath to come;

my God; the strong and mighty One, who is able to save, and who is the covenant God and Father of his people;

my strength, in whom I will trust; as Christ did, and to whom these words are applied in Hebrews 2:13; and as his people are enabled to do even under very distressing and discouraging circumstances, Job 13:15;

my buckler; or shield; who protects and defends them from their enemies, and preserves them from the fiery darts of Satan;

and the horn of my salvation; who pushes, scatters, and destroys their enemies, and saves them; a metaphor taken from horned beasts; so Christ, the mighty and able Saviour, is called, Luke 1:69;

and my high tower; such is the name of the Lord, whither the righteous run and are safe, Proverbs 18:10; and where they are above and out of the reach of every enemy; see Isaiah 33:16; in 2 Samuel 22:3, it is added, "and my refuge, my Saviour, thou savest me from violence". These various epithets show the fulness of safety in Jehovah, the various ways he has to deliver his people from their enemies, and secure them from danger; and the psalmist beholding and claiming his interest in him under all these characters, rendered him exceeding lovely and delightful to him; and each of them contain a reason why he loved him, and why, in the strength of grace, he determined to love him. God may be regarded in all these characters by Christ as man.

{a} The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

(a) He uses this diversity of names to show that as the wicked have many means to hurt, so God has many ways to help.

18:2 Rock - To which I flee for refuge, as the Israelites did to their rocks. Horn - It is a metaphor from those beasts whose strength lies in their horns.

my strength: Heb. my rock

2, 3. The various terms used describe God as an object of the most implicit and reliable trust.

rock-literally, "a cleft rock," for concealment.

strength-a firm, immovable rock.

horn of my salvation-The horn, as the means of attack or defense of some of the strongest animals, is a frequent emblem of power or strength efficiently exercised (compare De 33:17; Lu 1:69).

tower-literally, "high place," beyond reach of danger.

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.