Psalms 18:36You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped.
The setting
Jerusalem, ~1000 BC. David remembers treacherous mountain paths while fleeing Saul, slippery rocks in En Gedi caves, and battlefield terrain where one wrong step meant death in modern-day Israel.
The emotion here: relief mixed with amazement at divine protection
The original word
rachab (רָחַב) — to make wide, spacious; God literally widened David's path
Why it matters
David spent years hiding in wilderness caves with narrow, dangerous passages where armies couldn't follow
Read with care
What most readers miss in Psalms 18:36
This isn't metaphorical - David literally had his feet slip on cliffs and God kept him from falling to his death
Common misconceptionThis sounds like a promise that Christians won't fail, but David is specifically remembering times God kept him from literal death on mountain cliffs - it's about divine intervention in desperate moments.
The thread continues
Verses that echo Psalms 18:36
Bible Genome reading
Psalms 18:36 — Bible Genome reading
Emotional genome
Psalms 18:36 comes from the book of Psalms, written during the United Kingdom period. These words are attributed to David. The dominant emotion in this verse is grateful, with a comfort power of 80% and a tone that is reverent. It belongs to the psalm genre of biblical literature. Key themes include divine guidance, stability. Notable phrases: enlarged my steps; My feet have not slipped. This verse is a prayer.
Emotionally similar
Verses that meet the same grateful
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
— John 3:16
“I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.”
— 2 Timothy 4:7
“It will be, that whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”
— Acts 2:21
“for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”
— Ephesians 2:8
“So now it wasn't you who sent me here, but God, and he has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of all his house, and ruler over all the land o…”
— Genesis 45:8
Your reflection
What does Psalms 18:36 mean to you, today?
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