But thou, O LORD, [art] a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.
Ver. 3. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me] And such a shield as will never fail me. Prodente clypeo vulneratus sum, I am betrayed by my shield, said Brasidas the Lacedaemonian, when he was wounded through it (Plutarch). David had a better shield than so; better than that of Ajax, in Homer, which was επταβοειον; better than that of Demosthenes, whereupon was written, Quod felix faustumque sit; better than that of Sceva at the siege of Dyrrachium, wherewith he so long resisted Pompey's army, that he had two hundred and twenty darts sticking in it. Densamque tulit in pectore sylvam (Lucan.). God was to David a shield around him, as the Hebrew here hath it; and not a shield only, but a sun too, as Psalms 84:11. Hence it followeth,
My glory] Or, my victory, Quia victor semper habet gloriam, saith Aben Ezra here, because a conqueror is never without glory; such as was Caesar with his Veni, vidi, vici; and Cimon, the Athenian, who twice in one day triumphed over the Persian navy; and Huniades, who fought five times in one day with the Turks, and five times foiled them, and put them to flight. Whereupon he was entertained and welcomed home with most glorious acclamations of the people, some calling him the father, some the defender, of his country; the soldiers their invincible general; the captives, their deliverer; the women, their protector; the young men and children, their most loving father, &c.
And the lifter up of my head] Giving me matter of mirth, and making me, who was very sad, and thrown down with grief, joyful and cheerful. See Genesis 40:13; Gen 40:20 Luk 21:28 Jeremiah 52:31 Psalms 110:7 .