2 Samuel 22:31-51

31 This God—his way is perfect; the promise of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?
33 The God who has girded me with strength has opened wide my path.
34 He made my feet like the feet of deer, and set me secure on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your help has made me great.
37 You have made me stride freely, and my feet do not slip;
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them, and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I struck them down, so that they did not rise; they fell under my feet.
40 For you girded me with strength for the battle; you made my assailants sink under me.
41 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
42 They looked, but there was no one to save them; they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 I beat them fine like the dust of the earth, I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.
44 You delivered me from strife with the peoples; you kept me as the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me.
45 Foreigners came cringing to me; as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their strongholds.
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
48 the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me,
49 who brought me out from my enemies; you exalted me above my adversaries, you delivered me from the violent.
50 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
51 He is a tower of salvation for his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.

2 Samuel 22:31-51 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO SECOND SAMUEL 22

This chapter contains a song or psalm, the same with the eighteenth psalm, and which, according to Jarchi, was composed by David in his old age, and, as Kimchi says, at the end or close of his days; but Abarbinel is of opinion that it was written in his youthful time, in the midst of his troubles, and was sung by him as often as he had a deliverance from any; and which may account for the several variations in it from the eighteenth psalm, which, the same writer observes, are seventy four; and are not to be ascribed to the difference of copies, or neglect of copiers: and very probably, towards the close of his days, he revised it, and made it fit for general use, and sent it with the rest of his psalms to the chief musician; but the particular consideration of it, and of the differences in it from Ps 18:1-50 are referred to the exposition of that book in its course.

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. Q Ms Gk Syr Vg Compare Ps 18.32: MT [God is my strong refuge]
  • [b]. Meaning of Heb uncertain
  • [c]. Another reading is [his]
  • [d]. Q Ms: MT [your answering]
  • [e]. Gk: Heb [from strife with my people]
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.