2 Samuel 22

David’s Song of Deliverance

1 And David sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. ¹

2 He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.

3 My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.

4 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.

5 For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.

6 The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.

7 In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried out to my God. And from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears.

8 Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens ^[a] trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.

9 Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.

10 He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.

11 He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared ^[b] on the wings of the wind.

12 He made darkness a canopy around Him, a gathering of water and thick clouds.

13 From the brightness of His presence coals of fire ^[c] blazed forth.

14 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

15 He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.

16 The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

17 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.

18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from foes too mighty for me.

19 They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.

20 He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.

21 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.

22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.

23 For all His ordinances are before me; I have not disregarded His statutes.

24 And I have been blameless before Him and kept myself from iniquity.

25 So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight. ^[d]

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 crooked You show Yourself shrewd.

28 You save an afflicted people, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

29 For You, O LORD, are my lamp; the LORD lights up my darkness.

30 For in You I can charge an army; with my God I can scale a wall.

31 As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

32 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?

33 God is my strong fortress, and He makes my way clear.

34 He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.

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

36 You have given me Your shield of salvation, and Your gentleness exalts me. ^[e]

37 You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.

38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.

39 I devoured and crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.

40 You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.

41 You have made my enemies retreat before me; I destroyed those who hated me.

42 They looked, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but He did not answer.

43 I ground them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and trampled them like mud in the streets.

44 You have delivered me from the strife of my people; You have preserved me as the head of nations; a people I had not known shall serve me.

45 Foreigners cower before me; when they hear me, they obey me.

46 Foreigners lose heart and come trembling ^[f] from their strongholds.

47 The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! And may God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted—

48 the God who avenges me and brings down nations beneath me,

49 who frees me from my enemies. You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.

50 Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name. ^[g]

51 Great salvation He brings to His king. He shows loving devotion to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”

2 Samuel 22 Commentary

Chapter 22

David's psalm of thanksgiving.

- This chapter is a psalm of praise; we find it afterwards nearly as ( Psalms 18 ) . They that trust God in the way of duty, shall find him a present help in their greatest dangers: David did so. Remarkable preservations should be particularly mentioned in our praises. We shall never be delivered from all enemies till we ( 2 Timothy. 4:18 ) Those who receive signal mercies from God, ought to give him the glory. In the day that God delivered David, he sang this song. While the mercy is fresh, and we are most affected with it, let the thank-offering be brought, to be kindled with the fire of that affection. All his joys and hopes close, as all our hopes should do, in the great Redeemer.

Cross References

• 1. (Psalms 18:1–50)

Footnotes

• [a] Most Hebrew sources; Vulgate, Syriac, and two Hebrew manuscripts (see also Psalms 18:7) mountains
• [b] Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Psalms 18:10); most Hebrew manuscripts He was seen
• [c] Or bolts of lightning
• [d] Hebrew; LXX and Vulgate (see also Psalms 18:24) according to the cleanness of my hands
• [e] Or and Your help exalts me or and You stoop down to make me great
• [f] Some LXX manuscripts and Vulgate (see also Psalms 18:45); MT and arm themselves
• [g] Cited in Romans 15:9

Chapter Summary

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.