Psalms 18:35 (DBY)

Passage

And thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand held me up; and thy condescending gentleness hath made me great.

Nearby Context

Psalms 18:33 Who maketh my feet like hinds' [feet], and setteth me upon my high places;

Psalms 18:34 Who teacheth my hands to war, and mine arms bend a bow of brass;

Psalms 18:35 And thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand held me up; and thy condescending gentleness hath made me great.

Psalms 18:36 Thou didst enlarge my steps under me, and mine ankles have not wavered.

Psalms 18:37 I pursued mine enemies, and overtook them; and I turned not again till they were consumed.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "didst", "give", "shield", "salvation", "right", "hand", and "held". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "didst", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 34's "Who teacheth my hands to war and..." into verse 36's "Thou didst enlarge my steps under me...", so "thou" and "didst" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "didst" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.