"He Gives His King Great Victories"

Psalm 18 is King David's great song of thanksgiving to the LORD, after being saved from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

In Part 4 — the final section of the psalm — David describes his victory over his enemies in powerful, vivid images. He pursues them, strikes them down, and they fall beneath his feet. With God's strength, he shatters them like dust before the wind and like mud in the streets.

David then turns to the nations: God placed him at the head of peoples he had never known, and even foreigners came trembling out of their strongholds to submit before him.

At the heart of this final section stands the chorus:

"He gives His king great victories, and shows steadfast love to His anointed — to David and his descendants forever."

This verse closes the entire psalm with an eternal promise: the love of God for His anointed king never ends.

This psalm is part of the great journey of this project: to set, with God's help, the entire Book of Psalms to music — in diverse, moving, deeply Jewish musical voice.