Psalms 18:42

Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.

BSB

I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.

KJV

Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

ASV

Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.

BBE

Then they were crushed as small as dust before the wind; they were drained out like the waste of the streets.

Original Hebrew

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The early church

"And I will beat them as small as dust before the face of the wind" [Psalm 18:42]. And I will beat them small; for dry they are, receiving not the shower of God's mercy; that borne aloft and puffed up with pride they may be hurried along from firm and unshaken hope, and as it were from the earth's solidity and stability. "As the clay of the streets I will destroy them." In their wanton and loose course along the broad ways of perdition, which many walk, will I destroy them.
Augustine of Hippo · d. 430Expositions on the Psalms

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 29–50

When we praise for one mercy, we must observe the many more, with which we have been compassed all our days. Many things had contributed to David's advancement, and he owns the hand of God in them all, to teach us to do likewise. In verse #(32), and the following verses, are the gifts of God to the spiritual warrior, whereby he is prepared for the contest, after the example of his victorious Leader. Learn that we must seek release being made through Christ, shall be rejected. In David the type, we behold out of trouble through Christ. The prayer put up, without reconciliation Jesus our Redeemer, conflicting with enemies, compassed with sorrows and with floods of ungodly men, enduring not only the pains of death, but the wrath of God for us; yet calling upon the Father with strong cries and tears; rescued from the grave; proceeding to reconcile, or to put under his feet all other enemies, till death, the last enemy, shall be destroyed. We should love the Lord, our Strength, and our Salvation; we should call on him in every trouble, and praise him for every deliverance; we should aim to walk with him in all righteousness and true holiness, keeping from sin. If we belong to him, he conquers and reigns for us, and we shall conquer and reign through him, and partake of the mercy of our anointed King, which is promised to all his seed for evermore. Amen.

Read Matthew Henry on Psalm 18 →

Spurgeon · Verse 42

The defeat of the nations who fought with King David was so utter and complete that they were like powders pounded in a mortar; their power was broken into fragments and they became as weak as dust before the wind, and as mean as the mire of the roads. Thus powerless and base are the enemies of God now become through the victory of the Son of David upon the cross. Arise, O my soul, and meet thine enemies, for they have sustained a deadly blow, and will fall before thy bold advance.

"Hell and my sins resist my course,

But hell and sin are vanquish'd foes

My Jesus nail'd them to his cross,

And sung the triumph when he rose."

Read Spurgeon on Psalm 18 →

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Cross-references

10

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.