5 Hell's ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit. 6 A hostile world! I call to God, I cry to God to help me. From his palace he hears my call; my cry brings me right into his presence - a private audience! 7 Earth wobbles and lurches; huge mountains shake like leaves, Quake like aspen leaves because of his rage. 8 His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke; his mouth spits fire. Tongues of fire dart in and out; 9 he lowers the sky. He steps down; under his feet an abyss opens up. 10 He's riding a winged creature, swift on wind-wings.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 18:5-10
Commentary on Psalm 18:1-19
(Read Psalm 18:1-19)
The first words, "I will love thee, O Lord, my strength," are the scope and contents of the psalm. Those that truly love God, may triumph in him as their Rock and Refuge, and may with confidence call upon him. It is good for us to observe all the circumstances of a mercy which magnify the power of God and his goodness to us in it. David was a praying man, and God was found a prayer-hearing God. If we pray as he did, we shall speed as he did. God's manifestation of his presence is very fully described, Hebrews 5:7. God made the earth to shake and tremble, and the rocks to cleave, and brought him out, in his resurrection, because he delighted in him and in his undertaking.