The Meaning of Psalms 18:43 Explained

Psalms 18:43

KJV: Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

YLT: Thou dost deliver me From the strivings of the people, Thou placest me for a head of nations, A people I have not known do serve me.

Darby: Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; thou hast made me the head of the nations: a people I knew not doth serve me.

ASV: Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; Thou hast made me the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Thou hast delivered  me from the strivings  of the people;  [and] thou hast made  me the head  of the heathen:  a people  [whom] I have not known  shall serve  me. 

What does Psalms 18:43 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 18:27-50 - Girded With Strength For Service
God's way is perfect, and if only we will walk with Him He will make ours perfect also. Walls and troops cannot stop a man when God leads him through them. We must follow on the line of His purpose, and then the very mountains are a way and our enemies subserve the program, Acts 2:23.
Swift and sure-footed, when the path is slippery, Psalms 18:33; strong in battle, Psalms 18:34; great through God's gentle kindness, or, as the English Book of Common Prayer renders it, "thy loving correction," Psalms 18:35. Severity would never have done for the Apostles what Jesus did by His patience and long-suffering.
The closing hallelujah of Psalms 18:46-50 is very fine. It is the living Savior that we need. We must stint our words when we speak of men; but mortal lips, however eloquent, have never exhausted the worth of our King. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 18

1  David praises God for his manifold and marvelous blessings

What do the individual words in Psalms 18:43 mean?

You have delivered me from the strivings of the people You have made me the head of the nations a people not I have known shall serve me
תְּפַלְּטֵנִי֮ מֵרִ֪יבֵ֫י עָ֥ם תְּ֭שִׂימֵנִי לְרֹ֣אשׁ גּוֹיִ֑ם עַ֖ם לֹא־ יָדַ֣עְתִּי יַֽעַבְדֽוּנִי

תְּפַלְּטֵנִי֮  You  have  delivered  me 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect, second person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: פָּלַט  
Sense: to escape, save, deliver, slip away.
מֵרִ֪יבֵ֫י  from  the  strivings 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: רִיב 
Sense: strife, controversy, dispute.
עָ֥ם  of  the  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
תְּ֭שִׂימֵנִי  You  have  made  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, second person masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
לְרֹ֣אשׁ  the  head 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: רֹאשׁ 
Sense: head, top, summit, upper part, chief, total, sum, height, front, beginning.
גּוֹיִ֑ם  of  the  nations 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: גֹּוי 
Sense: nation, people.
עַ֖ם  a  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
יָדַ֣עְתִּי  I  have  known 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
יַֽעַבְדֽוּנִי  shall  serve  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural, first person common singular
Root: עָבַד  
Sense: to work, serve.