2 Samuel 22:31-51

31 God-His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is pure.^[a] He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

32 For who is God besides the Lord? And who is a rock? Only our God.

33 God is my strong refuge;^[b] He makes my way perfect.^[c]

34 He makes my feet like [the feet of] a deer and sets me securely on the^[d] heights.^[e]

35 He trains my hands for war; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36 You have given me the shield of Your salvation;^[f] Your help^[g] exalts me.

37 You widen [a place] beneath me for my steps, and my ankles do not give way.

38 I pursue my enemies and destroy them; I do not turn back until they are wiped out.

39 I wipe them out and crush them, and they do not rise; they fall beneath my feet.

40 You have clothed me with strength for battle; You subdue my adversaries beneath me.^[h]

41 You have made my enemies retreat before me;^[i] I annihilate those who hated me.

42 They look, but there is no one to save [them]- [they look] to the Lord, but He does not answer them.

43 I pulverize them like dust of the earth; I crush them and trample them like mud in the streets.

44 You have freed me from the feuds among my people;^[j] You have appointed me the head of nations; a people I had not known serve me.^[k]

45 Foreigners submit to me grudgingly; as soon as they hear, they obey me.

46 Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their fortifications.

47 The Lord lives-may my rock be praised! God, the rock of my salvation, is exalted.

48 God-He gives me vengeance and casts down peoples under me.

49 He frees me from my enemies. You exalt me above my adversaries; You rescue me from violent men.

50 Therefore I will praise You, Lord, among the nations; I will sing about Your name.

51 He is a tower of salvation for^[l] His king; He shows loyalty to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.^[m]

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

• [a]. Ps 119:140
• [b]. DSS, some LXX mss, Syr, Vg read God clothes me with strength; Ps 18:32
• [c]. Some LXX mss, Syr; MT reads He sets free the blameless His way; Hb obscure
• [d]. LXX; some Hb mss read my; other Hb mss read His
• [e]. Or on my high places
• [f]. Eph 6:16-17
• [g]. LXX reads humility; Ps 18:35
• [h]. Ps 44:5
• [i]. Lit You gave me the neck of my enemies
• [j]. 2 Sm 2:8-10; 15:1-6; 16:5-8; 20:1-2
• [k]. 2 Sm 8:1-14; Isa 55:5
• [l]. DSS read He gives great victory to
• [m]. 2 Sm 7:12-16