6 In my distress I called on Yahweh,
and cried to my God.
He heard my voice out of his temple.
My cry before him came into his ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled.
The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken,
because he was angry. 8 Smoke went out of his nostrils.
Consuming fire came out of his mouth.
Coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down.
Thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub, and flew.
Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him,
darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. 12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed,
hailstones and coals of fire. 13 Yahweh also thundered in the sky.
The Most High uttered his voice:
hailstones and coals of fire. 14 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them;
Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them. 15 Then the channels of waters appeared.
The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. 16 He sent from on high.
He took me.
He drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. 18 They came on me in the day of my calamity,
but Yahweh was my support. 19 He brought me forth also into a large place.
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 18:6-19

Commentary on Psalm 18:1-19

(Read Psalm 18:1-19)

The first words, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy which magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God. If we pray as he did, we shall speed as he did. God's manifestation of his presence is very fully described, Hebrews 5:7. God made the earth to shake and tremble, and the rocks to cleave, and brought him out, in his resurrection, because he delighted in him and in his undertaking.