In Psalm 18:5-19, David is describing in a vivid fashion the nature of God's deliverance in a specific circumstance. Most likely, this was rescuing David from Saul, based on the ancient but not inspired title/description at the beginning of the Psalm.
This passage raised a particular issue in my mind. In the Psalms, or poetic sections of the Bible, often we don't let poetic imagery be just imagery. One school of interpretation tends to seek for hidden meaning or symbolism. Another tends to force passages like these into a newspaper-type description of a historical event, or at least wish it were.
So, I think we need to remember that it is possible and legitimate to portray God by means of descriptive language (Psalm 18:7-15) even in the context of a specific historical event: delivering David (Psalm 18:16-19). Even David's explanation of how God rescued him is picturesque ("out of many waters", verse 16) without being literalistic (David was obviously not drowning in water, but overwhelmed by the opposition of his enemies).
To sum up, imagery is a valid and useful aspect of language. We should not seek for hidden references to other parts of the Bible (assuming this passage somehow foretells an event in Revelation, though there are similarities), extract minute details from their context ("the cherub here represents..."), or tone down the imagery to make the section merely into a statement or list of facts ("David called on God who delivered him").
Truth can be portrayed in beautiful phrases as well as concise assertions.
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