2 Samuel 22:21-31

21 “The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God.

23 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.

24 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.

25 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness^[a] in his sight.

26 “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

27 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

29 You, LORD, are my lamp; the LORD turns my darkness into light.

30 With your help I can advance against a troop^[b] ; with my God I can scale a wall.

31 “As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.

2 Samuel 22:21-31 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.

Cross References

• 1. S 1 Samuel 26:23
• 2. Psalms 26:6
• 3. Job 17:9; Job 22:30; Job 42:7-8; Psalms 24:4
• 4. Genesis 18:19; Psalms 128:1; Proverbs 8:32
• 5. Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalms 119:30-32
• 6. Psalms 119:102
• 7. S Genesis 6:9; Ephesians 1:4
• 8. ver 21; S 1 Samuel 26:23
• 9. Matthew 5:8
• 10. Leviticus 26:23-24
• 11. S Exodus 3:8; 1 Samuel 2:8-9; Psalms 72:12-13
• 12. Psalms 131:1; Proverbs 30:13; Daniel 4:31; Zephaniah 3:11
• 13. Isaiah 2:12,17; Isaiah 5:15; S Luke 1:51
• 14. Psalms 27:1; Isaiah 2:5; Micah 7:8; Revelation 21:23; Revelation 22:5
• 15. S Deuteronomy 32:4; Matthew 5:48
• 16. Psalms 12:6; Psalms 119:140; Proverbs 30:5-6
• 17. S Genesis 15:1

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew; Septuagint and Vulgate (see also Psalm 18:24) "to the cleanness of my hands"
• [b]. Or "can run through a barricade"