Day 166 – 2 Samuel 22:1-20
Scripture Review
2 Samuel 22:1-20
"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:"
(2 Samuel 22:1)
David is speaking unto God. His song is worship. The verse points back over years of trouble. Saul is mentioned separately because Saul's hatred was one of the deepest and longest trials of David's life. He had been delivered or rescued by the LORD.
"And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;"
(2 Samuel 22:2)
David begins with who God is. He says, "The LORD is my rock." He knew literal rocks in the wilderness. He had hidden in caves and strong places while Saul hunted him. But he knew the LORD was the greater Rock beneath every refuge.
"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."
(2 Samuel 22:3)
David continues piling up names for God because one description is not enough. He says, "in him will I trust." Trust means to lean on, rely on, and take refuge in. God is his shield, meaning his defense in battle. He is the horn of my salvation. In Scripture, a horn often pictures strength, power, and victory. David is saying the power of his salvation is in God. God is his high tower, a place lifted above danger. He is his refuge, a place of shelter. He is his saviour, the One who saves. Then David says, "thou savest me from violence." Violence had followed David many times, from Saul's spear to battlefield enemies to family rebellion.
"I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."
(2 Samuel 22:4)
David says, "I will call on the LORD." Calling on the LORD means praying, crying out, seeking help, and depending on Him. But David also says the LORD is "worthy to be praised." This means God deserves worship before the answer comes and after the answer comes. David's prayer and praise belong together. Then he says, "so shall I be saved from mine enemies." David had learned a holy pattern of call on God, praise God, and trust God for deliverance.
"When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;"
(2 Samuel 22:5)
David felt like death was rolling over him like waves. He admits wicked, lawless God rejecting men made him afraid.
"The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;"
(2 Samuel 22:6)
David says the "sorrows of hell" surrounded him. Here, hell has the idea of the grave or the realm of death. Sorrows can carry the idea of cords, pains, or distress. David felt death tightening around him. The "snares of death" are traps. A snare was used to catch an animal. He is saying death's traps met him in the road.
"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."
(2 Samuel 22:7)
God heard his voice out of His temple. This points to God's holy dwelling, His heavenly throne. David's cry entered into God's ears.
"Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth."
(2 Samuel 22:8)
God was "wroth." Wroth means angry. This is not selfish anger like man's anger. This is holy wrath against evil and against those who rise against God's servant and God's purpose. David describes God's response as the earth shakes and trembles. The foundations of heaven move.
"There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it."
(2 Samuel 22:9)
David uses fierce imagery of smoke, fire, and burning coals as a picture of God's wrath and power. He wants us to feel the heat of divine intervention.
"He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet."
(2 Samuel 22:10)
To bow the heavens means God bent them low, as if the distance between heaven and earth gave way before Him. Darkness was under His feet. God is not being controlled by the darkness. He stands over it.
"And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind."
(2 Samuel 22:11)
A cherub is a heavenly being usually associated with God's presence, glory, and throne. David pictures the LORD riding upon a cherub and flying on the wings of the wind. The "wings of the wind" show speed and power. The wind cannot be seen directly, but its effects are undeniable. So it is with God's deliverance. Sometimes we cannot see all He is doing, but we see what His hand accomplishes.
"And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies."
(2 Samuel 22:12)
A pavilion is a tent, covering, or dwelling place. David says God made darkness His pavilions. Dark waters and thick clouds surround Him. This is both mystery and majesty. God reveals Himself, yet He is still beyond man's full understanding. His presence is near, but not common. He comes to save, but He remains holy.
"Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled."
(2 Samuel 22:13)
God is never trapped in darkness. Even when He surrounds Himself with thick clouds, brightness is before Him. Out of the darkness comes brightness, and from the brightness coals of fire are kindled.
"The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice."
(2 Samuel 22:14)
The "most High" is a title for God that emphasizes His supreme rule over all. No enemy, king, army, or trouble stands above Him. When God speaks, creation trembles and enemies scatter.
"And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them."
(2 Samuel 22:15)
God's arrows are pictured as lightning. He sends them out and scatters the enemies.
The word "discomfited" means confused, troubled, routed, or thrown into disorder. God knows how to break the strength of an enemy by throwing him into confusion. David had seen this in battle and in providence. Many times the enemy's plans did not work because God disturbed them.
"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."
(2 Samuel 22:16)
David describes God's rebuke as so powerful that the deep paths of the sea appear and the foundations of the world are uncovered. And the blast of His breath pictures overwhelming power.
"He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;"
(2 Samuel 22:17)
After all the thunder, fire, clouds, and shaking, the song becomes personal again. God "sent from above." He reached down from heaven. David says, "he took me." God laid hold of David. Then David says God "drew me out of many waters." Many waters picture overwhelming trouble, deep danger, and circumstances too strong for him. David was drowning, but God pulled him out.
"He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me."
(2 Samuel 22:18)
David admits his enemies were strong. He says they were "too strong for me." He does not pretend he won because he was stronger. He praises God because the enemy was stronger than him, but not stronger than the LORD. This is one of the greatest comforts in scripture. God does not only help us when we are strong enough to almost make it. He delivers when the enemy is too strong for us.
"They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay."
(2 Samuel 22:19)
The enemies came before David and confronted him in his days of disaster, trouble, and ruin. But he says, "the LORD was my stay," his support. When everything else pressed against David, God upheld him.
"He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me."
(2 Samuel 22:20)
David says God brought him into a place of freedom, relief, and safety. It is the opposite of distress, which is a tight and pressured place. God did not leave David trapped. He brought him out. Then he says, "he delivered me, because he delighted in me." God to take pleasure in, value, or favored David. This is not David boasting that he deserved deliverance. He is marveling that the LORD set His love and favor upon him. That is grace. The LORD did not merely tolerate David. He delighted in him.
This challenges me to remember deliverances in my own life. I should not move on from God's mercy without praise. If the LORD has been my Rock in trouble, my Fortress in danger, my Shield in battle, and my Saviour from violence, then my life should speak a song back to Him.
What song comes to mind as you read?
"A shelter in the time of storm!"