In this final section (verses 47-50) the writer praises Yahweh for giving him victory over his enemies. In verse 47 David again brings the series of events to a close and opens a new stage in the discourse through the use of parallelism; that is, the two lines say approximately the same thing. Typical of the praise section in many psalms, verses 47-50 pile on image after image, with little or no intensifying effect in the second line. Verses 47-49a also have third person references rather than the second person pronouns found in the previous section.
The LORD lives is a cry of confidence in Yahweh as a living God who constantly acts on behalf of his people. It is not the same as saying “Long live the LORD!” or as swearing “As the LORD lives,” which occurs so frequently in the books of Samuel (see, for example, 1 Sam 14.39 and 2 Sam 4.9). The LORD lives may be rendered in some languages as “I know God is alive” or “I know God really lives.”
The conjunction and between the first two exclamations in this verse seems out of place and is unnecessary, at least in English. This will probably be the case in most other languages.
Blessed be: this passive has the force of an imperative, “Bless.” Used of God, “to bless” means to praise (see the comments in 18.28; 1 Sam 25.32, 39). In many languages this verb cannot be used with God as its object but only as its subject. It will then be better to translate “praise.”
For rock see the use of the term in verses 3b and 32.
The passive verb phrase exalted be is a way of exhorting the people to “exalt” God, that is, to announce or proclaim his great power and might. So it is better to translate as Good News Translation has done, as an exhortation for others to proclaim God’s greatness, or else, as Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch has done, “I will extol God.” Similarly Contemporary English Version has “I will honor you.” Both Good News Translation and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch provide acceptable though slightly different models.
The noun phrase the rock of my salvation means “the protector [God] who saves me.” Good News Translation has “the strong God who saves me.” The word for salvation here certainly refers to “victory” in battle or “deliverance” from enemies, rather than to the Christian concept of eternal salvation.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .