2 Samuel 22:1-20

Gratitude for Deliverance in the Past

v. 1. And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song, which is simply another version of Psalms 18, from which it is distinguished only by slight deviations, in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul.

v. 2. And he said, The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress, in whom he may confidently trust, and my Deliverer;

v. 3. the God of my rock, Deuteronomy 32:4, with reference to His unchangeable faithfulness; in Him will I trust. He is my Shield, covering him against the attacks of his enemies, and: the Horn of my salvation, yielding help and strength in overcoming the enemies, my high Tower, the inaccessible and safe stronghold, and my Refuge, my Savior; Thou savest me from violence. This is said of God by way of a general introduction.

v. 4. I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, or, upon Him whom I praised, who is the Praised One, I will call; so shall I be saved from mine enemies. The application is now made to David's own case.

v. 5. When the waves of death compassed me, they came upon him from all sides like breakers on the shore of the ocean, the floods of ungodly men, the streams of destruction, made me afraid.

v. 6. The sorrows of hell compassed me about, like sudden pangs of pain, or like ropes which threatened to throttle him; the snares of death prevented me, fell on him in a treacherous attack, especially during the persecutions of Saul.

v. 7. In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God; and he did hear my voice out of His temple, out of the palace of His heavenly dwelling, and my cry did enter into His ears. The Lord's deliverance is next pictured.

v. 8. Then the earth shook and trembled, quaking to its very center; the foundations of heaven moved and shook because He was wroth, as when a terrible storm, with an accompanying earthquake, sweeps over the earth, sent by the wrath of His indignation.

v. 9. There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, the snorting being a sign of His anger, and fire out of His mouth devoured, like a fire ready to consume everything that comes into its path; coals were kindled by it, glowing coals burned out of Him. The picture is that of the rising of a storm-cloud and the flaming of the sheet-lightning which announces the storm.

v. 10. He bowed the heavens also, for the lowering storm-clouds seem to draw the heaven down to the earth, and came down; and darkness was under His feet, a symbol of the terror struck by God's wrath, as He hides His face in darkness.

v. 11. And He rode upon a cherub, as a bearer of the divine majesty and glory, and did fly; and He was seen upon the wings of the wind, as the bearers of the appearance of His glory.

v. 12. And he made darkness pavilions round about Him, like the tabernacles in which He made His habitation, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies, they served as the booths in which He was hidden.

v. 13. Through the brightness before Him were coals of fire kindled, glowing forth from the intense gloom like live coals.

v. 14. The Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered His voice, God's wrathful judgment, as that of the all-powerful, unapproachable Judge, burst forth upon the enemies.

v. 15. And he sent out arrows and scattered them, shafts of lightning, like a warrior armed with bow and arrow; lightning, and discomfited them, all this tending toward the complete destruction of the enemy.

v. 16. And the channels of these a appeared, the very beds of the ocean becoming visible, the foundations of the world were discovered, laid bare by the terrible storm and the earthquake, at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils, at the noise of His angry crashes of thunder.

v. 17. He sent from above, He took me, stretching out His hand from heaven to the very abyss, in order to save the drowning man; he drew me out of many waters.

v. 18. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me, Saul being thought of as the principal one; for they were too strong for me, they were able to overpower him without the help of God.

v. 19. They prevented me in the day of my calamity, falling upon him in a sudden attack; but the Lord was my Stay.

v. 20. He brought me forth also into a large place, setting him free from all narrowness and straits, procuring for him a condition of freedom; He delivered me because He delighted in me, loving him because of his integrity which flowed from his faith in the God of his salvation. In a similar manner every believer praises his God, who was so often his Help and his Stay, delivering him in the midst of danger, distress, and death.