Psalms 18 · Verse 2

Psalms 18:2

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.

Psalms 18:2, King James Version

Psalms 18:2 in other translations

BSB	The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
WEB	The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
ASV	Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my rock, in whom I will take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
YLT	Jehovah is my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God is my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and a horn of my salvation, My high tower.
DARBY	Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
BBE	The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour; my God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Webster	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.

What does Psalms 18:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 18:2-3

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.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary

Verse 2 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," Deu 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 1Sam 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 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…

Read the full comment on Psalms 18:1-19 →

Psalms 18:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

יְהוָ֤ה\׀Yah.wehYahwehH3068

סַֽלְעִ֥יsal.'I[is] rock myH5553

וּמְצוּדָתִ֗יu.me.tzu.da.Tiand stronghold myH4686

וּמְפַ֫לְטִ֥יu.me.Fal.Tiand deliverer myH6403

אֵלִ֣י'e.LiGod myH410

צ֭וּרִיTzu.ri[is] rock myH6697

אֶֽחֱסֶה\־'e.che.seh-[whom] I take refugeH2620

בּ֑וֹboin him

מָֽגִנִּ֥יma.gi.Nishield myH4043

וְקֶֽרֶן\־ve.ke.ren-and [the] horn ofH7161

יִ֝שְׁעִ֗יyish.'Isalvation myH3468

מִשְׂגַּבִּֽי\׃mis.ga.Birefuge myH4869

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 18:2

Psalms 144:2
My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
Psalms 62:7
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
Psalms 19:14
Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
Psalms 91:2
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Psalms 62:2
He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.
2 Samuel 22:3
The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
Jeremiah 16:19
O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.
Isaiah 32:2
And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Psalms 91:4
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Hebrews 2:13
And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.
Proverbs 2:7
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Lord.
28:1; 62:2,7; Isa 32:2
fortress.
91:2; 144:2; Jer 16:19
strength. Heb. rock. whom.
Heb 2:13
buckler.
91:4; Pr 2:7
horn.
132:17; 2Sa 22:3
high.
Pr 18:10

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

Psalms 18:1
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
Psalms 18:2
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.
Psalms 18:3
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Read all of Psalms 18

Psalms 18:2 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Jehová, roca mía y castillo mío, y mi libertador; Dios mío, fuerte mío, en él confiaré; escudo mío, y el cuerno de mi salud, mi refugio.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et il dit: Je t’aimerai, ô Éternel, ma force!
German Elberfelder 1871	Jehova ist mein Fels und meine Burg und mein Erretter; mein Gott, mein Hort, auf ihn werde ich trauen, mein Schild und das Horn meines Heils, meine hohe Feste.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Cæli enarrant gloriam Dei, et opera manuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum.