5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
5 The sorrows
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
5 Hell's ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit.
5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.
5 The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 18:5
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.