The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
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.
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Commenting on Psalm 18:1-50
Poetry itself has no jewel brighter than these verses that follow: sorrow, the cry, God's descent, the rescue of the afflicted set to music worthy of heaven's harps. Christ our Saviour is the chief subject here, and every line finds its deepest meaning in Him.
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Commenting on Psalm 18:4
Death twisted cords of pain round about David like a cruel conqueror, and torrents of ungodliness threatened to sweep away all religion and hope. The bravest man may fear when the storm fiend is abroad; I have known this myself when the floods of Belial were let loose and the wicked press blasphemed. But oh, what mercy God wrought from this lion of affliction, learn from my experience to trust in the Lord who forsaketh not His chosen.
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