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Psalm 18:40

You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.

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.
41They cried, but there was no one to save; even to the LORD, but he didn’t answer them.
42Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.
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← Psalm 18:39Psalm 18:41 →
Notice

Enemies turning their backs mark a battlefield victory, yet David’s aim to cut them off can trouble a reader even as he credits God.

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

What is hard to read about David cutting off enemies who have turned their backs?

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How does David’s opening “You have” shape your reading of this violent victory?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

7 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
Exodus 23:27I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.Both describe God making enemies turn their backs, with Exodus promising the retreat that David credits God with bringing about.
Psalm 21:12For you will make them turn their back, when you aim drawn bows at their face.Both credit God with making enemies turn their backs in the face of defeat.
Joshua 10:24When they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who went with him, “Come near. …Both portray defeated enemies at the mercy of their conquerors, with Joshua describing kings subjected to public humiliation.
Psalm 94:23He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. The LORD, our God, will cut them off.Both speak of enemies being cut off and attribute their defeat to God.
Psalm 89:23I will beat down his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him.Both describe God defeating a man’s adversaries, identifying those enemies as people who hate him.
Job 15:26he runs at him with a stiff neck, with the thick shields of his bucklers,Both use the language of armed conflict, though Psalm 18 describes retreat and Job describes a shielded charge.
Psalm 118:10All the nations surrounded me, but in the LORD’s name I cut them off.Both speakers describe cutting off enemies and credit the LORD with their victory.
Where this verse fits

Injustice and anger. sermon or Bible study notes.

What the Bible says about anger →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Mark what David credits to God in verses 38–42

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Encouragement

David describes a battlefield victory granted by God. His words give no warrant for private revenge; the strength he claims comes from God.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 18:40. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 18 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).