Great deliverance giveth he, &c.— Literally, He magnifies the salvations of his king; they are such as are great and wonderful in themselves, and as they add a dignity and lustre to the king, on whom they are bestowed; there being nothing which can tend more to advance the honour, and heighten the reverence due to a prince, than to consider him as the favourite of Providence, highly distinguished by the divine protection and care, and delivered by it out of numerous dangers which threatened his prosperity and life; except we had that prince's thorough sense of the greatness of his obligations, and his piety in the grateful acknowledgment of them. David was eminent for both. Chandler. I would just observe, in conclusion, that though the passages, Psalms 18:42, &c. in which David speaks of himself as being made head of the nations, allude primarily to his victories; yet, in the secondary sense, they allude to his Divine Son, and to the conversion of the Gentiles to his faith; in which sense they are applied by the apostles themselves. To his seed for evermore, in this verse, must also be applied to the Messiah, whose kingdom shall never have an end.
REFLECTIONS.—David may here be called the servant of the Lord, as representing him who took upon himself the form of a servant when he was made in the likeness of men; and his dangers were greater, and his deliverances far more glorious, than those which the king of Israel experienced.
1. The Psalmist, in the person of the Redeemer, expresses his confidence in God, his love to him, and constant dependance upon his salvation in every time of trouble.
2. He magnifies the glorious interposition that he had experienced under the most dangerous and threatening circumstances, when his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death; when ungodly men, mighty as the stormy waves, Jews and Heathens, conspired to destroy him, when pains of hell tormented his spirit, and death in its most horrid shapes seized on his body; in that hour when the powers of darkness summoned their collected force to shake the confidence of the great Mediator, then, with strong crying and tears, he made supplication and was heard. The trembling earth, and rending rocks, bespoke the wrath of God against the murderers of his Son, and swift vengeance soon awaked to overtake them. Judgments, sudden as the lightning, terrible as thunder, and consuming as fire, fell upon the devoted city and people where he was crucified; the very foundations of their commonwealth were razed, and desolations spread on every side. Note; More terrible judgments await the sinner in the day of God; when all who have rejected, like those Jews, his great salvation, and by their sins have crucified the Son of God afresh, will see him bow the heavens and come down to take final and eternal vengeance on his enemies.
3. He speaks with exultation of his deliverance, and the glory to which he was advanced. God drew him from the hands of his enemy, delivered him from the power of Satan, and loosed the bands of death, raising him from the grave triumphant, and causing him to ascend to his right hand in glory, because he delighted in him. Note; God delights in his Son, and all who are members of his body mystical are interested in the same divine regard; and, however deep the afflictions with which they are now exercised, the faithful shall shortly be exalted with their triumphant Lord and Saviour.
4. Though David's cause was righteous, and his heart simple before God, yet is our most righteous Saviour more particularly adverted to here. His exaltation and glory is the reward of a righteousness absolutely perfect; for in him was no sin, nor guile found in his mouth. Note; They who have an interest in Christ, have a right to his merits: but while his afflicted and faithful people are saved, and they who suffer with Jesus are glorified together with him, the froward and perverse, the proud, self-righteous, and unhumbled, shall be brought low, and feel the wrath of an offended God.
5. David had experienced many dark providences, many dark nights of spiritual affliction, and many foes without, as well as fears within; but all vanished when God, his help and strength, lightened his darkness, and gave him victory over all his enemies. The Son of David found deeper distress, and greater foes; yet, though his eyes were sealed in death, and his burning light gone out in obscurity, he awaked, and, like the sun, shone brighter in glory, when the dark cloud had passed over him. God helped him, (for, as man, he needed divine support,) and none of his enemies could stand before him. He ascended up on high, and led captivity captive, having spoiled principalities and powers; and now he reigns in glory everlasting, exalted in the most eminent sense to be head of the heathen, all power being given him in heaven and in earth; and in a peculiar manner he is the head of his church, gathered out of all the nations of the world.
In the view of these mercies the Psalmist exalts the Divine Majesty, blessing and praising him for such exertions of his power and faithfulness. And Jesus thus thanked his Father, for hearing and helping him; and in his church unceasing praise will be for ever given for this great salvation, both of the head and of the several members.