The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
David sang this when he cried to the Lord in deep trouble under Saul and was delivered and set firm in the kingdom before his great sin, and the song stands both as Psalm 18 and as 2 Samuel 22 in closely similar but not identical form. The Lord answers the sufferer by bowing the heavens and coming down, thundering on high and sending hailstones and coals of fire before the brightness of His presence to draw him out of many waters. That thunder and fire are His direct coming in wrath to scatter His foes, with earthquake and storm as only the means He uses and not the cause. The voice of the Highest is the voice of Jehovah the Creator heard at Mount Sinai amid clouds and darkness when He spoke His ten-commandment law to a people who had grown half-heathen in Egypt. Prophetically it pictures Christ's life-and-death struggle with the enemy and His victory and kingdom, and it shows that the cry of faith moves heaven as well as earth.
Setting and Storm Imagery
Psalm 18 is David's song of thanksgiving for deliverance from the hand of Saul, given when in deep trouble he cried unto the Lord. It was composed after his victory over Saul and establishment in the kingdom, but before his great sin. It is preserved as Psalm 18 and also recorded in 2 Samuel 22, the two being strongly similar but not exactly alike.
The verse portrays the Lord answering by thundering in the heavens, the Highest giving His voice in power with hailstones and coals of fire. He bows the heavens and comes down and rides upon heaven and the sky to take the sufferer and draw him out of many waters. It is a shower of hail and fire sent before the brightness of His presence, appearing in fiery glory amid dark clouds as a visible, awe-inspiring manifestation.
The thunder, hail, and fire are His coming in wrath to strike a guilty world and scatter His foes by arrows and lightning. They are the direct mandate and manifestation of the Eternal Omnipotent One when He is wroth, bringing the various elements of destruction into contact with each other. The internal fires of the earth and other seismic forces are only the means or agencies by which the shaking, smoking mountains, thunder, lightning, hail, and fire are accomplished, not the cause.
The voice of the Highest is the voice of Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, speaking at Mount Sinai when He declared His holy law, the ten words afterward graven on stony tablets. His thundering voice revealed His power amid clouds and thick darkness and the droppings of the heavens. This display of power was given because Israel, made semiheathen in Egypt, had only a very indistinct knowledge of the true God and needed to learn the difference between the impotent gods known in Egypt and Jehovah.
Prophecy Doctrine and Application
Psalm 18 is a prophetic word-picture in which David foresaw and felt the life-and-death struggles of Christ with the enemy, giving insight into Christ's experience of suffering and temptation. It is counted among Christ's resurrection psalms. Composed after victory over Saul and establishment in the kingdom but before the great sin, David's victories and kingdom point to Christ's victory over sin and spiritual foes and to Christ's kingdom.
The verse belongs to David's testimony of being in deep trouble and crying unto the Lord, and it shows faith as a lever resting on the throne of the eternal God that moves heaven as well as earth. The reason is that God answers that cry by thundering in the heavens and giving His voice with hailstones and coals of fire, bowing the heavens and coming down and riding upon heaven and the sky in help to take the sufferer and draw him out of many waters.
The portrayal of the Lord appearing in fiery glory amid dark clouds, with thunder, hail, and fire, is a visible, awe-inspiring manifestation of divine glory that supports the sense of appearing in glory in Psalm 102:16. The same hailstones and coals of fire describe the destructive effect of words spoken by those who excuse gossip and fault-finding as honesty.
David sang this when he cried to the Lord in deep trouble under Saul and was delivered and set firm in the kingdom before his great sin, and the song stands both as Psalm 18 and as 2 Samuel 22 in closely similar but not identical form. The Lord answers the sufferer by bowing the heavens and coming down, thundering on high and sending hailstones and coals of fire before the brightness of His presence to draw him out of many waters. That thunder and fire are His direct coming in wrath to scatter His foes, with earthquake and storm as only the means He uses and not the cause. The voice of the Highest is the voice of Jehovah the Creator heard at Mount Sinai amid clouds and darkness when He spoke His ten-commandment law to a people who had grown half-heathen in Egypt. Prophetically it pictures Christ's life-and-death struggle with the enemy and His victory and kingdom, and it shows that the cry of faith moves heaven as well as earth.
Setting and Storm Imagery
Psalm 18 is David's song of thanksgiving for deliverance from the hand of Saul, given when in deep trouble he cried unto the Lord. It was composed after his victory over Saul and establishment in the kingdom, but before his great sin. It is preserved as Psalm 18 and also recorded in 2 Samuel 22, the two being strongly similar but not exactly alike.
The verse portrays the Lord answering by thundering in the heavens, the Highest giving His voice in power with hailstones and coals of fire. He bows the heavens and comes down and rides upon heaven and the sky to take the sufferer and draw him out of many waters. It is a shower of hail and fire sent before the brightness of His presence, appearing in fiery glory amid dark clouds as a visible, awe-inspiring manifestation.
The thunder, hail, and fire are His coming in wrath to strike a guilty world and scatter His foes by arrows and lightning. They are the direct mandate and manifestation of the Eternal Omnipotent One when He is wroth, bringing the various elements of destruction into contact with each other. The internal fires of the earth and other seismic forces are only the means or agencies by which the shaking, smoking mountains, thunder, lightning, hail, and fire are accomplished, not the cause.
The voice of the Highest is the voice of Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth, speaking at Mount Sinai when He declared His holy law, the ten words afterward graven on stony tablets. His thundering voice revealed His power amid clouds and thick darkness and the droppings of the heavens. This display of power was given because Israel, made semiheathen in Egypt, had only a very indistinct knowledge of the true God and needed to learn the difference between the impotent gods known in Egypt and Jehovah.
Prophecy Doctrine and Application
Psalm 18 is a prophetic word-picture in which David foresaw and felt the life-and-death struggles of Christ with the enemy, giving insight into Christ's experience of suffering and temptation. It is counted among Christ's resurrection psalms. Composed after victory over Saul and establishment in the kingdom but before the great sin, David's victories and kingdom point to Christ's victory over sin and spiritual foes and to Christ's kingdom.
The verse belongs to David's testimony of being in deep trouble and crying unto the Lord, and it shows faith as a lever resting on the throne of the eternal God that moves heaven as well as earth. The reason is that God answers that cry by thundering in the heavens and giving His voice with hailstones and coals of fire, bowing the heavens and coming down and riding upon heaven and the sky in help to take the sufferer and draw him out of many waters.
The portrayal of the Lord appearing in fiery glory amid dark clouds, with thunder, hail, and fire, is a visible, awe-inspiring manifestation of divine glory that supports the sense of appearing in glory in Psalm 102:16. The same hailstones and coals of fire describe the destructive effect of words spoken by those who excuse gossip and fault-finding as honesty.