The Meaning of Psalms 18:1 Explained

Psalms 18:1

KJV: {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.

YLT: To the Overseer. -- By a servant of Jehovah, by David, who hath spoken to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he saith: -- I love Thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

Darby: {To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said,} I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

ASV: I love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

{{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. 

What does Psalms 18:1 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 18:1-26 - A Wonderful Deliverance
There is another edition of this psalm in 2 Samuel 22:1-51. Psalms 18:2 and Psalms 18:49 are applied in the New Testament to the Lord Jesus, Hebrews 2:13 and Romans 15:9. We begin with the psalmist's good resolve, Psalms 18:1-3. No single metaphor can comprehend the whole of God's helpfulness to men; but can we say, "I love thee"? See John 21:17. "Thou knowest!"
The story of the past, Psalms 18:4-19. We also have our Red Seas. In our distress let us also cry. The voice of the sufferer may be weak and solitary, but it reaches through the gates of pearl and moves creation! Luke 8:46.
The confident claim of the righteous, Psalms 18:20-26. We cannot boast a righteousness of our own, but we stand in Christ. We are full of impurity and evil, but we may claim at least integrity of motive. Compare Psalms 18:26 with Leviticus 26:21-24. The wind blows in one direction; you can walk against it or with it-take your choice. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 18

1  David praises God for his manifold and marvelous blessings

What do the individual words in Psalms 18:1 mean?

To the Chief Musician a Psalm of the servant of Yahweh David who spoke to Yahweh - the words of song this on the day that delivered Yahweh him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul and he said I will love You Yahweh my strength
לַמְנַצֵּ֤חַ ׀ לְעֶ֥בֶד יְהוָ֗ה לְדָ֫וִ֥ד אֲשֶׁ֤ר דִּבֶּ֨ר ׀ לַיהוָ֗ה אֶת־ דִּ֭בְרֵי הַשִּׁירָ֣ה הַזֹּ֑את בְּי֤וֹם הִֽצִּיל־ יְהוָ֘ה אוֹת֥וֹ מִכַּ֥ף כָּל־ אֹ֝יְבָ֗יו וּמִיַּ֥ד שָׁאֽוּל וַיֹּאמַ֡ר אֶרְחָמְךָ֖ יְהוָ֣ה חִזְקִֽי

לַמְנַצֵּ֤חַ ׀  To  the  Chief  Musician 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Verb, Piel, Participle, masculine singular
Root: נָצַח  
Sense: to excel, be bright, be preeminent, be perpetual, be overseer, be enduring.
לְעֶ֥בֶד  a  Psalm  of  the  servant 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: עֶבֶד  
Sense: slave, servant.
יְהוָ֗ה  of  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
לְדָ֫וִ֥ד  David 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: דָּוִד  
Sense: youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel.
דִּבֶּ֨ר ׀  spoke 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: דָּבַר 
Sense: to speak, declare, converse, command, promise, warn, threaten, sing.
לַיהוָ֗ה  to  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
דִּ֭בְרֵי  the  words 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: דָּבָר  
Sense: speech, word, speaking, thing.
הַשִּׁירָ֣ה  of  song 
Parse: Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שִׁיר 
Sense: song.
הַזֹּ֑את  this 
Parse: Article, Pronoun, feminine singular
Root: זׄאת  
Sense: this, this one, here, which, this … that, the one … the other, such.
בְּי֤וֹם  on  the  day 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
הִֽצִּיל־  that  delivered 
Parse: Verb, Hifil, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: נָצַל  
Sense: to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder.
יְהוָ֘ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
מִכַּ֥ף  from  the  hand 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: כַּף  
Sense: palm, hand, sole, palm of the hand, hollow or flat of the hand.
כָּל־  of  all 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: כֹּל  
Sense: all, the whole.
אֹ֝יְבָ֗יו  his  enemies 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural construct, third person masculine singular
Root: אֹיֵב  
Sense: (Qal) enemy.
וּמִיַּ֥ד  and  from  the  hand 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
שָׁאֽוּל  of  Saul 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׁאוּל  
Sense: a Benjamite, son of Kish, and the st king of Israel.
וַיֹּאמַ֡ר  and  he  said 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
אֶרְחָמְךָ֖  I  will  love  You 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular, second person masculine singular
Root: רָחַם  
Sense: to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion.
יְהוָ֣ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
חִזְקִֽי  my  strength 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, first person common singular
Root: חֵזֶק  
Sense: strength.