Psalm 18 4

Psalm 18:4 kjv

The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

Psalm 18:4 nkjv

The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

Psalm 18:4 niv

The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

Psalm 18:4 esv

The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me;

Psalm 18:4 nlt

The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.

Psalm 18 verses

Psalm 18 4 Meaning

Psalm 18:4 powerfully expresses David's extreme peril and spiritual agony. It describes him as being encompassed by the relentless, suffocating grip of death, likened to a snare or a rope, and overwhelmed by the violent, terrifying floods of destruction or ungodliness. The verse paints a vivid picture of a soul feeling entirely cut off and besieged by forces intent on his demise, both physical and spiritual. It communicates a feeling of imminent collapse and deep dread in the face of overwhelming evil or suffering.

Psalm 18 4 Context

Psalm 18 is a monumental psalm of thanksgiving composed by David upon his deliverance "from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul." It is nearly identical to 2 Samuel 22, serving as a dual record of God's faithfulness to His anointed king. The psalm opens with David’s heartfelt declaration of love for God (Ps 18:1–3), recounting his ultimate deliverer. Psalm 18:4, along with the subsequent verses (18:5-6), details the desperate plight from which David was rescued, creating a sharp contrast with the triumphant deliverance that follows. This initial expression of extreme distress establishes the depth of God's saving power, highlighting the overwhelming nature of the dangers David faced before God intervened. Historically, this period likely encompasses various times of David's life, from his fugitive years fleeing King Saul, who relentlessly sought his life, to his many battles as king against foreign adversaries, each representing a "death" experience or overwhelming threat to his existence and throne.

Psalm 18 4 Word analysis

• חֶבְלֵי (chevlei) - "cords of" or "pangs of": From the root חֶבֶל (chevel), meaning "cord," "rope," "snare," or "bond." It can also signify "pain," "pangs," or "travail," particularly in childbirth. This dual meaning is potent; it implies both being entrapped, as by a snare, and suffering intense, agonizing pain. It suggests inescapable bondage and torturous suffering. In this context, it emphasizes the absolute grasp of death, like a binding rope, and the painful agony associated with dying.
• מָוֶת (mavet) - "death": Refers to literal cessation of life but often personified in Hebrew thought as a power or entity, sometimes linked with Sheol. It denotes the grim realm, the force that takes life, or even the agents of death. Here, it is an active, entrapping force.
• אֲפָפוּנִי ('afafuni) - "entangled me" or "encompassed me": From the root אָפַף ('afaf), meaning "to surround," "to encompass," "to encircle." It implies a complete surrounding, a closing in, leaving no escape. David was not merely threatened by death, but fully enclosed and entrapped by it.
• נַחֲלֵי (nachalei) - "torrents of" or "streams of" or "floods of": From the root נַחַל (nachal), referring to a wadi or a torrent, which is a seasonal riverbed that fills suddenly and violently with water during floods. This imagery evokes overwhelming, destructive, and uncontrollable forces. It speaks to sudden, massive, and chaotic power.
• בְלִיַּעַל (veliya'al) - "destruction" or "ungodliness" or "Belial": This word is composed of בְלִי (beli - "without") and יַעַל (ya'al - "profit," "worth," "benefit"). Thus, it literally means "worthless," "useless," "without profit." Over time, it came to describe utter wickedness, villainy, or depravity, and could be personified as "Belial," a name for the embodiment of evil, even linked to Satan in later Jewish and Christian texts (e.g., 2 Cor 6:15). In this context, the "torrents of Belial" are not just floods, but floods of absolute evil, malevolence, or utter chaos that threaten to sweep one away into ruin. It underscores a spiritual dimension to the distress.
• יְבַעֲתוּנִי (yevara'atuni) - "overwhelmed me" or "made me afraid" or "terrified me": From the root בָּעַת (ba'at), meaning "to terrify," "to dismay," "to throw into panic." It signifies deep fear, shock, and profound internal disturbance. The overwhelming force was not just a physical threat but an assault on the soul, filling David with terror.

• "The cords of death entangled me": This phrase paints a picture of being caught in a snare laid by the enemy, particularly Death itself. The imagery is of a hunter's trap, tightly binding its prey. This signifies a feeling of inescapable fate, as if death had physically laid hold of David and was pulling him into its domain.
• "The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me": This uses a contrasting but equally powerful natural disaster metaphor. Where "cords" suggest constriction, "torrents" suggest being engulfed and swept away by overwhelming currents. The "torrents of Belial" signifies floods of ungodliness or sheer wickedness that not only surround but also induce intense fear and spiritual dismay. These are not merely physical dangers but represent an onslaught of malicious forces, whether human enemies driven by evil, or spiritual entities seeking his ruin. The use of "Belial" here introduces a distinct dimension of active, malevolent evil.

Psalm 18 4 Bonus section

The strong imagery in Psalm 18:4 has roots in ancient Near Eastern cosmology, where waters often symbolized chaos and primordial evil. David's use of "torrents of Belial" can be understood as Yahweh's king confronting these chaotic, anti-God forces, not merely human enemies. This aligns with Yahweh as the sovereign Lord over creation, including the deepest waters and the powers of death, a direct challenge to any false deity or cosmic force believed to hold sway over these domains. Furthermore, the "pangs of death" (alternate reading of chevlei mavet) in some translations aligns this verse conceptually with the "pangs of childbirth," suggesting that being overtaken by death is an agonizing, labor-like struggle, implying the painful beginning of an ending, or paradoxically, a suffering that precedes a new birth (resurrection/deliverance). This concept is explicitly picked up in the New Testament concerning Jesus's resurrection, where God "loosed the pangs of death" (Acts 2:24), implying a victory over these binding, torturous forces through resurrection.

Psalm 18 4 Commentary

Psalm 18:4 reveals the depths of David's distress before God's mighty deliverance. It's a confession of absolute vulnerability. The "cords of death" and "torrents of destruction (Belial)" employ vivid parallelism to underscore a twin assault: constriction unto death and chaotic, overwhelming evil. David faced threats that were not merely physical but were so pervasive and terrifying that they bordered on spiritual dread, almost personified as Death and Belial themselves. This verse establishes the profound chasm between David's desperate plight and the magnificent rescue described later, magnifying God's saving power. It’s a foundational declaration that set the stage for one of the Bible's grandest testimonies to divine intervention. For believers, it echoes the dark valleys of life where evil or suffering feel consuming, but also points forward to the ultimate victory achieved by Christ, who truly felt the "cords of death" (Acts 2:24) but emerged victorious, crushing the power of Belial (2 Cor 6:15, Heb 2:14). It is a reminder that distress is often a prerequisite for the demonstration of divine power.