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Psalm 18:42
Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.
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.
43You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.
Notice
Dust blown away and mire cast into the street make David’s victory stark: his enemies are crushed and discarded, language whose violence can be hard to read.
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What troubles you about David describing defeated people as dust and street mire?
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Where else Scripture says this
11 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
Psalm 2:1Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?The shared thread is conflict: Psalm 2 names plotting nations, while Psalm 18:42 depicts the crushing defeat of enemies.
Micah 7:10Then my enemy will see it, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her. Now she will be trodden down like the …Both passages compare a defeated enemy to street mire, making humiliation part of the picture of defeat.
Isaiah 10:6I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people who anger me I will give him a command to take the plunder and to take the prey, and to tread …Both use street mire to portray crushing defeat, though Isaiah names a command to plunder and tread down a nation.
Isaiah 41:15Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like …Both describe beating something small into windblown material, though Isaiah pictures mountains and hills rather than defeated people.
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 recount David’s devastating defeat of opponents, with Samuel describing the fighting and the escape of four hundred men.
2 Kings 13:7For he didn’t leave to Jehoahaz of the people any more than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them …Both compare defeated people to dust, though Kings describes the destruction of Jehoahaz’s forces by the king of Syria.
Zechariah 10:5They will be as mighty men, treading down muddy streets in the battle. They will fight, because the LORD is with them. The riders on horses will be confounded.Both portray victory in battle through images of streets and mire, with Zechariah naming the LORD’s presence with the fighters.
Psalm 108:13Through God, we will do valiantly, for it is he who will tread down our enemies.Both describe the defeat of enemies in crushing terms, with Psalm 108 naming God as the one who treads them down.
2 Samuel 22:43Then I beat them as small as the dust of the earth. I crushed them as the mire of the streets, and spread them abroad.Both recount the speaker’s victory with near-identical comparisons of defeated enemies to dust and street mire.
2 Chronicles 34:4They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence; and he cut down the incense altars that were on high above them. He broke the Asherah poles, the …Both describe reducing something to dust and scattering it, though Chronicles concerns objects of idol worship rather than enemies.
Isaiah 25:10For the LORD’s hand will rest in this mountain. Moab will be trodden down in his place, even like straw is trodden down in the water of the dunghill.Both portray humiliating defeat through comparisons with trampled or discarded material, with Isaiah naming Moab as the defeated people.
Where this verse fits
Sermon or Bible study notes. injustice and anger.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
These words recount a king’s crushing victory; they grant no permission for personal revenge. The surrounding lines place David’s power under God, whom he credits with his deliverance.
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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).