2 Samuel 22

David's Psalm of Deliverance

1 ¹And David spoke ²the words of this song to the LORD in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

2 He said, "³The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

3 ⁴My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My ⁵shield and ⁶the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and ⁷my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence.

4 "I call upon the LORD, ⁸who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

5 "For ⁹the waves of death encompassed me; ¹⁰The torrents of destruction overwhelmed me;

6 ¹¹The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

7 "¹²In my distress I called upon the LORD, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears.

8 "Then ¹³the earth shook and quaked, ¹⁴The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

9 "Smoke went up out of His nostrils, ¹⁵Fire from His mouth devoured; ¹⁶Coals were kindled by it.

10 "He bowed the heavens also, and came down With ¹⁷thick darkness under His feet.

11 "¹⁸And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He appeared on ¹⁹the wings of the wind.

12 "²⁰And He made darkness canopies around Him, A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.

13 "From the brightness before Him ²¹Coals of fire were kindled.

14 "²²The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.

15 "²³And He sent out arrows, and scattered them, Lightning, and routed them.

16 "Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare By the rebuke of the LORD, ²⁴At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

17 "²⁵He sent from on high, He took me; ²⁶He drew me out of many waters.

18 "He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

19 "They confronted me in the day of my calamity, ²⁷But the LORD was my support.

20 "²⁸He also brought me forth into a broad place; He rescued me, ²⁹because He delighted in me.

21 "³⁰The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; ³¹According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

22 "³²For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not acted wickedly against my God.

23 "³³For all His ordinances were before me, And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.

24 "³⁴I was also blameless toward Him, And I kept myself from my iniquity.

25 "³⁵Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes.

26 "³⁶With the kind You show Yourself kind, With the blameless You show Yourself blameless;

27 ³⁷With the pure You show Yourself pure, ³⁸And with the perverted You show Yourself astute.

28 "³⁹And You save an afflicted people; ⁴⁰But Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase.

29 "⁴¹For You are my lamp, O LORD; And the LORD illumines my darkness.

30 "⁴²For by You I can run upon a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.

31 "⁴³As for God, His way is blameless; ⁴⁴The word of the LORD is tested; ⁴⁵He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

32 "⁴⁶For who is God, besides the LORD? ⁴⁷And who is a rock, besides our God?

33 "⁴⁸God is my strong fortress; And He sets the blameless in His way.

34 "⁴⁹He makes my feet like hinds' feet, ⁵⁰And sets me on my high places.

35 "⁵¹He trains my hands for battle, ⁵²So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36 "You have also given me ⁵³the shield of Your salvation, And Your help makes me great.

37 "⁵⁴You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.

38 "I pursued my enemies and ⁵⁵destroyed them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

39 "And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise; And ⁵⁶they fell under my feet.

40 "For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me ⁵⁷those who rose up against me.

41 "You have also ⁵⁸made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.

42 "⁵⁹They looked, but there was none to save; ⁶⁰Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them.

43 "⁶¹Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth; ⁶²I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.

44 "⁶³You have also delivered me from the contentions of my people; ⁶⁴You have kept me as head of the nations; ⁶⁵A people whom I have not known serve me.

45 "⁶⁶Foreigners * pretend obedience to me; As soon as they hear *, they obey me.

46 "Foreigners * lose heart, ⁶⁷And come trembling out of their fortresses.

47 "The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be ⁶⁸God, the rock of my salvation,

48 ⁶⁹The God who executes vengeance for me, ⁷⁰And brings down peoples under me,

49 Who also brings me out from my enemies; You even lift me above ⁷¹those who rise up against me; ⁷²You rescue me from the violent man.

50 "⁷³Therefore * I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the nations, And I will sing praises to Your name.

51 "⁷⁴He is a tower of deliverance to His king, And ⁷⁵shows lovingkindness to His anointed, ⁷⁶To 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 18:2-50
• 2. Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:30
• 3. 1 Samuel 23:25; 1 Samuel 24:2; Psalms 31:3; Psalms 71:3
• 4. Deuteronomy 32:4, 37; 1 Samuel 2:2
• 5. Genesis 15:1; Deuteronomy 33:29
• 6. Luke 1:69
• 7. Psalms 9:9
• 8. Psalms 48:1; Psalms 96:4
• 9. Psalms 93:4; Jonah 2:3
• 10. Psalms 69:14, 15
• 11. Psalms 116:3
• 12. Psalms 116:4; Psalms 120:1
• 13. Judges 5:4; Psalms 97:4
• 14. Job 26:11
• 15. Psalms 97:3; Hebrews 12:29
• 16. 2 Samuel 22:13
• 17. Exodus 19:16; 1 Kings 8:12; Psalms 97:2; Nahum 1:3
• 18. 2 Samuel 6:2
• 19. Psalms 104:3
• 20. Job 36:29
• 21. 2 Samuel 22:9
• 22. Job 37:2-5; Psalms 29:3
• 23. Deuteronomy 32:23; Joshua 10:10; 1 Samuel 7:10
• 24. Exodus 15:8; Nahum 1:4
• 25. Psalms 144:7
• 26. Exodus 2:10
• 27. Psalms 23:4
• 28. Psalms 31:8; Psalms 118:5
• 29. 2 Samuel 15:26
• 30. 1 Samuel 26:23; 1 Kings 8:32
• 31. Psalms 24:4
• 32. Genesis 18:19; Psalms 128:1; Proverbs 8:32
• 33. Deuteronomy 6:6-9; Psalms 119:30, 102
• 34. Genesis 6:9; Genesis 7:1; Ephesians 1:4; Colossians 1:21, 22
• 35. 2 Samuel 22:21
• 36. Matthew 5:7
• 37. Matthew 5:8; 1 John 3:3
• 38. Leviticus 26:23, 24; Romans 1:28
• 39. Exodus 3:7, 8; Psalms 72:12, 13
• 40. Is 2:11, 12, 17; Isaiah 5:15
• 41. 2 Samuel 21:17; 1 Kings 11:36; Psalms 27:1
• 42. 2 Samuel 5:6-8
• 43. Deuteronomy 32:4; Matthew 5:48
• 44. Psalms 12:6; Psalms 119:140; Proverbs 30:5
• 45. 2 Samuel 22:3; Psalms 84:9
• 46. 1 Samuel 2:2
• 47. 2 Samuel 22:2
• 48. 2 Samuel 22:2; Psalms 31:3, 4
• 49. 2 Samuel 2:18; Habakkuk 3:19
• 50. Deuteronomy 32:13
• 51. Psalms 144:1
• 52. Job 20:24
• 53. Ephesians 6:16, 17
• 54. 2 Samuel 22:20; Proverbs 4:12
• 55. Exodus 15:9
• 56. Malachi 4:3
• 57. Psalms 44:5
• 58. Exodus 23:27; Joshua 10:24
• 59. Isaiah 17:7, 8
• 60. 1 Samuel 28:6; Isaiah 1:15
• 61. 2 Kings 13:7
• 62. Isaiah 10:6; Micah 7:10
• 63. 2 Samuel 3:1; 2 Samuel 19:9, 14
• 64. 2 Samuel 8:1-14
• 65. Isaiah 55:5
• 66. Psalms 66:3; Psalms 81:15
• 67. 1 Samuel 14:11; Micah 7:17
• 68. 2 Samuel 22:3; Psalms 89:26
• 69. 1 Samuel 24:12; 1 Samuel 25:39; 2 Samuel 4:8; Psalms 94:1
• 70. Psalms 144:2
• 71. Psalms 44:5
• 72. Ps 140:1, 4, 11
• 73. Romans 15:9
• 74. Psalms 144:10
• 75. Psalms 89:24
• 76. 2 Samuel 7:12-16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "palm"
• [b]. Lit "palm"
• [c]. Lit "crag"
• [d]. Lit "God of my rock"
• [e]. Heb "Belial"
• [f]. Or "terrified"
• [g]. I.e. the nether world
• [h]. Or "called"
• [i]. Or "in His wrath"
• [j]. Many mss read "sped"
• [k]. Or "pavilions"
• [l]. Lit "confused"
• [m]. Or "uncovered"
• [n]. Lit "it"
• [o]. Lit "complete;" or "having integrity"
• [p]. Or "loyal"
• [q]. Or "loyal"
• [r]. Lit "complete;" or "having integrity"
• [s]. Lit "complete;" or "having integrity"
• [t]. Lit "twisted"
• [u]. Or "crush a troop"
• [v]. Lit "complete;" or "having integrity"
• [w]. Or "sets free"
• [x]. Lit "complete;" or "having integrity"
• [y]. Another reading is "my"
• [z]. Another reading is "His"
• [aa]. Lit "answering"
• [ab]. Lit "ankles"
• [ac]. Lit "caused to bow down"
• [ad]. Or "silenced"
• [ae]. Lit "languish"
• [af]. Lit "gird themselves"
• [ag]. Lit "fastnesses"
• [ah]. Lit "the God of the rock"
• [ai]. I.e. victories; lit "salvation"
• [aj]. Lit "seed"

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.