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This psalm is a string of quotations, mostly from Psalm 18., as any reference Bible will show; and as that psalm is almost undisputedly one of David's composition, therefore this, which owes so much to it, may be called his likewise. It is also one of the war-psalms, breathing the fierce and sometimes the truculent spirit, the presence of which in these psalms has so often perplexed the Christian reader. In order to understand such psalms, we need ourselves to live in war-times; to be strenuously engaged in it, and against an enemy who has done us much wrong, and whom, therefore, our souls abhor. There have been many such times; and when they come, psalms like this one, and many more, are easily understood and readily adopted as utterances both natural and justifiable. But when all that is said, we still feel, and ought to feel, that such psalms and the spirit of Christ are far removed from one another. We may, however, gain much help from these psalms if we transfer their thoughts and words to the spiritual conflict - those wars of the Lord in which we all have to engage. There its language is felt to be true, because in harmony both with Scripture and experience alike. Thus reading it, we may note what the psalmist tells of -

I. THE GREAT GOODNESS AND MERCY OF GOD. He praises and blesses God:

1. For what God is to him. (Ver. 1.) "My Strength." Perpetual demand arose for strength. Fierce foes were all around, and as formidable as they were fierce. No mere weakling could possibly stand against them; strength was imperatively needed, and he found it in God. All this which was true of the psalmist is true of the spiritual warrior still. "My Goodness." Whatever good there was in him, it was all of God. In the rough hurly-burly of war, character and all moral excellence had but hard times; deterioration was apt to set in. Therefore, if there were any goodness in him, it was from God. And is it not true of ourselves? Will any one dare say that his goodness is self-derived, his own production, due to his own power alone? "My Fortress" (cf. 1 Samuel 23:29 for local allusion). David knew well the value of such safe retreats. He had availed himself of them again and again. And for us all there is "the secret place of the Most High." "My high Tower." As in Central Europe, as you traverse its rivers, you see on the summits of the lofty hills, commanding the entrances and exits from the valleys beneath, the lofty towers and castles, mostly now in ruins, which warlike chieftains in bygone days erected, and within which they dwelt secure from attack, and from which they sallied forth to attack others. Such loftily placed towers were frequent in the hill-country of Palestine also, and were places of great strength. Now, of such advantage was the help of God to David, and so it is today to all who make the Lord their Refuge. From that high tower the movements of the enemy can be clearly discerned, guarded against, and aggression made upon them in a most successful way. "My Shield." That which wards off from me the stroke of sword, the thrust of spear, the point of dart and arrow. So is God to the soul. Well may he say of the Lord, "It is he in whom I trust."

2. For what God has done for him - as his Teacher. (Ver. 1.) "Which teacheth my hands to war, and," etc. Literally, this has been true again and again. See Gideon before the Midianites, David before Goliath, etc. And wherever there has been warlike skill and the wisdom which commands success, devout men have confessed that it was God from whom all the wisdom and skill came. And yet more is this true in the holy war - the conflict we have to wage with the world, the flesh, the devil. Never was there a successful warrior there but owned at once and always that it was the Lord who taught him. "My Deliverer." So was he, so is he, so will he be. David could recall instances not a few; and what servant of God, in looking back over his spiritual life, does not own, as he thinks of one trial and another that has befallen him, "Yes, the Lord was my Deliverer"? "Who subdueth my people under me." This a yet greater mercy. Life might have been delivered, but enemies might have remained enemies still, ready to break out against him at the first chance that came. But over and above deliverance, there has been given the submission of the people. And God thus deals with his servants. Not only will he deliver them from their spiritual foes, but these foes he will subdue. The lawless passions, the evil propensities, the unhallowed temper, the uncontrolled craving, - these God will subdue, so that the very desire for sin will cease. So great is God's mercy, and so full his salvation.

3. For that God has done all this for the weak and unworthy. This seems to be the connection of vers. 3 and 4 with what precedes. It is not for the great and good, the worthy and the strong, but for such as man, who is like to vanity and whose days are as a shadow. Truly it is wonderful that God should take knowledge of such a one, or make account of him at all. It is of a piece with our Lord's declarations, that he had come to call, not the righteous, but sinners; to seek and to save, not the ninety and nine safe in the fold, but the wandering sheep away and lost in the wilderness. "God so loved the world" - the mass of the unworthy.

II. THE CONFIDENCE THAT GOD'S MERCY CREATES. (Vers. 5-8.) The psalmist is encouraged by what God has done to ask for yet greater things. Hence he asks:

1. That God would manifestly appear on his behalf against his enemies. Reminiscences of the old Hebrew history float before his mind: the terror and discomfiture of Pharaoh; the awful display of God's majesty at Sinai - the thunder-roll, the lightning-blaze.

2. He feels that only God can give him victory, or deliver him out of the great waters of trouble by which he is well-nigh overwhelmed. (Ver. 7.) The barbarous, cruel, and lying strangers who were against him were too many for him, and hence he turns to God (vers. 7, 8, 11). But what God has done for him encourages him thus to pray.

III. THE GRATITUDE IT INSPIRES. (Vers. 9, 10.)

IV. THE BRIGHT HOPE WHICH IT FOSTERS AND SUSTAINS. (Vers. 11-15.) Many regard these verses as belonging not to this psalm at all; but it seems better to look on them as declaring the motive both of its gratitude and its prayers. The hope which it expresses was cherished with longing desire, and underlaid the whole psalm. The verses point to the golden age of Hebrew history, and pray for its return.

1. It concerns their children - that they might be vigorous, strong, goodly.

2. The prosperity of their land.

3. Freedom from invasion and capture. Then happy should they be, for God would be their Lord. - S.C.

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KJV: {A Psalm of David.} Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

WEB: Blessed be Yahweh, my rock, who teaches my hands to war, and my fingers to battle: