Verse Lens · Concise explanation
Psalms 18:31 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 31. 31For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Psalm 18:31: Inside “A long song of rescue, kingship, and victory: Strength for the battle,” “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a…” raises a real poetic question instead of supplying a detached answer.
No rock besides this God
This verse is one part of that explanation in Psalms 18:31–36. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Psalms 18:31–36
- Psalms 18:1–50
Read Psalms 18:31 with 18:31–36 and 18:1–50. Read alone, “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock…” could lose the royal voice, the parallel line or movement it develops, and the psalm's outcome. The complete movement establishes: Within Psalms 18:31–36, the royal voice carries the movement “Strength for the battle” as part of “A long song of rescue, kingship, and victory.” Its royal-thanksgiving form and poetic parallelism hold the petitions, images, memories, or praise together before any single line is applied.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Psalms 18:31–36 answers or redirects “God's measured dealings and perfect way” within Psalm 18 by carrying “Strength for the battle.” The turn from “As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler…” to “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?” explains why this movement occurs here. Within that relationship, Psalm 18:31 poses the poem's question through “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our…” and leaves the surrounding lines to answer, intensify, or hold it open.
What Remains True
In “A long song of rescue, kingship, and victory: Strength for the battle,” Psalm 18:31 poses the poem's question through “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our…” and leaves the surrounding lines to answer, intensify, or hold it open. The resulting truth stays bounded by this movement: Wrong and rage may be named honestly before the LORD, yet judgment remains accountable to justice and never turns another person into disposable prey. The local movement is “Strength for the battle.” The unit's reviewed limit is: The theophany uses cosmic poetry and the battle language reflects ancient royal victory; neither is a forecast for modern warfare or national destiny.
How It Can Shape Life
- Start with the line's work inside “A long song of rescue, kingship, and victory: Strength for the battle”—Psalm 18:31 poses the poem's question through “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our…” and leaves the surrounding lines to answer, intensify, or hold it open. Then let the line “For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock…” make room for protest without dehumanizing anyone; choose safety, truthful evidence, and justice over revenge.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Psalms 18:31–36 — A long song of rescue, kingship, and victory: Strength for the battleSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? strong
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Psalms 18:31–36, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Psalms
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology checked at the exact unit without treating morphology as a complete apparatus or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Ps.xml, OSIS 18:31–36
Open the fixed Hebrew Psalms file ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible Notes: Psalms 1-150
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, current official online edition
Supports: Verse-level controls for poetic syntax, imagery, older KJV language, textual issues, headings, and alternatives in Psalms 18:31–36.
Exact location: Official NET Bible Psalm 18 HTML, translator, textual, and study notes attached to Psalms 18:31–36
Open the official NET Psalms notes ↗