With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
David came to the throne through almost insurmountable trials, and foreign enemies harassed him even into old age. Rather than boast of his own victories, he exalts God as the true author of them, showing that his reign prefigures Christ's kingdom, one that will triumph over all resistance by the Father's incomprehensible power.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 18:1-50
God weighs every man in his own scales and measures him with his own rod, perfectly fair, and to the dishonest man more terrible than he can bear. If the knavish only believed they would be the losers by their tricks, they would cast away their false weights at once. Yet mark this: even the merciful need mercy; generosity to the poor and forgiveness to enemies cannot lift us beyond that need.
AI summary
When God visibly took David's part, He both cleared his innocence before men and confirmed the testimony of his own conscience. A wicked departure from God is one done willfully and without recovery; but those who stumble yet repent and press forward have not truly forsaken Him.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 18:20-28