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2 Samuel
22
[22:1]
And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had
delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:
David, the O.T. king
of Israel, knew the source of his deliverance from both unknown, unseen enemies, and
individual enemies (Saul). To God David wrote
a song of gratitude in the day that he was delivered. For all who trust in God there IS a
day of deliverance.
[ 2] And he said, The LORD is my
rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
David begins his song
to Jehovah (“LORD”) by reminding himself just who God is and why He is able to
deliver.
The LORD-Jehovah is:
My (individual, personal) rock (“a crag, a
cliff, a secure stronghold”). God is the
only place of safety and security.
My (individual, personal) fortress (“a strong
place, a strong hold, a defense”). To be
“shut up” in God is to be in a “strong place” against your enemies. God alone is our defender.
My (individual, personal) deliverer (“to cause
to escape and to bring to safety, security”). It
is God who makes a way of escape, and that way leads to the safe harbor of God Himself.
The LORD is first a
stronghold, then a defense, and then a deliver.
[3]
The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my
high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; Thou savest me from violence.
David now speaks of
the God (Elohim: triune God) of his Rock (Jehovah, v2).
In the N. T. the word
Rock is ascribed to Jesus Christ who is the O.T.
Jehovah (“Lord”). David trusts
(“to seek refuge, flee for protection; confide or hope in”) in the fulness of
the Trinity to be his:
My (individual, personal) shield (for protection
from attacks)
My (individual, personal) horn (container or
touchstone) of my salvation (“deliverance”)
My (individual, personal) high tower (“secure
height, retreat”)
My (individual, personal) refuge (“place of
escape”)
My (individual, personal) saviour (“one who
saves, delivers”)
God is a place of
protection, a container of deliverance, a secure retreat, a place of escape, and One who
is willing and able to save/deliver. Thus
David can state that God has saved him from violence (“wrong, cruelty,
injustice”).
[4]
I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine
enemies.
David knew that
though deliverance was available, he had to determine (“I will”) to avail
himself of it by calling on (“cry out to”) Jehovah/Jesus,
for the LORD is both worthy to be praised and worthy to be trusted. Because of who God is,
and because of your cry to Him, you can be saved/delivered.
[5]
When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;
Fear is the common
lot of humanity. When our eyes are off God and
on our circumstances we become afraid (“overtaken by sudden terror”). There is the:
Fear of being overcome by the waves of death
(“breaking sea of separation, both from this world, and from God”). Death is not an end, but an eternal beginning,
either in the presence of God or in the place of torment.
Fear of the floods (“torrent of water”) of
ungodly men (those who reject God’s standards of right and wrong, who break
God’s laws), and the wicked results of their ungodliness.
[6]
The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
From fear, David
moves to immobility as the “cords of Sheol, the place of the dead,
encircled/surrounded” and seemed to hold him fast.
The “trap” of death (“separation”) confronted
(“prevented”) him at every turn.
[7]
In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and He did hear my voice out
of His temple, and my cry did enter into His ears.
But David, in his
distress (“tight straits”) knew where to turn.
He called, he cried to his (individual, personal) God. This God, not of nations but of individuals, and
despite being in His temple (“heavenly palace”) heard David’s voice and the
cry of that voice entered into His consciousness. God
hears the cry of His children and David knew it.
[8] Then the earth
shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
[9] There went up a
smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
[10] He bowed the
heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. [11] And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he
was seen upon the wings of the wind. [12] And
he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. [13] Through the brightness before him were coals
of fire kindled. [14] The LORD thundered from
heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. [15]
And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. [16] And the channels of the sea appeared, the
foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the
breath of his nostrils.
[17]
He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters;
But God is not just a
God who hears, but a God who responds. Here
God is pictured as residing in Heaven, yet to God distance has no meaning. From where He was, God took (“lay hold of,
seized, taken/brought unto”) David, and drew him out of many waters (“danger,
violence”). Only God, who seems so far,
can deliver you from circumstances that seem so close.
[18]
He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too
strong for me.
David knew his foe,
and his own abilities. Those who were too
strong for David, David knew were weak before God. Your
enemies may be strong (“mighty, fierce”), and they may hate all you stand for,
but God will deliver you. It is not the enemy
that should command our attention, but the God who delivers.
[19]
They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
David does not deny
that you will suffer distress, burdens, and disasters (“calamities”). David does not deny that your enemies will use
these times to confront and challenge you (“prevent”). But David had more faith in deliverance than
destruction. The LORD was his stay
(“shepherd’s staff, support”). Who
do you have to trust in the day of your calamity?
[20]
He brought me forth also into a large place: He delivered me, because He delighted in me.
The LORD not only
took David, delivered David, and was David’s support, but brought David from his
tight straits to a large place (“broad, wide, roomy place”). God’s abundance always extends beyond
man’s expectations. Notice that
God’s deliverance of David is based on God’s delight (“take pleasure in, be
pleased with”) in David. The Bible says that David, though a sinner, was a man after
God’s own heart.
[21]
The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands
hath he recompensed me.
The Lord's
blessings fall on the just and the unjust, yet God’s rewards are reserved for the
obedient. David knew that God rewarded
(“to deal fully with, to repay”) and recompensed (“to bring back, to
restore”) him:
According to my (individual, personal) righteousness
(“right acting, right thinking, according to God’s standard”).
According to my (individual, personal) cleanness
(“purity”) of hands (activities).
Have you measured
your thinking, your actions, and the purity of your activities against God’s standard
lately?
[22]
For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
David’s
confidence rested in keeping (“guard, observe, give heed”) the ways (“the
paths, manner of life”) required by the LORD, and not wickedly departing from my
(individual, personal) God. He was assured
that his testimony was in harmony with God’s requirements.
[23]
For all His judgments were before me: and as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.
David could be sure
because God’s judgments (“righteous decisions”) were available to him
(O.T.), therefore David could be assured of not departing (“turn aside”) from
God’s statutes (“ordinances, laws”). Like
David, we have the Book of Law and Grace to be our guide.
[24]
I was also upright before Him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.
The advantage of
living by God’s laws? David could know
that he was upright (“complete, whole, entire”) before God. Therefore he was able to kept himself from
his own
(individual, personal) iniquity (“consequence or punishment for sin”). David understood that the requirements were
God’s, but the sin is ours.
[25]
Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my
cleanness in His eye sight.
It is always the LORD
who restores or brings back (“recompenses”), but it was according to
David’s right acting/thinking and purity in God’s presence (“eye
sight”). Positionally we are made
righteous when we put our faith and trust in Christ, but practically we are righteous
according to our obedience to God’s laws.
[26]
With the merciful Thou wilt shew Thyself merciful, and with the upright man Thou wilt shew
Thyself upright.
[ 27]
With the pure Thou wilt shew Thyself pure; and with the froward Thou wilt shew thyself
unsavoury.
God’s mercy
(“acts of grace”) is shown to those who are merciful (“full of
mercy”). God’s uprightness (“to
deal in integrity”) is shown to those who walk in integrity. God’s purity (“clean, bright,
selective”) is revealed to those who are pure. Here is the challenge of the Christian
life, to walk in mercy, integrity, and purity.
Yet for those who are
froward (“twisted, distorted, crooked, perverse”), God will show Himself to be
unsavoury (“twisted”; i.e., different from what was expected). God always deals with men according to their
relationship to Jesus Christ, which marks their behavior.
[28]
And the afflicted people Thou wilt save: but Thine eyes are upon the haughty, that Thou
mayest bring them down.
David knew that God
was not a respecter of persons. There are
those, the afflicted (“poor, humble, needy”) that God will save
(“deliver”), not because of their affliction, but because of their heart
attitude. God also sees those that are haughty
(“to exhalt, magnify oneself”). These
God will bring down (“to lay low, humiliate, humble”). It is all a matter of the heart.
[29] For
Thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.
David knows who the
LORD is and what the LORD can do. Man uses
many methods to lighten the darkness, but David considered the LORD as his lamp, for the
darkness (“obscurity”) dispelled by God’s light reveals all the secret
places, leaving evil no place to hide.
[30]
For by Thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
David recognized that
it was by the power of his God that he could triumph.
No obstacle could stand in his way, whether an army troop, a
marauding band,
or a high wall. Where God lead, no earthly
obstruction would hinder him.
[31]
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: He is a buckler to all them
that trust in Him.
David now turns
from what God means to him, to direct statements of truth concerning the LORD. “As for God,” in contrast to men:
His way (“course of life”) is perfect
(“complete, whole, entire, sound, healthful”).
Man’s way is just the opposite. God’s
course leads to life, man’s path leads to death.
His word (“His words as revealed in His written
revelation, the Bible”) is tried (“refined, tested, proved”). God is not a man that He should lie, and this is
borne out by the fact that His Word is time-tested and proven to all who will follow it.
His protection (buckler = “shield”)
extends to all who will trust in (“confide in, hope in”) Him.
There IS a perfect
way, based on a tested Word, for those who trust in Him.
[32]
For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?
David asks the
eternal question, “Who is God?” For
David the question is not, “Is there a God?”, or “Which God shall I
choose?”, but only, “Who is God?”
The answer is,
“Who is the triune God, save Jehovah?” Here
we have the revelation of God as a Trinity, and as the self existent, ever present
Jehovah.
David then asks the
personal question, “Who is a rock (“cliff, strong boulder”), save our
God?” Just as there is only one God,
there is only one place of protection and safety.
[33]
God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
Because God is both
LORD and Rock, David trusted in God without limitation.
God was his (personal and individual) strength (“protection, refuge,
stronghold”). So David had all he needed
for life’s journey.
God made (“let
loose, be free”) David’s way (“course of life”) perfect
(“completed, whole, sound”), so David had the direction he needed for
life’s journey. David had a choice,
God’s way or man’s way. David chose
God’s way!
[34]
He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places. [35] He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of
steel is broken by mine arms. [36] Thou hast
also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. [37] Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that
my feet did not slip. [38] I have pursued mine
enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. [39] And I have consumed them, and wounded them,
that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. [40] For thou hast girded me with strength to
battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. [41] Thou hast also given me the necks of mine
enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. [42]
They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not. [43] Then did I beat them as small as the dust of
the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad. [44] Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings
of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall
serve me. [45] Strangers shall submit
themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. [46] Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be
afraid out of their close places.
[47]
The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my
salvation.
God is not a cold,
dead idol fashioned by men’s hands, but David knew by personal experience that the
LORD liveth (“is living, alive”)! David
could do no less than bless (“praise, adore, cause to kneel”) this One who was
his (personal, individual) high, strong place (“rock”).
Blessed because of
who God is, but exalted (“lift up, raise, extol”) for what God did (salvation =
“deliverance”). Here we see the
Trinity (“God”), Jesus Christ (“the Rock”), and your deliverance from
the penalty of sin (“salvation”).
To know that God
lives is one thing, but to experience the salvation freely offered in Jesus Christ is
quite another. David knew in whom he had
believed!
[48] It is God that
avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me,
[49] And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me
up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent
man.
[50]
Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises
unto thy name.
Gratitude is an
attitude toward God. Because of all God is,
and all God had done for David, he did not neglect his responsibilities:
First, to give thanks (“to laud, praise,
confess”) unto the LORD.
Second, to give those thanks publicly among
(“in the midst of”) the heathen (“peoples, nations” that know not
God).
Third, to publicly and privately sing praises
(“sing, make music”) unto God’s Name (“the representation of all that
He is, therefore the totality of His being and attributes”).
This was David’s
song (v1). David knew that there was only One
God, and that One God, revealed in Jesus Christ, is the only One able to save, and worthy
to be praised. Is David’s God your God?
[51]
He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David,
and to his seed for evermore. 2 Samuel 22:1-51
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