song. That which follows, from האל onwards, describes Jahve once more as the living, blessed (εὐλογητόν), and exalted One, which He has shown Himself to be. From ויּדבּר we see that הנּותן is to be resolved as an imperfect. The proofs of vengeance, נקמות, are called God's gift, insofar as He has rendered it possible to him to punish the attacks upon his own dignity and the dignity of his people, or to witness the punishment of such insults (e.g., in the case of Nabal); for divine vengeance is a securing by punishment (vindicatio) of the inviolability of the right. It is questionable whether הדבּיר (synonym רדד, Psa 144:2) here and in Psa 47:4 means “to bring to reason” as an intensive of דּבר, to drive (Ges.); the more natural meaning is “to turn the back” according to the Arabic adbara (Hitzig), cf. dabar , dabre, flight, retreat; debira to be wounded behind; medbûr, wounded in the back. The idea from which הדביר gains the meaning “to subdue” is that of flight, in which hostile nations, overtaken from behind, sank down under him (Psa 45:6); but the idea that is fully worked out in Psa 129:3, Isa 51:23, is by no means remote. With מפלטי the assertion takes the form of an address. מן רומם does not differ from Psa 9:14 : Thou liftest me up away from mine enemies, so that I hover above them and triumph over them. The climactic אף, of which poetry is fond, here unites two thoughts of a like import to give intensity of expression to the one idea. The participle is followed by futures: his manifold experience is concentrated in one general ideal expression.
Verses 49-50
Psa 18:49-50 (Hebrew_Bible_18:50-51) The praise of so blessed a God, who acts towards David as He has promised him, shall not be confined within the narrow limits of Israel. When God's anointed makes war with the sword upon the heathen, it is, in the end, the blessing of the knowledge of Jahve for which he opens up the way, and the salvation of Jahve, which he thus mediatorially helps on. Paul has a perfect right to quote Psa 18:50 of this Psalm (Rom 15:9), together with Deu 32:43 and Psa 117:1, as proof that salvation belongs to the Gentiles also, according to the divine purpose of mercy. What is said in Psa 18:50 as the reason and matter of the praise that shall go forth beyond Israel, is an echo of the Messianic promises in 2Sa 7:12-16 which is perfectly
