EXPOSITION
Tins psalm is entitled, "a Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son;" literally, "in his flight from Absalom his son." The historical correctness of the title has been questioned (Hitzig, De Wette), but without any sufficient reason. The Davidical composition is almost universally allowed. If it be asked at what time during the flight the psalm may be supposed to have been written, the best answer would seem to be that of Paulus, "on the eve of the battle which is described in 2 Samuel 18:1-8."
The composition is made up of three parts—a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode, each terminated by the word selah. Some critics, however, make out four parts, by dividing the epode. But the absence of the word selah at the close of 2 Samuel 18:7 is against this.