Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 89:18
For the LORD [is] our defense; and the Holy One of Israel [is] our king.
18. For to Jehovah belongeth our shield;
And our King to the Holy One of Israel.
Shield, as in Psa 47:9, is a metaphor for the king as the protector of his people. The king of Israel belongs to Jehovah, because he is appointed by Him to be His representative, as his title Jehovah’s anointed testifies; he derives his authority from Him, and therefore can claim His protection. For Holy One of Israel see note on Psa 71:22.
The A.V. is grammatically unjustifiable; and the R.V. marg. rendering of the second line, Even to the Holy One of Israel our King, though grammatically possible, and supported by some Ancient Versions, is less suitable to the context.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For the Lord is our defense – Margin, Our shield is of the Lord. The original word rendered defense, is shield. Compare Psa 5:12, note; Psa 33:20, note; Psa 59:11, note. The meaning is, that protection was to be found in God alone. The true construction of this verse is, For to Yahweh (belongs) our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel our king. That is, All that they had, and all that they relied on as a defense, belonged to God, or was of God; in other words, their very protectors were themselves protected by Yahweh. They had no other defense; nothing else on which they could depend.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
This verse gives a reason of the psalmists confidence that their horn would be exalted.
The Holy One of Israel is our King; having therefore so potent a Friend, we have no reason to despair of our restitution to our former felicity. Or, as the words may well be, and are by divers, rendered, Of or from the Lord is or was our shield, (to wit, our king, as it is explained in the next branch of the verse, compared with Psa 47:9) and of or from the Holy One of Israel, i.e. the Lord, who is oft so called, is or was our king. He gave us our king and royal family at first, and therefore he can easily restore it when he sees it fit.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. (Margin). Thus isintroduced the promise to “our shield,” “our king,”David.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For the Lord is our defence,…. From all their enemies, being all around them, as a wall of fire to protect them, and as the mountains were round about Jerusalem, and being kept by his power as in a fortress, strong hold, or garrison, unto salvation; or our shield f; see Ps 84:9 as are his favour, righteousness, and salvation, Ps 5:12 or “to the Lord belongs our defence or shield” g our protection and salvation is from him:
and the Holy One of Israel is our King; he who was to be, and is of Israel according to the flesh, and is holy in his nature, life, and office; he is King of saints, that rules over them, protects and defends them, and therefore they must be happy: or “to” or “with the Holy One of Israel is our king” h; Christ is King of Zion by designation, appointment, and constitution, of God the Holy One of Israel, the holy God that has chosen Israel for his peculiar people; though it rather seems that Christ is the Holy One by what follows.
f “clypeus noster”, Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Tigurine version; “scutum nostrum”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. g “Domino”, Pagninus, Montanus. h “et sancto Israelis”, Pagninus, Montanus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18. For to Jehovah is our buckler. As the chief protection of the people was in the person of their king, it is here expressly shown, that the maintenance of the welfare of the faithful by his instrumentality is the gift of God. But it is to be noticed, that the prophet’s mind was not so fixed upon this temporal and transitory kingdom as to neglect, at the same time, to consider the end of it, as we shall presently see. He knew that it was only on account of Christ that God made his favor to flow upon the head of the Church, and from thence upon the whole body. And, in the first place, while he calls the king metaphorically a buckler, — a figurative expression frequently employed in Scripture, — he confesses that when the people are defended by his hand and working, it is nevertheless done by the providence of God, and is thus to be traced to a higher source than human agency. The same thing is again repeated in the second clause, in which it is affirmed, that the king was given by God to govern the people; and that, therefore, the defense which comes from the king is a blessing of God. Moreover, we must remember that what is said of this kingdom, which was a shadow of something greater, properly applies to the person of Christ, whom the Father has given to us to be the guardian of our welfare, that we may be maintained and defended by his power.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(18) For the Lord.Or, rather
For of Jehovah is our shield,
And of Israels Holy One our king,
shield and king being in synonymous parallelism. Jehovah is the source of the theocratic power.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 89:18. For the Lord is our defence, &c. Mudge connects this with the following verse thus: Yes, to the Lord belongs our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel our king: Psa 89:19. From the time that thou spakest in vision to thy favourite, and saidst, &c. Our shield, says he, is explained by the king; as in Psa 84:9. “He is the Lord’s, the Lord owns him; has taken him as his own, under his special protection; from the time he spoke to the prophet Nathan the prophesy which follows with regard to David.” Nathan was favoured with God’s immediate revelation, 2 Samuel 7.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 89:18 For the LORD [is] our defence; and the Holy One of Israel [is] our king.
Ver. 18. For the Lord is our defence ] Heb. our shield; the body cannot be wounded, but through the shield.
And the Holy One of Israel is our king
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
defence = shield. Hebrew. ganan, to cover, or protect.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Lord is: etc. or, our Shield is of the Lord, and our King is of the Holy One of Israel, Psa 47:9, Psa 62:1, Psa 62:2, Psa 62:6, Psa 84:11, Psa 91:1, Psa 91:2, Gen 15:1, Deu 33:27-29
Holy: Psa 71:22, Isa 1:4, Isa 12:6, Isa 29:19, Isa 30:11, Isa 43:3, Isa 43:14
king: Psa 44:4, Isa 33:22
Reciprocal: Exo 15:11 – glorious Num 23:21 – the shout Psa 7:10 – My Hos 13:10 – I will be thy king Mar 1:24 – the Holy One Rev 3:7 – he that is holy
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
89:18 For the LORD [is] our {p} defence; and the Holy One of Israel [is] our king.
(p) In that our King has power to defend us, it is the gift of God.