The song celebrates King David's achievements as God's marvellous works, which is very similar to Psalm 18, with only minor differences, attributed to possible scribal errors or to the transmission process. According to Charles and Emilie Briggs in the InternationalCritical Commentary series, Psalm 18 borrowed material from 2 Samuel 22, which may have been written by David himself, with later additions in the psalm by multiple editors adapting it for use in public worship. The Pulpit Commentary suggests that "the introduction – David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul – "was probably written by the prophet who compiled the Books of Samuel. The scribe who collected the Book of Psalms would be a priest, and he has repeated it with one or two additions". It is generally recognized that the language of the poem is archaic, with earlier attempts to date it to the Macabean period 'have been abandoned in favor of the tenth century BCE'. The analysis finds two ancient poems from the monarchical period: verse 2–20 and, which were linked with the addition of verses 21–28, verse 1 and verse 51a. The combined songs celebrates two aspects in the life of David: the deliverance from his enemies and his military conquests.
Verse 1
This verse contains the song title which generally relates to the protection of David from Saul and his enemies, not focusing on any particular event.
Verses 2–20
The prominent theme of first poem, comprising verses 2–20, is the rescue of David from his enemies, with the help of God, in the imagery of a rock as a place of refuge, and as a theophany that God responded to his cry of help when he was in distress at the hands of the enemies.
Verses 21–28
The transitional verses 21–28 contain traces of Deuteronomistic language, the most obvious clichés being: 'the ways of the LORD', 'judgements and statutes'. proclaim David's innocence, pointing "to the earlier years of David’s reign rather than the later, overclouded as these were by the fatal consequences of his sin", with its fateful consequences which hung over David for the remainder of his life. Kirkpatrick associates this song with the period of peace described in, but after the visit of Nathan when he proclaims God's covenant with David "and his descendants for ever". assert again the theme of 'Yahweh's help to the blameless and pure' in a fourfold statement, which 'have been described as an ancient quatrain'
Verses 29–51
The second poetic section focuses more on 'David's victories over his enemies', so this part has been called a 'royal victory song'. The mention of David and his descendants only in the last phrase of the song is a 'feature paralleled in other victory songs', so it is to be regarded not as an addition, but as original.
