“Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.”
My Notes
What Does Psalms 18:35 Mean?
David attributes his greatness to three divine gifts: God's shield of salvation for protection, God's right hand for support, and—most surprisingly—God's gentleness. The KJV margin note offers an alternative reading: "with thy meekness thou hast multiplied me." Either way, the claim is extraordinary: it was God's tenderness, not His power alone, that made David great.
The shield of salvation and the supporting right hand are expected battle imagery. David was a warrior, and he naturally thanked God for military protection and strength. But the third element breaks the pattern completely. Gentleness. Meekness. The quality that made David great wasn't God's overwhelming force—it was God's careful, patient, tender handling of his life.
This is one of the most theologically beautiful lines in the Psalms. The God who commands armies and splits seas made David great through gentleness. The same hand that holds up the heavens held David up with tenderness. Power and gentleness are not in tension in God—they're the same hand doing the same work.
Reflection Questions
- 1.How has God's gentleness—His patient, tender handling of your life—shaped who you are?
- 2.Do you tend to associate greatness with force or with gentleness? How does David's perspective challenge yours?
- 3.Can you identify a season where God's 'slowness' or restraint turned out to be exactly what you needed?
- 4.What would change in how you view your current season if you saw God's gentleness as the active ingredient in your growth?
Devotional
"Thy gentleness hath made me great." Of all the things David could have credited for his success—God's power, God's favor, God's strategic brilliance—he chose gentleness. The tender, careful, patient way God handled his life was, in David's estimation, the thing that made him who he was.
This is counterintuitive in a world that equates greatness with forcefulness. We assume that strength, ambition, and aggressive action are what produce great outcomes. David says no. It was God's gentleness—His restraint, His patient development of David over decades, His refusal to rush the process—that produced a king.
Think about what God's gentleness looked like in David's actual life. Years of shepherding sheep before anyone noticed him. Being anointed king and then spending over a decade as a fugitive. Being given opportunities to seize power (killing Saul in the cave) and being led to restraint instead. Every delay, every slow process, every moment where God didn't give David what he wanted immediately—that was gentleness. And it was what made him great.
If you're in a season where God seems to be handling you gently rather than powerfully—where growth feels slow, where the big breakthrough hasn't arrived, where you're being developed rather than deployed—this verse reframes everything. Gentleness isn't weakness. It's the method God uses to produce greatness that lasts.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,.... Which is opposed to those straitened circumstances in which the psalmist was,…
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvations - Thou hast saved me as with a shield; thou hast thrown thy shield…
In these verses,
I. David looks back, with thankfulness, upon the great things which God had done for him. He had not…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture