Psalms 140:7

Psa 140:7 O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.

Ver. 7. In the day of battle] Heb. of armours; for battle David never had any with Saul, but declined it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

8. (Psa 140:7) Jehovah, Lord, the strength of my salvation; thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. My covenant God and sovereign, whose power saves me. Head is preceded by a preposition, thou hast been a covering (or afforded shelter) to (or for) my head. The day of battle, literally of armour or of weapons, i.e. the day when they are used. With this verse compare Psa 5:11; Psa 60:7; Psa 62:1; Psa 62:11; Psa 139:13, 1Sa 28:2.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

140:7 The expression Sovereign Lord comes from combining the name Yahweh with the title Adonai (Master). See also 68:20; 69:6; 71:16; 73:28; 109:21; 141:8.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

He calleth to God with lively faith, being assured of his mercies, because he had before time proved, that God helped him ever in his dangers.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 7. Thou hast covered my head] Not only when I fought with the proud blaspheming Philistine; but in the various attempts made against my life by my sworn enemies.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) In the day of battle.—Literally, in the day of arms, i.e., when he was arming for fight. God covered the warrior’s head, i.e., provided the “helmet of salvation” (Isa_59:17). (Comp. also Psa_60:9 : “Strength of my head.”) Others, however, follow the LXX. and Authorised Version in understanding by “day of arms” the day of battle.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. O God the Lord] Jehovah, Lord. Cp. Psa_109:21 (note); Psa_141:8.

thou hast covered my head] Protected it as with a helmet. Cp. Psa_60:7; Isa_59:17; Eph_6:17; 1Th_5:8. The perfect tense might refer to past experience, but is probably to be taken as a perfect of certainty: thou wilt̄ assuredly cover.

the day of battle] Lit. of armour, when armour is needed. The language is of course figurative, for the ‘war’ which his enemies were making upon him was carried on with the weapons of slander and calumny.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation,.... Temporal and spiritual, which he was able to effect; the mighty God and mighty Saviour: and this encouraged David to believe he should have deliverance; and this secured, confirmed, and established it to him; and to which he was the more induced by what experience he had had of the divine goodness to him, as follows:

thou hast covered my head in the day of battle; with the helmet of salvation, as Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and Arama observe; which, in a spiritual sense, is to a believer the hope of salvation, Eph 6:17, Th1 5:8; a defensive weapon to him; and protects him while he is engaging with his spiritual enemies in this his state of warfare, sin, Satan, and the world. Perhaps David may have respect to the divine protection of him, when he fought with Goliath. Salvation was Christ's helmet, when he engaged with all his and our enemies; even with all the powers of darkness, and obtained deliverance for us, Isa 59:16.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

O God the Lord ... - literally, “Yahweh, Lord, the strength of my salvation” The word rendered “God,” in the original, is יהוה Yahweh. The address is to Yahweh as the Lord; that is, as the supreme Ruler - who presides over all things. Him the psalmist acknowledged as “his” Lord and Ruler. The phrase “the strength of my salvation” means the strength or power on which my safety depends. I have no other hope of deliverance but in thee.

Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle - Thou hast been a shield unto me. Literally, “In the day of arms,” or of armor, 1Ki 10:25; Eze 39:9-10.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

With thy powerful protection, as with a helmet or shield.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 7. O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. When he looked back upon past dangers and deliverances, the good man felt that he should have perished had not the Lord held a shield over his head. In the day of the clash of arms, or of the putting on of armour (as some read it), the glorious Lord had been his constant Protector. Goliath had his armour bearer, and so had Saul, and these each one guarded his master; yet the giant and the king both perished, while David, without armour or shield, slew the giant and baffled the tyrant. The shield of the Eternal is a better protection than a helmet of brass, When arrows fly thick and the battle axe crashes right and left, there is no covering for the head like the power of the Almighty. See how the child of providence glorifies his Preserver! He calls him not only his salvation, but the strength of it, by whose unrivalled force he had been enabled to outlive the cunning and cruelty of his adversaries. He had obtained a deliverance in which the strength of the Omnipotent was clearly to be seen. This is a grand utterance of praise, a gracious ground of comfort, a prevalent argument in prayer. He that has covered our head aforetime will not now desert us. Wherefore let us fight a good fight, and fear no deadly wound: the Lord God is our shield, and our exceeding great reward.

Ver. 7. Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. Hebrew, of armour. For David had never indeed any battle with Saul, but declined it; but Saul often armed against him; but then God's providence covered him as a shield: but the head is only spoken of to set forth his whole body, because that is chiefly aimed at by the enemy, as where the life principally lieth. John Mayer.

Ver. 7. Thou hast covered my head, etc. That is, I had no other helmet or armour but thy Almighty power in the day when I fought with Goliath. 1Sa 17:39-40, 50. Thomas Fenton.

Ver. 7. Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. A captain or prince had always beside him in battle an armour bearer, whose duty it was "to cover his master's head", that is, to ward off with the shield the blows aimed at his head, and which, in the heat of the fight, had escaped his own notice. Benjamin Weiss.

Psalms 140:8*

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

7. O God the Lord—The frequent use of the divine names is not tautological, but indicates the psalmist’s soul agony, and the earnestness of his appeal to the covenant faithfulness of God, bringing his piety imposingly into the foreground.

Covered my head—As a helmet.

Compare Psa_6:7; Eph_6:17.

In the day of battle— Hebrew, In the day of armour. The word neshek occurs ten times in the Old Testament, and never means battle, but always armour, armory, weapon. The reference is not to a battle, but to a preparation for a battle, and means, God had been his real shield or helmet (the cover of his head) when he armed himself for battle; or, more probably, it is an allusion to 1Sa_17:38-39, when Saul armed David to meet Goliath, and “put a helmet of brass upon his head,” which David declined, trusting alone in God. This coincides with the date we have given the psalm, and fully sustains the high import of the prayer.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

O God the Lord. In the Hebrew, "Jehovah Adonai a comparatively rare address. The strength of my salvation. The solid strength upon which I ground all my hopes of salvation. (comp. Psa_89:26) Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle. In past combats thou hast protected me, as with a shield, (Psa_18:2 Psa_33:20) wherefore I put the greater trust in thee for the future. The "head" is mentioned as one of the chief vital parts.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.