Psalms 18:12

12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

Psalms 18:12 in Other Translations

12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

12 Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

12 Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him and rained down hail and burning coals.

12 But his cloud-brightness bursts through, spraying hailstones and fireballs.

12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, Hailstones and coals of fire.

12 Out of the brightness in front of him, those rain clouds passed by with hailstones and lightning.

12 From the radiance of His presence, His clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.

12 Clouds came out of the brightness that was all around him. They came with hailstones and flashes of lightning.

Psalms 18:12 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 18:12

At the brightness [that was] before him,
The lightning that came out of the thick clouds; which may denote, either the coming of Christ to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, which was swift and sudden, clear and manifest; or the spreading of the Gospel in the Gentile world, in which Christ, the brightness of his Father's glory, appeared to the illumination of many; see ( Matthew 24:27 ) ; and both may be intended, as the effects following show;

his thick clouds passed;
that is, passed away; the gross darkness, which had for so many years covered the Gentile world, was removed when God sent forth his light and truth; and multitudes, who were darkness itself, were made light in the Lord;

hail [stones] and coals of fire;
the same Gospel that was enlightening to the Gentiles, and the savour of life unto life unto them, was grievous, like hail stones, and tormenting, scorching, irritating, and provoking, like coals of fire, and the savour of death unto death, to the Jews; when God provoked them, by sending the Gospel among the Gentiles, and calling them: or these may design the heavy, awful, and consuming judgments of God upon them, which are sometimes signified by hail storms; see ( Revelation 8:7 ) ( 16:11 ) . In ( 2 Samuel 22:13 ) , it is only, "through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled".

Psalms 18:12 In-Context

10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 104:2
• 2. S Joshua 10:11
• 3. S Job 36:30; Psalms 97:3