Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 94:18
When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
18. The A.V. misses the picturesqueness of the tenses. When I said, My foot hath slipped, thy lovingkindness, Jehovah, was supporting me. I gave myself up for lost, but the right hand of love had hold of me all the time. Cp. Psa 38:16; Psa 18:35.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
When I said, My foot slippeth – I can no longer stand. My strength is gone; and I must sink into the grave. The original here is, If I say, My foot slippeth, etc. The statement is general; that if at any time he had been, or should be, in such circumstances, then God would interpose. The general remark, however, is founded on his interposition on this particular occasion. His aid was then so marked and timely, that he felt that he could make the declaration general in regard to his whole life – to all circumstances in which he would ever be placed.
Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up – By thy merciful interposition thou didst keep me from falling. It was strength put forth as the expression of mercy; not strength to which he had any claim. How often in life may we say this of ourselves, that when just ready to sink; when our strength was almost gone; when a little severer pressure would have brought us to the grave, God by his mercy and his power interposed and saved us! Every such act of mercy – every new interposition in this manner – is a new gift of life, and lays us under obligation as if we had been just created, for it is just so much more of life given us by God.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 94:18
When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.
A common incident of the journey
The soul in peril can seldom say much, but that which is said is generally expressive. Take, for example, these words: they imply faith in the presence of One able to help–abhorrence of the sin to which ha is tempted–and confidence in His willingness to save. This experience is a common one. All of us are, at some time, found in slippery places.
I. Some slippery places, We are the more exposed to falling when we are brought into circumstances of–
1. Poverty and want. Christ was tempted when He hungered.
2. Of annoyance and vexation. Moses smote the rock in anger.
3. Of dejection and perplexity (Psa 73:2-3).
4. Of sore bereavement and trial (Job).
II. Some things concerning the traveller, rendering these the more perilous.
1. The absence of the staff, or negligence in its use. Learn the promises and use them.
2. The foot ill-shod.
3. Drowsiness. Watch and pray, that, etc.
4. Carelessness.
5. The lantern untrimmed or insecure, so that it goes out or burns dimly.
III. The sure means for preservation. We have simply to cry to the Deliverer. The secret of a secure and blessed life is constant ejaculatory prayer. The moment danger is oven anticipated, to ask for timely assistance. (R. A. Griffin.)
Upheld by Divine mercy
Not often has the voice of man pointed the way and brought sinners to Christ with so much of picturesque and sweet persuasiveness as did that of Dr. Bonar. What could be finer than this eccentric way of stating the Gospel: Suppose that I, a sinner, be walking along yon golden street, passing by one angel after another. I can hear them say, as I pass through their ranks, A sinner! a crimson sinner! Should my feet totter? Should my eye grow dim? No; I can say to them, Yes, a sinner–a crimson sinner–but a sinner brought near by a forsaken Saviour, and now a sinner who has boldness to enter into the Holiest through the blood of Christ.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 18. When I said, My foot slippeth] When I found myself so weak and my enemy so strong, that I got first off my guard, and then off my centre of gravity, and my fall appeared inevitable, –
Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.] yisadeni, propped me. It is a metaphor taken from any thing falling, that is propped, shored up, or buttressed. How often does the mercy of God thus prevent the ruin of weak believers, and of those who have been unfaithful!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
My foot slippeth; I am now upon the point of falling into mischief and utter destruction.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
When I said, my foot slippeth,…. There is no ground for me to stand upon; all is over with me; there is no hope nor help for me; I am just falling into ruin and destruction: such will be the desperate case of the church, at the time before referred to:
thy mercy, O Lord, held me up; the extremity of his people is the Lord’s opportunity; then is his set time to arise, and have mercy on them; then mercy steps in, lays a solid ground and foundation for hope, and holds up in its arms a sinking people, and revives a dying cause.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
18. If I said, My foot has fallen What is said in this verse confirms the preceding statement. The more to commend God’s kindness and power, he declares that it was no common danger from which he had been rescued, but in a manner from present death. The import of the language is, that death stared him so full in view, that he despaired of himself; as Paul speaks of having had the message of death in himself, when his condition was desperate, and he had given up hope of life, (2Co 1:9.) The fact of the Psalmist having been delivered after he had considered death certain, made the Divine interposition the more conspicuous. If we understand him as speaking of temporal death only in the expression, My foot has fallen — there is nothing unaccountable in the circumstance of his having despaired, (37) as God often prolongs the life of his people in the world, when they had lost hope, and were preparing for their departure. Possibly, however, the Psalmist only means that this was the language of sense; and this is the more probable, because we have already seen that he never ceased praying to God — a proof that he had still some hope. The next verse affords still further proof, for there he tells us that his afflictions were always mixed with some comfort. By thoughts, he means anxious and perplexing cares, which would have overwhelmed him had not consolation been communicated to him from above. We learn this truth from the passage, That God interposes in behalf of his people, with a due regard to the magnitude of their trials and distresses, and at the very moment which is necessary, enlarging them in their straits, as we find stated in other places. The heavier our calamities grow, we should hope that Divine grace will only be the more powerfully manifested in comforting us under them, (Psa 4:1,) But should we through weakness of the flesh be vexed and tormented by anxious cares, we must be satisfied with the remedy which the Psalmist here speaks of in such high terms. Believers are conscious of two very different states of mind. On the one hand, they are afflicted and distressed with various fears and anxieties; on the other, there is a secret joy communicated to them from above, and this in accommodation to their necessity, so as to preserve them from being swallowed up by any complication or force of calamity which may assail them.
(37) “ Si nous entendons le glissement du pied, seulement de la mort corporelle, il ne sera point absurde de dire que le Prophere ait este en ce desespoir.” — Fr.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Psa 94:18. When I said, My foot slippeth The slipping or moving of the foot, is an expression which we often meet with, to signify any inevitable danger, as it does here; and it seems to be a metaphor taken from the sure consequence of such an accident, when two men are engaged at single combat; in which case, if one of them trips and falls, his adversary has him at his mercy.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Psa 94:18 When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
Ver. 18. When I said, My foot slippeth ] I stand on a precipice, and shall be down, Hypotyposis est.
Thy mercy, O Lord, held me
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
mercy = lovingkindness, or grace.
held me up. Compare Psa 91:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
My foot: Psa 17:5, Psa 37:23, Psa 37:24, Psa 38:16, Psa 119:116, Psa 119:117, Psa 121:3, 1Sa 2:9, Joh 12:5, Isa 41:10, Luk 22:32, 1Pe 1:5
Reciprocal: 2Sa 22:37 – feet Job 12:5 – ready Psa 13:2 – take Psa 26:1 – I shall Psa 41:12 – thou Psa 56:13 – wilt Psa 63:8 – thy Psa 66:9 – suffereth Psa 73:2 – steps Psa 116:8 – and my feet Psa 119:92 – I should Psa 145:14 – upholdeth
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 94:18. When I said, My foot slippeth I am now upon the point of falling into mischief and utter destruction; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up A merciful, gracious, and powerful hand was immediately stretched out to support my steps, and establish my goings. Observe, reader, we are beholden, not only to Gods power but to his pity, for spiritual supports, and we are then prepared to receive those supports, when we are sensible of our own weakness and inability to stand by our own strength, and come to God to acknowledge it, and to tell him how our foot slippeth.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
94:18 When I said, {l} My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
(l) When I thought there was no way but death.