Psalms 18:42

42 I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind. I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.

Psalms 18:42 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 18:42

Then did I beat them small, as the dust before the wind
They being given up by God, and he not answering to their cries; the phrase denotes the utter ruin and destruction of them, and represents their case as desperate and irrecoverable; being, as it were, pounded to dust, and that driven away with the wind: just as the destruction of the four monarchies is signified by the iron, clay, brass, silver, and gold, being broken to pieces, and made like the chaff of the summer threshing floor, and carried away with the wind, so that no place is found for them any more, ( Daniel 2:35 ) ;

I did cast them out as the dirt of the streets;
expressing indignation and contempt: in ( 2 Samuel 22:43 ) ; it is, "I did stamp them as the mire of the street, [and] did, spread them abroad"; which also denotes the low and miserable condition to which they were reduced, and the entire conquest made of them, and triumph over them; see ( Isaiah 10:6 ) ( Micah 7:10 ) ; compare with this ( 2 Samuel 12:31 ) .

Psalms 18:42 In-Context

40 You made my enemies turn tail, and I wiped out the haters.
41 They cried "uncle" but Uncle didn't come; They yelled for God and got no for an answer.
42 I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind. I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.
43 You rescued me from a squabbling people; you made me a leader of nations. People I'd never heard of served me;
44 the moment they got wind of me they listened.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.