Psalms 18:4

“The sorrows of death compassed me, etc.] These words and the following, in this verse and (<191805>Psalm 18:5), as they respect David, show the snares that were laid for his life, the danger of death he was in, and the anxiety of mind he was possessed of on account of it; and as they refer to Christ, include all the sorrows of his life to the time of his death, who was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief personally, and bore and carried the sorrows and griefs of all his people; and may chiefly intend his sorrows in the garden, arising from a view of the sins of his people, which he was about to bear upon the cross; and from an apprehension of the wrath of God, and curse of the law,…”

“sorrows--literally, "bands as of a net" (Psa 116:3). floods--denotes "multitude."”

“The sorrows of death compassed me - Surrounded me. That is, he was in imminent danger of death, or in the midst of such pangs and sorrows as are supposed commonly to attend on death. He refers probably to some period in his past life - perhaps in the persecutions of Saul - when he was so beset with troubles and difficulties that it seemed to him that he must die. The word rendered “sorrows” - חבל chebel - means, according to Gesenius, “a cord, a rope,” and hence, “a snare, gin, noose;” and the idea here is, according to Gesenius, that he was taken as it were in the snares of death, or in the bands of death. So Psalms 116:3. Our translators, however, and it seems to me more correctly,…”

“Death - Dangerous and deadly troubles. Floods - Their multitude, and strength, and violent assaults, breaking in upon me like a flood. Psalms 18:5”

“sorrows: Psa 116:3; Sa2 22:5, Sa2 22:6; Isa 13:8, Isa 53:3, Isa 53:4; Mat 26:38, Mat 26:39; Mar 14:33, Mar 14:34; Co2 1:9 floods: Psa 22:12, Psa 22:13, Psa 22:16; Jon 2:2-7; Mat 26:47, Mat 26:55, Mat 27:24, Mat 27:25, Mat 27:39-44; Act 21:30 ungodly men: Heb. Belial Psalms 18:5”

“(Heb.: 18:5-7) In these verses David gathers into one collective figure all the fearful dangers to which he had been exposed during his persecution by Saul, together with the marvellous answers and deliverances he experienced, that which is unseen, which stands in the relation to that which is visible of cause and effect, rendering itself visible to him. David here appears as passive throughout; the hand from out of the clouds seizes him and draws him out of mighty waters: while in the second part of the Psalm, in fellowship with God and under His blessing, he comes forward as a free actor. The description begins in Psa 18:5 with the danger and the cry for help which is not in vain. The verb…”