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Psalm 18:38

I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. They shall fall under my feet.

36You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped.
37I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. I won’t turn away until they are consumed.
38I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. They shall fall under my feet.
39For you have armed me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.
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← Psalm 18:37Psalm 18:39 →
Notice

Enemies falling under David’s feet make this a stark account of battlefield victory, with violence that can be hard to read as prayer.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What troubles you about David’s declaration that his enemies will be unable to rise?

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How does David’s acknowledgment of God in verse 39 shape your reading of his victory?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

9 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
2 Samuel 10:18The Syrians fled before Israel; and David killed seven hundred charioteers of the Syrians and forty thousand horsemen, and struck Shobach the captain of their …Both describe lethal defeat in battle: the psalm speaks of enemies falling, and Samuel records David killing Syrian soldiers and their commander.
2 Samuel 8:1–18After this, David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines.David striking and subduing the Philistines shares the psalm’s language of striking enemies and bringing them down.
2 Samuel 21:15–22The Philistines had war again with Israel; and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. David grew faint;Both concern David in battle; Samuel records his exhaustion, while the psalm speaks of enemies unable to rise.
1 Samuel 23:5David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their livestock, and killed them with a great slaughter. So David saved the …Both describe enemies struck down by David; Samuel also names the people of Keilah who were saved through the fighting.
2 Samuel 5:1–25Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke, saying, “Behold, we are your bone and your flesh.These passages share David, though the supplied Samuel verse concerns Israel’s kinship with him rather than combat.
Psalm 36:12There the workers of iniquity are fallen. They are thrust down, and shall not be able to rise.Both describe fallen opponents unable to rise, with Psalm 36 identifying those brought down as workers of iniquity.
Psalm 47:3He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet.Both use the image of defeated opponents underfoot, with Psalm 47 naming God as the one who subdues nations.
1 Samuel 17:49–51David put his hand in his bag, took a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face …David’s strike and the Philistine’s fall give a concrete battle scene sharing the psalm’s language of striking and falling.
1 Samuel 30:17David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped from there, except four hundred young men who rode on camels …Both describe David striking enemies in an overwhelming defeat; Samuel’s account also specifies the men who escaped.
Where this verse fits

Sermon or Bible study notes. injustice and anger.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read Psalm 18:36–40 and mark what David credits to God

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Encouragement

David’s battlefield words grant no permission to harm someone in your own conflicts. In the surrounding lines, he credits God for his victory: even this warrior depends on strength God supplies.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 18:38. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).