This is David's great song of praise. It is basically a duplicate of Psalm 18.

1. 2 SAMUEL 22 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
David's Song of Praise
1 David sang to the LORD the words of this song
when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all
his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
BARNES, "The son of Bichri ... - Rather, “a Bichrite,” formed like the names
“Ahohite,” “Hachmonite,” etc. 2Sa_23:8-9, and so called from Becher, the son of
Benjamin Gen_46:21; 1Ch_7:6-8 Saul was also of this family. It is evident that the
transfer of the royalty from their tribe to that of Judah still rankled in the hearts of
many Benjamites (2Sa_16:8 note).
CLARKE, "Sheba, the son of Bichri - As this man was a Benjamite, he
probably belonged to the family of Saul; and he seems to have had considerable
influence in Israel to raise such an insurrection: but we know nothing farther of him
than what is related in this place.
We have no part in David - We of Israel, we of the ten tribes, are under no
obligation to the house of David. Leave him, and let every man fall into the ranks
under his own leader.
GILL, "And there happened to be a man of Belial,.... A wicked man, as the
Targum, a lawless, yokeless man, that had cast off the yoke of the law, and was
without it, as Belial is by some interpreted; or one unprofitable and useless, yea,
noxious and pernicious: this man, though, with respect to second causes, may be said
to be there by chance, yet it was so ordered by the providence of God that he should
be present at this time for the further fulfilment of the threatening to David, that the
sword should not depart from his house:
whose name was Sheba, the son of Bichri, a Benjamite; one perhaps that
had been in the rebellion of Absalom, and had a grudge against David for the removal
of the kingdom out of that tribe:
and he blew a trumpet; which was done to draw off the Israelites from David, and
gather a party to himself:
and said, we have no part in David; so he interpreted what the men of Judah
said, because they claimed kindred to David, the rest of the Israelites had no interest
in him; thus they, who just before said they had ten parts in him, now had none at
all:
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2. neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse; so he calls David by way of
contempt, as if he was no king, but a private person, and a descendant from a mean
family:
every man to his tent, O Israel; there to consider what to do, and whom to
choose to be their king, and let Judah take David for their king, and enjoy him alone,
since they had so slighted, and dealt so injuriously and roughly with the rest of the
tribes.
HENRY 1-2, "David, in the midst of his triumphs, has here the affliction to see his
kingdom disturbed and his family disgraced.
I. His subjects revolting from him at the instigation of a man of Belial, whom they
followed when they forsook the man after God's own heart. Observe, 1. That this
happened immediately upon the crushing of Absalom's rebellion. We must not think
it strange, while we are in this world, if the end of one trouble be the beginning of
another: deep sometimes calls unto deep. 2. That the people were now just returning
to their allegiance, when, of a sudden, they flew off from it. When a reconciliation is
newly made, it ought to be handled with great tenderness and caution, lest the peace
break again before it be settled. A broken bone, when it is set, must have time to
knot. 3. That the ring-leader of this rebellion was Sheba, a Benjamite by birth (2Sa_
20:1), who had his habitation in Mount Ephraim, 2Sa_20:21. Shimei and he were
both of Saul's tribe, and both retained the ancient grudge of that house. Against the
kingdom of the Messiah there is an hereditary enmity in the serpent's seed, and a
succession of attempts to overthrow it (Psa_2:1, Psa_2:2); but he that sits in heaven
laughs at them all. 4. That the occasion of it was that foolish quarrel, which we read
of in the close of the foregoing chapter, between the elders of Israel and the elders of
Judah, about bringing the king back. It was a point of honour that was disputed
between them, which had most interest in David. “We are more numerous,” say the
elders of Israel. “We are nearer akin to him,” say the elders of Judah. Now one would
think David very safe and happy when his subjects are striving which shall love him
best, and be most forward to show him respect; yet even that strife proves the
occasion of a rebellion. The men of Israel complained to David of the slight which the
men of Judah had put upon them. If he had now countenanced their complaint,
commended their zeal, and returned them thanks for it, he might have confirmed
them in his interest; but he seemed partial to his own tribe: Their words prevailed
above the words of the men of Israel; as some read the last words of the foregoing
chapter. David inclined to justify them, and, when the men of Israel perceived this,
they flew off with indignation. “If the king will suffer himself to be engrossed by the
men of Judah, let him and them make their best of one another, and we will set up
one for ourselves. We thought we had ten parts in David, but such an interest will not
be allowed us; the men of Judah tell us, in effect, we have no part in him, and
therefore we will have none, nor will we attend him any further in his return to
Jerusalem, nor own him for our king.” This was proclaimed by Sheba (2Sa_20:1),
who probably was a man of note, and had been active in Absalom's rebellion; the
disgusted Israelites took the hint, and went up from after David to follow Sheba
(2Sa_20:2), that is, the generality of them did so, only the men of Judah adhered to
him. Learn hence, (1.) That it is as impolitic for princes to be partial in their
attentions to their subjects as it is for parents to be so to their children; both should
carry it with an even hand. (2.) Those know not what they do that make light of the
affections of their inferiors, by not countenancing and accepting it. Their hatred may
be feared whose love is despised. (3.) The beginning of strife is as the letting forth of
water; it is therefore wisdom to leave it off before it be meddled with, Pro_17:14.
How great a matter doth a little of this fire kindle! (4.) The perverting of words is the
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3. subverting of peace; and much mischief is made by forcing invidious constructions
upon what is said and written and drawing consequences that were never intended.
The men of Judah said, The king is near of kin to us. “By this,” say the men of Israel,
“you mean that we have no part in him;” whereas they meant no such thing. (5.)
People are very apt to run into extremes. We have ten parts in David, said they; and,
almost in the next breath, We have no part in him. Today Hosanna, tomorrow
Crucify.
JAMISON, "2Sa_20:1-9. Sheba makes a party in Israel.
Sheba ... a Benjamite — Though nothing is known of this man, he must have
been a person of considerable power and influence, before he could have raised so
sudden and extensive a sedition. He belonged to the tribe of Benjamin, where the
adherents of Saul’s dynasty were still numerous; and perceiving the strong disgust of
the other tribes with the part assumed by Judah in the restoration, his ill-designing
heart resolved to turn it to the overthrow of David’s authority in Israel.
every man to his tents — This proverbial expression may have had its
foundation in the fact, that many of the Israelite peasantry adhered to the custom of
the patriarchs who tilled land, and yet lived in tents, as Syrian peasants often do still.
This was the usual watchword of national insurrection, and from the actual temper of
the people, it was followed by effects beyond what he probably anticipated.
K&D, "Sheba's Rebellion. - 2Sa_20:1. There happened to be a worthless man there,
named Sheba, a Benjaminite. He blew the trumpet, and said, “We have no part in
David, nor inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel!” “To his
tents,” i.e., to his home, as in 2Sa_19:9, etc.
COFFMAN, "DAVID'S SONG OF VICTORY OVER HIS ENEMIES IS
ALMOST IDENTICAL WITH PS. 18
"And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord
delivered him, from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul."
This entire chapter is a duplicate of Psalms 18, with only the slightest variations,
none of which is of any special importance. However, these variations,
inconsequential as they are, have been the basis of some comments which might
not necessarily be true. For example, our greatly respected Dr. Willis, whose
work in the Books of Samuel have been so helpful in these studies, pointed out
that, "Whole lines may appear in one of these chapters but not in the other,
words or phrases may appear in one but not in the other, synonyms of some
words may be used in one of these in place of a different word in the other; and
some words are transposed, appearing in a different order in one as compared
with the other."[1]
All of this, of course, is certainly true, but what should be our conclusion from
the consideration of such facts? Willis concluded that, "This shows that the
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4. Biblical authors were not concerned with preserving the exact words of those
whom they quoted."[2] To this usual deduction, echoed by many scholars, we
wish to oppose an opposite view which this writer has long accepted, namely,
that both chapters, even with their variations, are inspired and true exactly as
they stand. It is certainly possible that David repeated this Psalm with the
identical variations which appear in them.
"BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD"
(Matthew 4:2)
Christ made many arguments from the Sacred Scriptures to turn, not merely
upon the exact words, but also on the very tense of a word.
Jesus said, "And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was
said to you by God, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." (Matthew
22:31-32).
The significance of this is that our Savior made an argument proving the
resurrection of the dead to turn upon a single two-letter word, the word "am",
and the tense of the little verb, at that!
The inspired writers often "quoted" Scriptures with variations, but many such
"quotations" are not "quotes" at all, but new Scriptures written by the inspired
writer. We have cited many such examples in our commentaries. For example,
see our comments under Ephesians 4:7-8, and under Romans 12:19, where in
both instances the inspired Paul used O.T. passages with variations, but they
must not be viewed as Paul's faulty memory of what the quotations really were,
but as NEW SCRIPTURE inspired exactly as Paul gave it.
David was the inspired author of both this chapter and Psalms 18; and one of
them is just as inspired as the other is.
It is a dangerous notion that some have imported into their interpretations of the
type of variations we encounter here, namely, the view that THE EXACT
WORDS ARE NOT IMPORTANT. IT'S ONLY THE GIST OF THE TRUTH
THAT COUNTS. It is always impossible to know what the GIST OF THE
TRUTH is unless we can discern it in the exact words used by the Holy Spirit.
The apostle Paul, especially, was diligent to observe the principle which we are
here advocating. He made an argument pertaining to the identity of Christ
himself to turn upon the number of a single noun.
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5. To Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to
SEEDS, as of many, but as of one. And in thy SEED which is Christ (Galatians
3:16).
Here we have Paul's great doctrine of Christ, the SEED SINGULAR of
Abraham, and it is an example of the extreme untrustworthiness of the RSV that
the translators have corrupted the verse in Genesis 17:7 (which Paul here
quoted), by substituting a plural word for seed (singular).
There is also an extensive application of this important principle in the
interpretation of the N.T. The so-called doublets, in which we have similar
statements by Christ, as variously reported by the gospels are not to be
understood as variations of some imaginary invariable text, but as independently
true and exactly accurate as they stand in the sacred Gospels.
The ridiculous critical canard that Christ made his declarations in some
imaginary invariable form is not true. The ministry of our Lord lasted about
four years, and, like any campaign speaker in an election year, he delivered the
same message in different words upon many different occasions. There are two
variations of the Lord's prayer, two variations of the Great Sermon called the
Sermon on the Mount in one place and the Sermon on the Plain in another. All
are exactly correct as they stand in the N.T. No proper understanding of the
Word of God is possible without taking account of this understanding of
variations in the vocabulary used by the inspired writers in speaking of the same
or similar events and teachings.
(We have devoted fourteen pages to a discussion of this Song of David as
recorded in Psalms 18 of our Vol. 2 commentary on The Psalms. The opinions of
fifteen reputable scholars are also cited therein; and for those who are interested
in a more detailed discussion of what is written here in 2 Samuel 22, we believe it
is sufficient to refer them to what we have written there.)
The Holy Spirit did not convey IDEAS to the inspired authors of the Bible,
trusting them to express them in their own words, but He gave them the EXACT
WORDS of God's message, words which they frequently did not understand at
all, as stated by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 1:10-12. No system of interpreting
Biblical passages is correct that ignores this principle.
CONSTABLE, "Verses 1-51
C. David's Praise of Yahweh ch. 22
"It has long been recognized that 2 Samuel 22 is not only one of the oldest major
poems in the OT but also that, because Psalms 18 parallels it almost verbatim, it
is a key passage for the theory and practice of OT textual criticism." [Note:
Youngblood, p. 1064.]
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6. This psalm records David's own expression of the theological message the writer
of Samuel expounded historically. Yahweh is King, and He blesses those who
submit to His authority in many ways. 2 Samuel 22:21 is perhaps the key verse.
David learned the truths expressed in this psalm and evidently composed it early
in his career (2 Samuel 22:1).
This song shares several key themes with Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:1-10). Both
David and Hannah used "horn" as a figure of strength at the beginning (2
Samuel 22:3; 1 Samuel 2:1) and "rock" as a figure for God (v. 2 Samuel 22:2; 1
Samuel 2:2). They both referred to divine deliverance (2 Samuel 22:3; 1 Samuel
2:1-2) and ended by equating God's king with His anointed (2 Samuel 22:51; 1
Samuel 2:10). Thus these two songs form a kind of inclusio around the Books of
Samuel and give them unity. Given the similarities, each makes its own unique
statement as well. [Note: See Frank Moore Cross Jr., and David Noel Freedman,
"A Royal Song of Thanksgiving-2 Samuel 22 = Psalms 18," Journal of Biblical
Literature 72:1 (1953):15-34.]
This is a psalm of declarative praise for what God had done for David. It reflects
David's rich spiritual life. While David focused attention on the Lord more than
on himself, his emphasis was on the blessings Yahweh had bestowed on him.
We can divide the passage into four sections: the Lord's exaltation (2 Samuel
22:1-4), the Lord's exploits (2 Samuel 22:5-20), the Lord's equity (2 Samuel
22:21-30), and the Lord's excellence (2 Samuel 22:31-51). [Note: Merrill, "2
Samuel," in The Old ..., pp. 477, 480.]
The reference to God's temple (2 Samuel 22:7) probably means heaven.
"Arrows" (2 Samuel 22:15) is a figure for lightning bolts. God had drawn David
out of the waters of affliction as Pharaoh's daughter had drawn Moses out of
literal dangerous waters (2 Samuel 22:17). God had rewarded David (not saved
him) because of his righteous conduct (2 Samuel 22:21). Cleanness (Heb. bor) of
hands (2 Samuel 22:21) is a figure describing moral purity that derives from the
practice of washing the hands with soda (bor), probably some sodium compound
used as a cleansing agent.
"The psalmist is not talking about justification by works, much less about sinless
perfection, but about 'a conscience void of offence toward God and men' (Acts
24:16)." [Note: Gordon, p. 306.]
God responds to people according to their conduct (2 Samuel 22:26-27). He is
astute (shrewd) to the perverted (crooked, 2 Samuel 22:27) in the sense that He
turns them into fools. [Note: Youngblood, p. 1073; Carlson, pp. 251-52.] The
similes in 2 Samuel 22:43 picture David's enemies as objects of humiliation and
contempt. [Note: Youngblood, p. 1075.]
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7. "It is ... both serendipitous and satisfying that the Song of David, a psalm of
impressive scope and exquisite beauty, should begin with 'The LORD' (2 Samuel
22:2), the Eternal One, and end with 'forever' (2 Samuel 22:51)." [Note: Ibid., p.
1077.]
ELLICOTT, "Introduction
XXII.
This chapter, with numerous slight variations, constitutes Psalms 18, the first
verse here serving as the title there, with only such differences as the nature of
the Book of Psalms required. With this title may be compared the inscriptions of
other historical psalms, as Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:30.
No more definite time can be assigned for the composition of this hymn than that
already given in its title. 2 Samuel 22:51 shows that it must have been after the
visit of Nathan promising the perpetuity of David’s kingdom.
As comment upon this psalm will naturally be expected in connection with the
Book of Psalms, only the differences between these two copies will here be
spoken of. On the whole, the form given in the Psalms seems to be the later, and
to have been in some points intentionally altered—probably by David himself—
to adapt it to the exigencies of liturgical worship; but it must also be remembered
that minor differences inevitably grow up in the copying of manuscripts age
after age, and that much of the lesser variation is undoubtedly due to this cause.
BI 1-5, "And there happened to be there a man of Belial.
Rebellion of Sheba
This chapter is a relation of Sheba’s rebellion.
1. The trumpet of this new rebellion was a son of Belial, Sheba the son of Bichri,
whom God by His providence ordered to be present when this paroxism or hot fit
of contention happened betwixt the tribe of Judah and the tribes of Israel as
before. The Devil (who loves to fish in troubled waters) strikes in with this
opportunity, as a fit hour of temptation for him, and excites this Belialist to blow
a trumpet and to sound a retreat in the ears of those Israelites, saying [Seeing the
men of Judah say that we have no part in David, but they do monopolize him to
themselves] let them have him, and let us choose another for ourselves, hoping
that they would choose him, because he was a Benjamite akin to Saul, and
supposed to be the chiefest captain under Amasa to Absalom (2Sa_20:1.)
2. This Belialist (so-called) was for casting off the yoke of David (as the Hebrew
word Belial signifies) and being grieved that the kingdom was translated from
Saul’s house to David, he bespatters David, calling him the son of Jesse, a private
person, so the crown could not descend upon David by inheritance, and therefore
(saith he) we are at liberty to choose a new king. This opprobrious title that Sheba
gave David here did savour of Saul (who had oft called him so in contempt) and
of the old enmity: and possibly Sheba might aggravate to those Israelites, that
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8. David had sent Zadock and Abiathar to the men of Judah that they might be
persuaded to fetch back the King, but he sent them not to our elders; therefore
seeing he hath so slighted us, let us look to our own concerns, and let him look to
his (2Sa_20:1.)
3. Behold how great a flame of fire a little spark doth kindle (Jas_3:5) when God
gives way thereunto, Sheba’s presence and influence upon those Israelites,
though casual in itself, and as to men, yet was it ordered so by the providence of
God, who permitted the devil to blow up this blast of rebellion for several
reasons: as
(1) first, For a further exercise of David’s faith and patience;
(2) secondly, To purge out of David’s kingdom all factious and seditious
spirits;
(3) thirdly, To punish Sheba the ringleader of those rebels;
(4) fourthly, To animadvert David to his betraying Uriah, and of his spearing
Shimei, and (as some add) of his unjust dealing with his dear Mephibosheth,
&c., for these and other sins of David God was pleased to correct him again
with this new affliction, before he was well got out of the old. (C. Ness.)
Revolt and pursuit of Sheba. -
1. We are first introduced to Sheba, the son of Bichri, or, as it is read by recent
commentators, the Bichrite—that is, a member of the family of Becher, the
second son of Benjamin. This man was, therefore, by so much related to the clan
of Saul. It is difficult to get the old taint out of the blood. Sheba is a minimised
Saul, full of hostility to David and all his interests. Even bad men have their
opportunity in life. We have seen again and again how easy it is to do mischief.
Sheba, a man who probably had no power to construct a positive fame by deeds
of beneficence and the origination of statesmanlike policies, had it in his power to
set fire to dangerous substances and bring into peril a movement which promised
to consummate itself in the happiest results to Israel. The historical instance
ought to be a continual lesson. The meanest man may pull down a wall, or set fire
to a palace, or whisper a slander concerning the character of a king. The
remarkable thing is that whilst society is well aware of all this possibility, it is
willing to lend an ear to every wicked speaker Who arises, insisting upon the old
and detestable sophism flint although the report may not be wholly and literally
true, there yet must be some foundation for it.
2. Sheba is described in the text as “a man of Belial,” in other words, a child of
the devil. A man’s spiriutal parentage is known by the deeds in which he delights.
We have in the first verse a kind of double genealogy of Sheba; he is called “the
son of Bichri, a Benjamite,” and he is also described as “a man of Belial.” It would
seem as if in some cases men had a lineal physical descent, and had also a direct
spiritual ancestry. Account for it as we may, there are practical differences in
spirit and character which would seem almost to suggest two different grades or
qualities of human nature. Whilst it is profoundly and sadly true that all men are
apostates, and that there is none righteous, no, not one, it is also undeniable that
there are chiefs in the army of evil, princes of sin, royal and dominating
personages in the whole kingdom of wickedness. They are ingenious in the device
of evil; their imagination is afire with the very spirit of perdition; they can invent
new departures, striking policies, undreamed-of cruelties, unimaginable
wanderings from the path of rectitude. It is most certain that many men simply
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9. “follow a multitude to do evil”; they have little or no invention of their own; they
would never originate rebellions or lead insurrections, or devise plots involving
great disasters; they are but followers, imitators, echoes not voices, persons who
go by the bulk and not by detail, being only of consequence in proportion to their
multiudinousness, having no independent spirit of their own when taken one by
one.
3. David, being now impatient of the insolence of Joab, and willing to avail
himself of an opportunity of superseding that able but arrogant captain, gave an
appointment to Amasa. As Amasa went forth he encountered an unexpected foe
in the person of Joab. It is explained in the text how Joab by a peculiar
arrangement of his dress—a girdle bound round his military coat—had contrived
to conceal a dagger which would fall out as lie advanced. The dagger falling out
thus gave Joab an opportunity of naturally picking it up, as he wished to use it,
without exciting the suspicion of Amasa. Thus even in so small a trick the
depravity of Joab is made manifest. Taking Amasa by the beard with his right
hand to kiss him, Joab smote him in the fifth rib, with but one blow; but that a
fatal stroke. Joab would thus tolerate no rivals by whomsoever they might have
been appointed. This desperateness of spirit was really part of the greatness of
the man,—that is to say, apart from such desperateness he never could have
brought to bear all his various faculties of statesman and soldier. Morality has
often commented upon the circumstance that great talents should be turned to
base uses. So it is the world over: the completer the education as a merely
intellectual exercise, the more disastrous is the power to do evil, unless the
education has been supported and chastened by adequate moral training. It is
mere idolatry to admire greatness alone: when that greatness is held in check by
enlightened consciousness, then its recognition really involves an act of worship
to him who is the Spirit of Righteousness and the teacher of the world. It is but
lust, however, to say that we are not to judge Joab by the morality of a much later
age. Morality itself is part of an infinite but most beneficent evolution. Even a
good cause may have bad supporters. The cause in which Joab was now engaged
was unquestionably a good one, being nothing less than the restoration of David
to his kingly position in Israel, and by so much the fulfilment of a divine
covenant. Joab had a good cause, but he brought to its support a very
questionable character. Is not this same instance repeating itself along the whole
line of history? Is not the Church indebted to many a man whose heart is in the
world and whose ambition is his only god? Are there not some men eloquent of
tongue whose hearts are silent as to true worship? Is not good money often given
by polluted hands? (J. Parker, D. D.)
Disunion the devil’s policy.
“Cyrus, in Herodotus, going to fight against Scythia, coming to a broad river, and not
being able to pass over it, cut and divided it into divers arms and sluices, and so
made it passable for all his army. This is the devil’s policy; he laboureth to divide the
people of God, and separate us into divers sects and factions, that so he may easily
overcome us.” This needs no comment. What is needed is that by a spirit of brotherly
love we promote the unity of all the churches, and the peace and concord of that to
which we belong. May the peace of the church be “as a river.” Unity is strength.
“Divide and conquer” is Satan’s watchword to his myrmidons. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
When the South Carolina convention broke up with a declaration of secession from
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10. the north, and the Civil War was thereby proclaimed, there were great jubilations.
Bells were rung, cannon saluted, and the street,s were filled with the noise and
display of great parades. But what a drama of blood it led to, and what a tragedy of
disastrous defeat was its end! (H. O. Mackey.)
PETT,"A Psalm About The God Who Delivers, And Of How He Has Delivered (2
Samuel 22:1-51).
Having revealed by the judgment on the house of Saul that God is a just God who
deals severely with sin and judges those who go against His covenant (2 Samuel
21:1-14), and having described the earthly means (the mighty men) by which He had
provided for the deliverance of both David and Israel (2 Samuel 21:15-22), the
section now focuses in on the God of Deliverance Himself. Its purpose is to make
clear that the background to all that has been described in the book of Samuel has
been that of God acting invisibly but effectively in deliverance. It is that fact that has
been the secret of David’s outwitting of Saul, and it that fact that has been the secret
of all his victories over his enemies. Thus in the Psalm that now follows we are given
an insider’s view of the effective, invisible activity of God working on David’s behalf.
This activity is depicted in terms of vivid and powerful natural phenomena, but it
should be noted that it actually occurred, as far as men were concerned, invisibly to
the naked eye, or even to human experience, for when the battle was on or the chase
was taking place there was usually no visible storm. Rather the sun would usually
have been shining blissfully in a cloudless sky. The activity was only visible to the eye
of faith. But the point of the Psalmist is that whatever might be men’s physical
apprehension of the situation at the time (and it might have been a beautiful
summer’s day), when David called on the invisible God, He was immediately there,
acting as powerfully as a magnificent storm, and sweeping all before Him. Earth
might outwardly appear relatively quiet to those involved, but that was because men
could not see the invisible. But to those who did see the invisible, the heavens became
filled with powerful and violent activity, because YHWH was acting on David’s behalf
(compare 2 Kings 6:17 where it is put in a slightly different way for Elisha and his
servant). And the result was that his enemies, totally unaware of the powers at work
against them and striving vainly against him, could not stand before him.
Analysis.
a YHWH has delivered David from his enemies and especially from Saul (2
Samuel 22:1).
b YHWH is David’s rock, fortress and shield and the horn of his salvation, his
Saviour Who has saved him (2 Samuel 22:1-4)
c David cries in his need to YHWH, Who hears him, with the result that YHWH
comes in His great power and splendour to act on David’s behalf (2 Samuel 22:5-13).
d YHWH routs the enemy by His power, and delivers David from his particular
trouble (2 Samuel 22:14-20).
e This is because David has walked righteously before Him, the same is true for
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11. all who walk righteously (2 Samuel 22:21-28).
f YHWH is David’s lamp who enables him in all that he has to face (2 Samuel
22:29-30).
e He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him (2 Samuel 22:31-32).
d YHWH has made David powerfully effective in war, that is why his feet do not
slip and his enemies flee before him (2 Samuel 22:33-40).
c And that is why his enemies are powerless before him, and no nation can
stand before him (2 Samuel 22:41-46).
b Because YHWH is his rock and salvation none can be effective before him (2
Samuel 22:47-49).
a That is why he thanks God, because He gives great and everlasting
deliverance to His king, to His Anointed (2 Samuel 22:50-51).
Note that in ‘a’ YHWH delivered David from all his enemies and especially from Saul
(who sought him because he suspected that he was YHWH’s Anointed), and in the
parallel he thanks YHWH for his deliverance because he is YHWH’s Anointed. In ‘b’
YHWH is David’s Rock, and is the horn of his salvation, and in the parallel He is
David’s rock, and the rock of his salvation. In ‘c’ David cries in his need to YHWH
and YHWH comes to him effectively and powerfully, and in the parallel that is why
David is invincible. In ‘d’ YHWH routs the enemy by His almighty power, and in the
parallel He makes David powerfully effective in war so that he routs all his enemies.
In ‘e’ all who walk righteously are watched over by YHWH and in the parallel He is a
shield for all who take refuge in Him. Centrally in ‘f’ YHWH is David’s lamp and
sufficiency.
The whole point of the Psalm in context is in order to bring out that everything which
was good that has happened to David he owes to YHWH, and that he is where he now
is because of YHWH’s constantly revealed power, and because of His constant watch
over him.
2 Samuel 22:1
‘And David spoke to YHWH the words of this song in the day that YHWH delivered
him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.’
For a parallel ‘introduction’ to a Psalm see Deuteronomy 31:30. Note how this
statement very much has 1 Samuel in mind. It is a reminder that Samuel is to be seen
as one book, for the statement lays great emphasis on David’s deliverance from Saul
(the previous chapter having already reminded us of the bloodthirstiness of Saul (2
Samuel 21:1)). But it also has in mind David’s later victories, for it emphasises that it
has been by YHWH that he has been delivered out of the hands of all his enemies.
The writer was by this emphasising that David wanted no glory to go to himself.
Rather David was emphatically recognising that he owed all to YHWH and to His
great demonstrations of invisible power. For David was only too well aware that
when he and his men had trudged the hot and dusty desert as they had fled from
Saul, it had been YHWH Who had been there, effectively working in his defence in
supernatural power. And it had been the same when he had faced his other enemies.
And he was duly grateful.
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12. PINK, "2 Samuel 22 opens with the word "And," which at once suggests there is
a close connection between its contents and what was has immediately preceded.
The chapter which is now to be before us records David’s grand psalm of
thanksgiving, and, as its opening verse intimates, it was sung by him in
celebration of the signal deliverances which God had granted him from his many
enemies. In the previous chapter we had an account of the execution of the sons
of Saul, followed by a summary of Israel’s victories over the Philistines and the
slaying of a number of their giants. In our last chapter we sought to point out the
spiritual application of these things, as they bear upon the lives of Christians
today, and the same line of thought is to be followed as we enter the present
chapter. It is this looking for the practical hearing of the Scriptures upon
ourselves which is so sorely needed, and which, alas, is now so much neglected by
the present generation; only thus do we make the Bible a living Book, suited to
our present need.
The spiritual and practical link of connection between 2 Samuel 21 and 22 is not
difficult to perceive. As was shown in our last, the execution of the sons of Saul
(seven in number, for the work must be done completely) is to be regarded as a
figure of the believer’s mortifying his lusts, and the conflicts which followed
between Israel and the Philistines, David and the giants, symbolizes the fact that
that warfare with sin which the saint is called upon to wage, continues till the
end of his earthly course. Now the work of mortification is indeed a painful one,
nevertheless it issues in a joyful sequel. The plucking out of right eyes and the
cutting off of right hands doubtless produces many a groan, yet will they be
followed by melodious thanksgiving. Death figures prominently in 2 Samuel 21,
but 2 Samuel 22 opens with a "Song!" Here, then, is the obvious connection:
when death be written upon our lusts, music will fill the heart; when that which
is displeasing to God has been put away, the Spirit will tune our souls to sing
Jehovah’s praise.
It is a most interesting and instructive study to trace out the sacred "Songs" of
Scripture, paving particular attention to their setting. The first one is recorded in
Exodus 15. We read not of the Hebrews celebrating the Lord’s praises while they
were in Egypt, but only of their sighing and groaning (Ex. 2:23. 24). But when
they had been delivered from the house of bondage and their foes had been
drowned in the Red Sea, a song of worship ascended from their heart. Again, we
read of Israel singing when the Lord supplied them with water (Num. 21:17).
Moses ended his wilderness wanderings with a song (Deut. 31:22). Upon Israel’s
victory over the Canaanites they sang a song (Judges 5:1). Job speaks of God
giving "songs in the night" (35:10)—a real, if a rare, experience, as many saints
can testify. The Psalmist said. "Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of
my pilgrimage" (119:54).
There is a most marked similarity between the Song of David in 2 Samuel 22 and
Psalm 18 (observe the latter’s superscription), indeed so close is the resemblance
that almost all of the commentators have regarded them as being one and the
same, attempting to account for their verbal variations (which though incidental
are by no means few in number) on the supposition that the latter is a revised
edition of the former. But such an assumption does not seem at all satisfactory—
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13. to us it appears a serious slight upon divine inspiration: surely the Holy Spirit
never needs to make any emendations! We therefore greatly prefer the view of C.
H. Spurgeon: "We have another form of this eighteenth Psalm with slight
variations, in 2 Samuel 22, and this suggests the idea that it was sung by him on
different occasions when he reviewed his own remarkable history, and observed
the gracious hand of God in it all."
This particular Song of David is no exception to a general if not an invariable
feature which marked all his inspired minstrelsy, in that we may see in it both a
surface and a deeper allusion, both an historical and a prophetic significance. All
doubt upon this point is definitely removed by the testimony of the New
Testament, for there we find two of its verses quoted From as being the very
words of Christ Himself, thus making it plain that a greater than David is here.
In its deeper meaning it is the utterance of the Spirit of Christ in David, making
special reference to His triumph over death by the mighty power of God (Eph.
1:19). David thankfully recounts the glorious actings of God on his behalf, yet in
such language as rises above himself, to his Son and Lord, against whom all the
powers of darkness were concentrated.
"And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord
had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of
Saul" (2 Sam. 22:1). One of the outstanding features of the checkered career of
David was the large number of his foes, both from the surrounding nations and
among his own people, the chief of all being Saul—the most formidable,
malicious and inveterate. Nor should this unduly surprise us, even though, as
Matthew Henry tersely expressed it. "David was a man after God’s heart, but not
after man’s heart: many were those who hated him." Why was this? First, God
so ordered it that he might be an eminent type of Christ, who, throughout the
ages has been "despised and rejected of men." Second. that thereby God might
display the more conspicuously His faithfulness and power in preserving His
own. Third, because this is generally the experience of the saints.
"And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord
had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of
Saul." Therefore was he well qualified experimentally to declare, "Many are the
afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all" (Ps.
34:19). The Lord’s "deliverance" of David from his many foes assumed a great
variety of forms: sometimes in one way, sometimes in another, for the Almighty
is not limited to any particular means or method. On occasions He employs
human instruments; and again, He wrought without them. Let this encourage
the tried and Satan-harassed believer. Though every avenue of escape seem fast
shut to your eyes, yet remember that closed doors are no barrier to the Lord
(John 20:26). When the long drought completely dried up the water which
sustained Elijah at Cherith, God maintained him with oil at Zarephath.
This too is written for our learning and comfort. As we have traced the life of
David through the two hooks of Samuel, we have seen him in some sore straits:
again and again it looked as though his foes must surely prevail against him; yea,
on one occasion, he himself dolefully declared, "I shall now perish one day by the
hand of Saul" (1 Sam. 27:1). Yet he did not! No, One infinitely mightier than
Saul was watching over him. And this is equally the case with you and me, dear
13

14. reader, if we belong to Christ: the combined forces of hell shall never prevail
against us; the united assaults of the flesh, the world and the devil cannot destroy
us. Why? "Because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1
John 4:4). Then why should we be so fearful? let us seek grace to rest on that
sure promise, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble"
(Ps. 46:1).
Observe well David’s response to these divine interpositions on his behalf:
deliverance calls for thanksgiving. This is the very least we can render unto the
Lord in return for all His benefits. Nor should there be any tardiness in
discharging this delightful obligation: gratitude must issue promptly in praise. it
did so with the sweet singer in Israel, and it should also with us. Then let us take
to heart this word, "And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the
day that the Lord had delivered him." We ought to present unto God a sacrifice
of praise while His mercies are fresh and the heart is duly affected by them. We
are not slow in crying to God when imminent danger threatens us: then let us be
just as prompt in acknowledging His goodness when His delivering hand is
extended to us.
Many of the commentators are of the opinion that this sacred song was composed
by David at an early date in his life, but personally we fail to sec anything in the
Scriptures which supports such a view. The very fact that the Holy Spirit has
expressly told us it was uttered by David when "The Lord had delivered him out
of the hand of all his enemies," is surely a plain intimation that it was uttered by
him late in life—the added words "and out of the hand of Saul" do not modify
this view when the mention of him is regarded as being intended for the purpose
of emphasis, he being his predominant foe. The main divisions of the Song are
fairly clearly defined. First, is the preface, in which David is occupied with
extolling Jehovah’s perfections: verses 1-4. Second, he magnifies the Lord for His
delivering mercies: verses 5-20. Third, he expresses the testimony of a clear
conscience: verses 21-28. Fourth, he concludes with a prophetic anticipation of
the glorious triumphs of the Messiah: verses 29-45.
"And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer" (v. 2).
David begins by adoring Jehovah. He does so on the ground of his personal
relation to Him, for all the benefits he had received, he bases upon his relation to
God. Observe that in verses 2 and 3, he uses the personal pronoun no less than
nine times. It is a grand thing when we have the assurance and can feelingly say,
"The Lord is my Rock." While our enemies are hot upon our heels wounding us
sorely, threatening our very life, we sometimes do not have this blessed
assurance; but when God’s delivering grace is experienced afresh by us, new
hope is kindled in the soul. "The Lord is my Rock and my Fortress." "Dwelling
among the crags and mountain fastnesses of Judea, David had escaped the
malice of Saul, and here compares his God to such a place of concealment and
security. Believers are often hidden in their God from the strife of tongues and
the fury of the storm" (C. H. Spurgeon).
"And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer." Let us
not miss the connection between this and the preceding verse: they that trust God
in the path of duty, will ever find Him a very present help in the greatest of
dangers. And David had trusted God, with a faith which wrought miracles.
14

15. Recall, for example, his intrepidity in Facing Goliath. All Israel were afraid of
the Philistine giant, so that none—not even Saul—dared to accept his haughty
challenge. Yet David, though then but a youth, hesitated not to engage him in
mortal combat, going forth to meet him without any material armor, and with
naught but a sling in his hand. And wherein lay his strength? What was the
secret of his courage and of his success? It was at once revealed in the words with
which he met the enemy’s champion: "thou comest to me with a sword, and with
a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts,
the God of the armies of Israel" (1 Sam. 17:45)!
And is that, my reader, nothing more than a striking incident of ancient history?
Has it no message for our hearts? Is not God the same today: ready to respond to
a faith that dares! Is it not written "if thou canst believe, all things are possible to
him that believeth" (Mark 9:23)? Do we really believe this? If so, are we
earnestly begging God to increase our faith? Faith is invincible, because it lays
hold of One who is omnipotent. Faith is the hand which grasps the Almighty, and
is anything too hard for Him! Is it not also written "according unto your Faith
be it unto you" (Matthew 9:29). Ah, does not that explain why it is we so often
meet with defeat, why it is that our enemies prevail against us? O for faith in the
living God, faith in the efficacy of Christ’s mediation, to vanquish our lusts.
Yes, most important is it that we should heed the connection between the first
two verses of our chapter: the deliverances David had from his enemies, and his
implicit confidence in God. Nor was he by any means alone in this experience. It
was by the miracle-working power of God that the three Hebrews were delivered
from Babylon’s fiery furnace. Yes, but that divine power was put forth in
response to their faith: "our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king" (Dan.
3:17). So again with Daniel himself, yet how often this particular is overlooked.
From early childhood most of us have been familiar with that divine marvel
which preserved the prophet from the lions, but how many of us have noticed
those words, "So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was
found upon him, because he believed in his God" (6:23).
"And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer" (v. 2).
When almost captured, the Lord’s people are rescued from the hand of the
mighty by One who is mightier still. God never fails those who really exercise
faith in Him: He may indeed severely test, but He will not suffer them to be
"utterly cast down." As our "Rock" God is the strength and support of His
people, the One on whom they build their hopes, the One who affords shade
from the burning heat of the desert. As our "Fortress" God gives His people
shelter from their assailants, supplying protection and security—"The name of
the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe" (Prov.
18:10). As our "Deliverer" God saves us from ourselves, redeems us from the
damning power of sin, rescues us from the roaring lion, secures us against the
second death.
"The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my
salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; Thou savest me from
violence" (v. 3). This piling up of metaphors indicates the strong assurance
which David had in the Lord, the realization of His sufficiency to meet his every
15

16. emergency and supply his every need. He saw in God one who was infinitely
worthy of his fullest confidence: no matter how critical his circumstances, how
desperate his situation, how numerous or powerful his foes, and how great his
own weakness, Jehovah was all-sufficient. Such too ought to be our confidence in
God. Yea, we have more ground to rest our faith upon than ever David had. God
is now revealed as the (penitent) sinner’s Friend, as He never was then. In Christ
He is revealed as the Conqueror of sin, the Vanquisher of death, the Master of
Satan. Then have we not cause to exclaim in Him will I trust." O that this may
become more and more of an actuality in the lives of both writer and reader.
"The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my
salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; Thou savest me from
violence." These energetic figures of speech, which rise above the level of
ordinary prose, reveal what God is to His believing people, for only as faith is
lively and vigorous is He viewed thus. He is "my Shield" with which to ward off
every attack: faith interposes Him between our souls and the enemy. He is "the
Horn of my salvation," enabling me to push down my foes, and to triumph over
them with holy exultation. He is "my high Tower": a citadel placed upon a high
eminence, beyond the reach of all enemies, from which I may look down on them
without alarm. He is "my Refuge" in which to shelter from every storm. He is
"my Saviour" from every evil to which the believer is exposed. What more do we
need! what more can we ask! O for faith’s realization of the same in our souls.
"Thou savest me from violence": again we would press the point that this is in
response to faith—"He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them,
because they trust in Him" (Ps. 37:40).
"I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from
mine enemies" (v. 4). As an unknown writer has said, "The armour of a soldier
does him no service except he put it on; so, no protection from God is to be
expected, unless we apply ourselves to prayer." It is faith which girds on the
spiritual armor; it is faith which finds all its resource in the Lord. "I will call on
the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies":
note carefully the words which we have placed in italics. This affords abundant
confirmation of all we have said above: to "call upon the Lord" is to exercise
faith in Him, such faith as praises Him before the victory—So shall we be saved
from our enemies: by God’s mighty power in response to believing prayer and
sincere praise.
PINK
As pointed out in our last, the main divisions of David’s sacred song in 2 Samuel
22 are more or less clearly marked. In the first (vv. 1-4) he is occupied with
extolling Jehovah’s perfections: this section we have already considered. In the
second (vv. 5-20), which is now to be before us, he magnifies the Lord for His
delivering mercies. The section of the song is couched in highly figurative and
poetic language; which indicates how deeply stirred were the emotions of its
inspired composer. Its contents may be regarded in a threefold way. First, as
depicting the physical dangers to which David was exposed from his human foes.
Second, the deep soul distress which he experienced from his spiritual enemies.
Third, the fearful sufferings through which Christ passed while acting as the
Substitute of His people, and the awe-inspiring deliverance which God wrought
for His servant. We will endeavor to consider our passage from each of these
16

17. viewpoints.
"When the waves (pangs) of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men
made me afraid; the sorrows (cords) of hell compassed me about; the snares of
death prevented (anticipated) me" (2 Sam. 22:5, 6). Thus opens this second
division: that which it so vividly portrayed is the large number and ferocity of
his enemies, and the desperate danger to which David was exposed by them.
First, he employed the figure of an angry sea, whose raging waves menaced him
from every side, until his frail craft was in immediate prospect of being swamped
by them. Next, he likened his lot to one who was marooned on some piece of low-
lying ground, and the floods rapidly rising higher and higher, till his destruction
seemed certain. The multitude of the wicked pressed him sorely on every side.
Then he compared his plight to one who had already been taken captive and
bound, so that the very cords of death seemed to be upon him. Finally, he
pictures his case as a bird that had been caught in the fowler’s snare, unable to
fly away.
The above references were to the attempts made by Saul, Abner and Absalom to
capture and slay David. So fierce were their attacks, so powerful the forces they
employed against him, so determined and relentless were his foes, that David
here acknowledged they "made me afraid." "The most sea-worthy bark is
sometimes hard put to it when the storm Hood is abroad. The most courageous
man, who as a rule hopes for the best, may sometimes fear the worst" (C. H.
Spurgeon). Strong as his faith generally was, yet on one occasion unbelief
prevailed to such an extent that David said, "I shall now perish one day by the
hand of Saul" (1 Sam. 27:1). When terrors from without awaken fears within,
our case is indeed a miserable one: yet so it was with Moses when he fled from
Egypt, with Elijah when he ran away from Jezebel, with Peter when he denied
his Lord.
But these lamentations of David are also to be construed spiritually: they are to
be regarded as those harrowing exercises of soul through which he passed in his
later years: Psalms 32 and 51 cast light upon them. "The sorrows (cords) of Hell
compassed me about; the snares of death anticipated me": such was the anguish
of his soul under the lashings of a guilty conscience. "The temptations of Satan
and the consciousness of his sins filled him with fears of wrath and dreadful
apprehensions of future consequences. He felt like a malefactor bound for
execution, whose fetters prevent him from attempting an escape, for whose body
the grave hath certainly opened her mouth, and who is horribly alarmed lest the
pit of bell should swallow up his soul" (Thomas Scott). Fearful beyond words is
the suffering through which many a backslider has to pass ere he is restored to
fellowship with God—one who has experienced it will not deem the language of
these verses any too strong.
But there is something deeper here than the trials David encountered either from
without or within: in their ultimate sense these verses articulate the groanings of
the Man of sorrows as He took upon Him the obligations and suffered in the
stead of His people. As we pointed out in our last, two of the verses of this song
are quoted in the New Testament as being the very words of Christ Himself: "In
Him will I trust" (v. 3) is found in Hebrews 2:13, and "I will give thanks unto
Thee O Lord, among the heathen (Gentiles), and I will sing praises unto Thy
name" (v. 50) is found in Romans 15:9. "The Messiah our Saviour is evidently,
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18. over and beyond David or any other believer, the main and chief subject of this
Song; and while studying it we have grown more and more sure that every line
has its deeper and profounder fulfillment in Him" (C. H. Spurgeon). Let this be
kept before us as we pass from section to section, and from verse to verse.
"When the waves (pangs) of death compassed Me, the floods of ungodly men
made Me afraid; the sorrows (cords) of hell compassed Me about; the snares of
death prevented (anticipated) Me." Here was the Spirit of Christ speaking
prophetically through the Psalmist, expressing the fierce conflict through which
the Redeemer passed. Behold Him in Gethsemane, in the judgment-halls of
Herod and Pilate, and then behold Him on the Cross itself, suffering horrible
torments of body and anguish of soul, when He was delivered into the hands of
wicked men, encountered the fierce assaults of Satan, and endured the wrath of
God against Him for our sins. It was then that He was surrounded by the
insulting priests and people. His "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto
death" (Matthew 26:38) was but an echo of these words of David’s song.
"In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and He did hear
my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into His ears" (v. 7). Here we
behold God’s suffering servant making earnest supplication to heaven. The one
so sorely pressed by his enemies that the eye of sense could perceive not a single
avenue of escape, yea, when death itself immediately threatened him, seeks relief
from above, and so it should be with us: "Is any among you afflicted? let him
pray" (James 5:13). Ah, it is then he is most likely to really pray: cold and formal
petitions do not suit one who is in deep trouble—alas that so often nothing short
of painful trial will force fervent supplications from us. An old writer expressed
it, "Prayer is not eloquence, but earnestness; not the definition of earnestness,
but the feeling of it; it is the cry of faith in the ear of mercy": yet either pangs of
body or of soul are usually needed before we will cry out in reality.
"In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and He did hear
my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into His ears" (v. 7). So many
neglect prayer when they are quiet and at ease, but as the Lord declares, "In
their affliction they will seek Me early" (Hosea 5:15). Yet it is well if we do seek
unto God in our affliction, instead of sulking in rebellion, which is to forsake our
own mercy. The Lord is a very present help in trouble, and it is our holy
privilege to prove this for ourselves. The Hebrew word for "cried" here is an
expressive one, signifying such a cry as issues from one in a violent tempest of
emotion, in the extremity of grief and anxiety: in fact Alexander Maclaren
renders it "shriek." David was all but sinking and could only give vent to an
agonized call or help.
"Prayer is that postern gate which is left open even when the city is straightly
besieged by the enemy: it is that way upward from the pit of despair to which the
spiritual miner flies at once, when the floods from beneath break forth upon him.
Observe that he ‘calls,’ and then ‘cries’; prayer grows in vehemence as it
proceeds. Note also that he first invokes his God under the name of Jehovah, and
then advances to a more familiar name, ‘my God’: thus faith increases by
exercise, and he whom we at first viewed as Lord is soon seen to be our God in
covenant. It is never an ill time to pray: no distress should prevent us from using
the divine remedy of supplication" (C. H. Spurgeon).
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19. "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God." The fulfillment of
these prophetic words in the case of out suffering Redeemer is well known to all
who are acquainted with the four Gospels. Blessed indeed is it to behold that
One, who was supremely the Man after God’s own heart, betaking Himself to
prayer while His enemies were thirsting for His blood. The deeper His distress,
the more earnestly did He call upon God, both in Gethsemane and at Calvary,
and as Hebrews 5:7 tells us, "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered
up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was
able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared." Let us not
hesitate, then, to follow the example which He has left us, and no matter how
hardly we are pressed, how desperate be our situation, nor how acute our grief,
let us unburden ourselves to God.
"And he did hear my voice out of His temple, and my cry did enter into His
ears." This is in explanation of all that follows: the gracious interpositions of the
Lord on David’s behalf and the wondrous deliverances He wrought for him,
were in answer to prayer. God’s lending a willing ear to the cry of His distressed
child is recorded for our encouragement. It is indeed deplorable that we are
often so prayerless until pressure of circumstances force supplication out of us,
yet it is blessed to be assured that God does not then (as well He might) turn a
deaf ear unto our calls; nay, such calls have the greater prevalency, because of
their sincerity and because they make a more powerful appeal unto the divine
pity. Let the fearing and despondent believer read through Psalm 107 and mark
how frequently it is recorded that the redeemed "cry unto the Lord in their
trouble," and how that in each instance we are told "He delivered them" Then
do you cry unto Him, and be of good courage.
"Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and
shook, because He was wroth" (v. 8). David’s prayer was answered in a most
effectual manner by the providential interpositions which Jehovah made on his
behalf. In a most singular and extraordinary way the Lord appeared for his
relief, fighting for him against his enemies. Here again David adorned his poem
with lively images as he recorded God’s gracious intervention. The mighty power
of God was now exercised for him: such language being employed as to intimate
that nothing can resist or impede Him when He acts for His own. God was now
showing Himself to be strong on behalf of His oppressed but supplicating
servant. See here, dear reader, the response of heaven to the cry of faith. "Then
the earth shook and trembled": let these words be pondered in the light of "And
at midnight Paul and Silas prayed . . . and suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately
all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed" (Acts 16:25,26)!
Again we would remind the reader that a greater than David is to be kept before
us as we pass from verse to verse of this Psalm. "Then the earth shook and
trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because He was wroth:"
who can fail to be reminded of the supernatural phenomena which attended the
death and resurrection of David’s Son and Lord? He too had called upon
Jehovah in His deep distress, "And was heard" (Heb. 5:7). Unmistakable was
heaven’s response: "from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour . . . Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded
up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top
19

20. to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were
opened" (Matthew 27:45, 50-52). Yes, the earth literally "shook and trembled"!
As another has rightly said, "Tremendous was the scene! Never before and never
since was such a battle fought, or such a victory gained, whether we look at the
contending powers or the consequences resulting Heaven on the one side, and
hell on the other: such were the contending powers. And as to the consequences
resulting, who shall recount them?"
"There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured:
coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and
darkness was under His feet" (vv. 9, 10). These expressions are borrowed from
the awe-inspiring phenomena which attended the appearing of Jehovah upon
mount Sinai: compare Exodus 19:16-18. It was Jehovah the Avenger appearing
to vindicate His servant and vanquish his enemies. David considered that in his
case the Lord God manifested the same divine perfections which He had
displayed of old at the giving of the Law. We cannot do better here than quote
from Matthew Henry’s comments on the spiritual significance of the vivid
imagery which was here employed by the Psalmist.
"These lofty metaphors are used. First, to set forth the glory of God, which was
manifested in his deliverance: His wisdom and power, His goodness and
faithfulness, His justice and holiness, and His sovereign dominion over all the
creatures and all the counsels of men, which appeared in favour of David, were
as clear and bright a discovery of God’s glory to an eye of faith, as those would
have been to an eye of sense. Second, to set forth God’s displeasure against his
enemies: God so espoused his cause, that he showed Himself an Enemy to all his
enemies; His anger is set forth by a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His
mouth. Who knows the power and terror of His wrath! Third, to set forth the
vast confusion which his enemies were put into and the consternation that seized
them; as if the earth had trembled and the foundations of the world had been
discovered. Who can stand before God, when He is angry? Fourth, to show how
ready God was to help him: He ‘rode upon a cherub, and did fly’ (v.11). God
hastened to his succour, and came in to him with seasonable relief."
"And He rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and He was seen upon the wings of
the wind" (v. 11). Though the Lord "wait that He may be gracious" (Isa. 30:18),
and sometimes sorely tries faith and patience, yet when His appointed time
comes, He acts swiftly. "And He made darkness pavilions round about Him, dark
waters and thick clouds of the skies" (v. 12): just as that pillar of fire which gave
light to Israel was "a cloud and darkness" to the Egyptians (Ex. 14:20), so were
the providential dealings of the Lord unto the enemies of David. The One who is
pleased to reveal Himself unto His own, conceals Himself from the wicked, and
hence the fearful portion of those who shall be everlastingly banished from the
presence of the Lord is represented as "the blackness of darkness forever."
"Through the brightness before Him were coals of fire kindled. The Lord
thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. And He sent out
arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. And the channels
of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the
rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils"(vv. 13-16). All of
this is an amplification of "because He was wroth" (v. 8). Nothing so arouses
20

21. Jehovah’s indignation as injuries done to His people: he who attacks them,
touches the apple of His eye. True, God is not subject to those passions which
govern His creatures, yet because He hates sin with a perfect hatred and sorely
punishes it, He is often represented under such poetic imagery as is suited to
human understanding. God is a God to be feared, as those who now trifle with
Him shall yet discover. How shall puny men be able to face it out with the
Almighty, when the very mountains tremble at His presence! Satan-deluded
souls may now defy Him, but their false confidence will not support or shelter
them in the dread day of His wrath.
"He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters; He delivered
me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too
strong for me" (vv. 17, 18). Here is the happy issue to David’s prayer and the
Lord’s response. Observe, first, that David gives God the glory by unreservedly
ascribing his deliverance unto Him He looked far above his own skill in slinging
the stone which downed Goliath and his cleverness in eluding Saul: "He sent . . .
He took me, He drew me . . . He delivered me" gives all the honor unto Him to
whom it was truly due. Note, second, the particular reason mentioned by David
as to why the Lord had intervened on his behalf: "for they were too strong for
me"—it was his confessed weakness and the strength of his foes that made such a
powerful appeal to God’s pity: compare the effectual plea of Jehoshaphat: "O
our God, wilt Thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great
company that cometh against us" (2 Chron. 20:12). Finally, while the "strong
enemy" of verse 18 is an allusion to either Goliath or Saul, yet David’s
deliverance from them but prefigured Christ’s victory over death and Satan, and
here He ascribed that victory unto His God.
EXPOSITORS BIBLE COMMENTARY, "THE SONG OF THANKSGIVING.
2 Samuel 22:1-5.
SOME of David's actions are very characteristic of himself; there are other
actions quite out of harmony with his character. This psalm of thanksgiving
belongs to the former order. It is quite like David; at the conclusion of his
military enterprises, to cast his eye gratefully over the whole, and acknowledge
the goodness and mercy that had followed him all along. Unlike many, he was as
careful to thank God for mercies past and present as to entreat Him for mercies
to come. The whole Book of Psalms resounds with halleluiahs, especially the
closing part. In the song before us we have something like a grand halleluiah, in
which thanks are given for all the deliverances and mercies of the past, and
unbounded confidence expressed in God's mercy and goodness for the time to
come.
The date of this song is not to be determined by the place which it occupies in the
history. We have already seen that the last few chapters of Samuel consist of
supplementary narratives, not introduced at their regular places, but needful to
21

22. give completeness to the history. It is likely that this psalm was written
considerably before the end of David's reign. Two considerations make it all but
certain that its date is earlier than Absalom's rebellion. In the first place, the
mention of the name of Saul in the first verse - "in the day when God delivered
him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul" - would seem
to imply that the deliverance from Saul was somewhat recent, certainly not so
remote as it would have been at the end of David's reign. And secondly, while the
affirmation of David's sincerity and honesty in serving God might doubtless have
been made at any period of his life, yet some of his expressions would not have
been likely to be used after his deplorable fall. It is not likely that after that, he
would have spoken, for example, of the cleanness of his hands, stained as they
had been by wickedness that could hardly have been surpassed. On the whole, it
seems most likely that the psalm was written about the time referred to in 2
Samuel 7:1 - ''when the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round
about." This was the time when it was in his heart to build the temple, and we
know from that and other circumstances that he was then in a state of
overflowing thankfulness.
Besides the introduction, the song consists of three leading parts not very
definitely separated from each other, but sufficiently marked to form a
convenient division, as follows:
I. Introduction: the leading thought of the song, an adoring acknowledgment of
what God had been and was to David (2 Samuel 22:2-4).
II. A narrative of the Divine interpositions on his behalf, embracing his dangers,
his prayers, and the Divine deliverances in reply (2 Samuel 22:5-19).
III. The grounds of his protection and success (2 Samuel 22:20-30).
IV. References to particular acts of God's goodness in various parts of his life,
interspersed with reflections on the Divine character, from all which the
assurance is drawn that that goodness would be continued to him and his
successors, and would secure through coming ages the welfare and extension of
the kingdom. And here we observe what is so common in the Psalms: a gradual
rising above the idea of a mere earthly kingdom; the type passes into the
antitype; the kingdom of David melts, as in a dissolving view, into the kingdom
of the Messiah; thus a more elevated tone is given to the song, and the assurance
is conveyed to every believer that as God protected David and his kingdom, so
shall He protect and glorify the kingdom of His Son forever.
I. In the burst of adoring gratitude with which the psalm opens as its leading
thought, we mark David's recognition of Jehovah as the source of all the
protection, deliverance, and success he had ever enjoyed, along with a special
22

23. assertion of closest relationship to Him, in the frequent use of the word ''my,"
and a very ardent acknowledgment of the claim to his gratitude thus arising -
"God, who is worthy to be praised."
The feeling that recognized God as the Author of all his deliverances was
intensely strong, for every expression that can denote it is heaped together: "My
rock, my portion, my deliverer; the God of my rock, my shield; the horn of my
salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my Saviour." He takes no credit to himself;
he gives no glory to his captains; the glory is all the Lord's. He sees God so
supremely the Author of his deliverance that the human instruments that helped
him are for the moment quite out of view. He who, in the depths of his penitence,
sees but one supremely injured Being, and says, "Against Thee, Thee only, have I
sinned," at the height of his prosperity sees but one gracious Being, and adores
Him, who only is his rock and his salvation. In an age when all the stress is apt to
be laid on the human instruments, and God left out of view, this habit of mind is
instructive and refreshing. It was a touching incident in English history when,
after the battle of Agincourt, Henry V. of England directed the hundred and
fifteenth Psalm to be sung; prostrating himself on the ground, and causing his
whole army to do the same, when the words were sounded out, "Not unto us, O
Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name give glory."
The emphatic use of the pronoun "my" by the Psalmist is very instructive. It is
so easy to speak in general terms of what God is, and what God does; but it is
quite another thing to be able to appropriate Him as ours, and rejoice in that
relation. Luther said of the twenty-third Psalm that the word '"my" in the first
verse was the very hinge of the whole. There is a whole world of difference
between the two expressions, "The Lord is a Shepherd" and "The Lord is my
Shepherd." The use of the "my" indicates a personal transaction, a covenant
relation into which the parties have solemnly entered. No man is entitled to use
this expression who has merely a reverential feeling towards God, and respect
for His will. You must have come to God as a sinner, owning and feeling your
unworthiness, and casting yourself on His grace. You must have transacted with
God in the spirit of His exhortation, "Come out from among them, and be ye
separate, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will be a Father unto you; and
ye shall be My sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."
One other point has to be noticed in this introduction - when David comes to
express his dependence on God, he very specially sets Him before his mind as
"worthy to be praised." He calls to mind the gracious character of God, - not an
austere God, reaping where He has not sown, and gathering where He has not
strawed, but ''the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious, long-suffering and
abundant in goodness and truth." ''This doctrine," says Luther, "is in
tribulation the most ennobling and truly golden. One cannot imagine what
assistance such praise of God is in pressing danger. For as soon as you begin to
praise God the sense of the evil will also begin to abate, the comfort of your heart
will grow; and then God will be called on with confidence. There are some who
cry to the Lord and are not heard. Why is this? Because they do not praise the
23

24. Lord when they cry to Him, but go to Him with reluctance; they have not
represented to themselves how sweet the Lord is, but have looked only to their
own bitterness. But no one gets deliverance from evil by looking simply upon his
evil and becoming alarmed at it; he can get deliverance only by rising above his
evil, hanging it on God, and having respect to His goodness. Oh, hard counsel,
doubtless, and a rare thing truly, in the midst of trouble to conceive of God as
sweet, and worthy to be praised; and when He has removed Himself from us and
is incomprehensible, even then to regard Him more intensely than we regard our
misfortune that keeps us from Him I Only let one try it, and make the endeavour
to praise God, though in little heart for it he will soon experience an
enlightenment."
HAWKER, "The prosecution of David's history is interrupted through the whole
of this Chapter, in order to introduce his Song, or Psalm of praise. It is not said
when David wrote it; but it is said when he spake it, for the title of it expresses
that it was when the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies,
and particularly out of the hand of Saul. It contains therefore, from beginning to
end, manifold praises for manifold deliverances.
2 Samuel 22:1
(1) ¶ And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the
LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand
of Saul:
We have this same Psalm, only with suitable variations, among the collection of
David's Psalms, Psalms 18:1-50th in number. In that collection, this first verse
forms the title page to what follows. There is a great beauty, as well as a great
expression of devotion, in what is here said-in the day meaning, that David
suffered not the impression of the LORD's goodness to cool upon his mind, but
while the fire of grace, which the LORD had kindled, burned within him, his
soul went forth in the sacrifice of praise and love, to the great Author of his
mercies, upon the Altar which sanctifieth the gift, even JESUS.
LANGE, "This song of praise and thanksgiving is (a few deviations excepted,
which will be examined in the exposition) identical with Psalm 18. The
superscription is substantially the same in the two productions. In the Psalm the
opening words: “to the precentor, by the servant of Jehovah, by David,” are like
the title of Psalm 36; then follows (in the form of a relative sentence: “who spake
to Jehovah”) the historical introduction in the same words as in 2 Samuel 22:1 of
our chapter (except only that the second “hand” is given by different words):
“And David spake to the Lord the words of this Song of Solomon,” etc. The
Davidic origin of the Song of Solomon, which is universally recognized (except by
Olshausen and Hupfeld) is thus doubly attested. The redactor of our Books
regards this as equally indubitable as in the other sayings and poems attributed
24

25. to David, 2 Samuel 3:33-34; 2 Samuel 5:8; 2 Samuel 7:18-29; 2 Samuel 23:1-7.
The high antiquity of the song is favored by its use in Psalm 116, 144, and the
quotation of 2 Samuel 22:31 in Proverbs 30:5, and of 2 Samuel 22:34 in Hab.
iii19; and especially the early recognition of its Davidic origin is shown by the
fact that the author of the Books of Samuel found the superscription, which
ascribes the song to David, already in the historical authority whence he took the
narrative (comp. Hitzig on Psalm, I:95 sqq.). The source, whence Psalm 18 also
with its identical historical introduction was taken into the psalter (since it was
evidently not taken from 2 Sam.) is doubtless one of the theocratic-prophetic
historical works; from which Sam. has drawn. See the Introduction, pp31–35.
The content also of the song puts its genuineness beyond doubt. The victories
that God has given the singer over internal and external enemies, so that he is
now a mighty king, the individual characteristics, which agree perfectly with the
Davidic Psalm, and especially the singer’s designation of himself by the name
David ( 2 Samuel 22:51), compel us to regard the latter as the author.
“Certainly,” says Hitzig, “this opinion will be derived from 2 Samuel 22:51. And
rightly; for, if the song was not by David, it must have been composed in his
name and into his soul; and who could this contemporary and equal poet be?”—
On the position of the song in this connection midway among the sections of the
concluding appendix, see Introduction, pp21–23. The insertion of the episodes
from the Philistian wars ( 2 Samuel 21:15-22) gives the point of connection for
the introduction of this song of victory, which David sang in triumph over his
external enemies. And the reference at the close of this song ( 2 Samuel 22:51) to
the promise of the everlasting kingdom ( 2 Samuel 7:12-16; 2 Samuel 7:26; 2
Samuel 7:29), which David now sees is assured by his victories, has obviously
given the redactor the point of connection for David’s last prophetic song ( 2
Samuel 23:1-7), wherein is celebrated the imperishable dominion of his house,
founded on the covenant that the Lord has made with him. Noticeable also is the
bond of connection between the two songs in the fact that David calls himself by
name in 2 Samuel 22:51; 2 Samuel 23:1 just as in 2 Samuel 7:20.—The time of
composition (the reference in 2 Samuel 22:51 to 2 Samuel7 being unmistakable)
cannot be before the date when David, on the ground of the promise given him
through Nathan, could be sure that his dominion despite all opposition was
immovable, and that the throne of Israel would remain forever with his house.
The words of the title: “in the day when the Lord had saved him from the hand
of all his enemies” agree with the description of victories in 2 Samuel 22:29-46,
and point to a time when David had established his kingdom by war, and forced
heathen princes to do homage (comp. 2 Samuel 22:44-49). But, as God’s
victorious help against external enemies is celebrated in the second part of the
Song of Solomon, and the joyous tone of exultation shows that David’s heart is
taken up with the gloriousness of that help, it is a fair assumption that the song
was written not after the turmoil of Absalom’s conspiracy and the succeeding
events (Keil), but immediately after the victorious wars narrated in chaps8,10. 2
Samuel 22:44-45 may without violence be referred (Hitzig) to the fact related in 2
Samuel 8:9 sqq, that Toi, king of Hamath, presented his homage to David
through his son Joram. So the reference to 2 Samuel 8:6, where the Syrians are
said to have been conquered and brought gifts, is obvious. The conviction of the
theocratic narrator (as expressed in the repeated remark, 2 Samuel 8:6, 2 Samuel
14 : “the Lord helped David, wherever he went”) that David had the Lord’s
25

26. special help in these wars with Syria and Edom, accords with the free, joyous
praise of the Lord’s help in our song. The song was therefore very probably
produced after the victories over the Syrians and Edomites, which were epoch-
making for the establishment and extension of David’s authority. David
composed it doubtless at the glorious end of this war, looking at the same time at
God’s mercies to him in the early period of the Sauline persecution, and the
internal wars with Saul’s adherents ( 2 Samuel 2:8 to 2 Samuel 4:12), and
making these subject-matter of praise and thanks to the Lord. The poet’s
imagination, in its contemplation of the two principal periods of war, moves
backwards, presenting first the external wars, which were the nearest, and then
the internal, with Saul and his house. The designation of time “in the day” (i.e.,
at the time, as in Genesis 2:4 and elsewhere) “when the Lord had saved him from
the hand of Saul,” points to the moment of David’s victory over all his enemies,
when he could breathe freely and praise God.[FN1]—The form of the
superscription is similar to that of the superscriptions of the songs that are
inserted in the history in Exodus 15:1; Numbers 21:17; Deuteronomy 31:30. In
Psalm 18, as here, the song is introduced with the words: “and he said.”
PULPIT, "Verses 1-51
EXPOSITION
DAVID'S PSALM OF THANKSGIVING.
This song, which is identical with Psalms 18:1-50; though with many verbal
differences, is so universally acknowledged as a genuine composition of King
David, that the objections taken by one or two critics serve only to give us
greater security by reminding us that the other side has been carefully argued.
The differences between its form here and in the Book of Psalms suggest many
important considerations with regard to textual criticism. From the absence of
manuscripts, we have very scanty means of judging of the correctness of the
ordinary Hebrew text. We have, indeed, abundant proof that the Jews took
extreme care of their sacred text in the early centuries of our era; but we
nevertheless find, most frequently in names, mistakes which have arisen from the
carelessness of scribes, and especially from the confusion by them of similar
letters. Thus the Sibbechai of 2 Samuel 21:18 becomes Mebunnai in 2 Samuel
23:27, owing to some scribe having mistaken two letters in the name. And as the
similarity between them exists, not in the old Hebrew writing, but in the square
character substituted after the exile, the confusion must be subsequent to that
date. In comparing the two texts of this psalm, we find similar instances of
confusion of letters in 2 Samuel 23:11, 42, 43; we find words transposed in 2
Samuel 23:5, 2 Samuel 23:6; and clauses repeated or omitted in 2 Samuel 23:13,
2 Samuel 23:14. In short, all the phenomena with which we are familiar in the
textual criticism of the New Testament are also found here. And may we not add
that they end in the same result? The general sense and meaning remain much
the same. The variations of reading do not affect the teaching of Holy Scripture
on any important point. It may be asked, then—Why should we notice them at
26

27. all? And why urge them upon the attention of scholars? The answer is that there
exist flaws and blemishes in the Massoretic, that is, the ordinary Hebrew, text,
and that the removal of them is prevented by the strange idea which accords
infallibility to the Massorites, and will not concede to the far more difficult
problem of the ancient Hebrew text that which is granted as a matter of course to
the comparatively modern Greek text of the New Testament. And thus the Old
Testament is neglected, and left outside that careful and minute study so lavishly
expended on the New, and so rich in useful results.
Of the date when David wrote this psalm there can be little doubt. It was at the
close of his first great series of victories, after Toi, the Hittite King of Hamath,
had sent to him an embassy of congratulation (2 Samuel 8:9, 2 Samuel 8:10),
referred to very triumphantly in verses 45, 46. But there is no trace in it of the
sorrow and shame that clouded over his latter days; and no man whose
conscience was stained with sins so dark as those of adultery and murder could
have written words so strongly asserting his integrity and the cleanness of his
hands as are found in 2 Samuel 23:21-25. The psalm belongs to David's happiest
time, when he had won for Israel security and empire. It is written from first to
last in a tone of jubilant exultation, caused, as we may well believe, by Nathan's
acceptance of his purpose to build the temple, and by the solemn appointment of
David as the theocratic king. If it were arranged according to time and matter, it
would be placed immediately after 2 Samuel 8:1-18; as it is evidently David's
thanksgiving for the benefits and blessings just promised to him and his seed.
But the scribes inserted it here, not so much because of its historical value, as
because it is a national thanksgiving for the founding of that empire by which
Israel became verily the theocratic people, and the type upon earth of the
kingdom of the Messiah. The prophet who compiled the Books of Samuel
rejoiced in David's victories, not because they gave Israel worldly dominion, but
because they were a fulfilment of past prophecy, and a necessary part of the
preparation for the religious position which Israel was to hold. Such as it had
been under the judges, Israel would have been no fit home for the prophetic
light. It could not have grown and developed, nor the race have become a
Church fit to be the teacher of all mankind. And in this hymn the Church
expresses her joy at the high office and extended usefulness to which God has
seen fit to call her. The spiritual exposition of the psalm will naturally be sought
in commentaries on the Book of Psalms. But such matters as its outward form,
and the differences between the two texts, will not be out of place here.
2 Samuel 22:1
David spake. The introduction was probably written by the prophet who
compiled the Books of Samuel. The scribe who collected the Book of Psalms
would be a priest, and he has repeated it with one or two additions, the most
important of which is that the psalm was written "by David the servant of
Jehovah." This title; meaning the minister or vicegerent of Jehovah, is one so
27

28. high that it would certainly not have been given to David in his lifetime; nor was
it even until Moses was dead that he was honoured with this rank (Deuteronomy
34:5). But what was David's right to this title, which put him on a level with
Moses? It was this: In adding to the sacrificial ritual enacted by Moses a daily
service in the temple of sacred minstrelsy and songs, David was acting with
higher powers than were ever exercised by any other person. For though, as we
have seen, Samuel was the originator of these services in his schools, yet. there is
a wide difference between private and public services; and David made his
anthems part of the national liturgy. But it would only be when the halo of long
use had gathered round his holy psalmody that David would be placed on in
equality with Moses, and his authority a institute a new ritual for the nation be
recognized.
2 He said:
"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer;
BARNES, "From Jordan ... - The men of Israel only escorted David from
Jordan to Gilgal, and there left him; but the men of Judah in a body went with him
all the way to Jerusalem.
GILL, "So every man of Israel went up from after David,.... Those that met
him on the road departed from him, and went no further with him:
and followed Sheba the son of Bichri; and made him their captain, who was the
author of their mutiny and sedition:
but the men of Judah clave unto their king, from Jordan to Jerusalem:
never left him, after they had conducted him over Jordan, until they had brought him
safely to Jerusalem.
JAMISON, "from Jordan even to Jerusalem — The quarrel had broken out
shortly after the crossing of the Jordan, between Judah and the other tribes, who
withdrew; so that Judah was left nearly alone to conduct the king to the metropolis.
HAWKER, "(2) ¶ And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my
deliverer; (3) The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the
horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me
from violence.
28

29. Do observe how David is labouring for expressions to show forth the wonderful
perfections of GOD, and that that GOD, with all his perfections, is his GOD in
covenant. Oh! it is sweet when faith makes an appropriating right of all that
GOD hath, and is, as our own, when, like the bee, the flowers are not only visited
by her, and sipped in the present moment, but she brings home to her little hive
constant store for every occasion. Reader! see to it, in your own experience, that
this is your case. When you not only contemplate a GOD in CHRIST, as the
rock, and fortress, and deliverer of his people; but faith can add to it, he is the
GOD of my rock, and in him do I trust.
K&D, "2Sa_20:2
All the men of Israel responded to this call, and went up (to the mountains) away
from David and after Sheba; but the men of Judah adhered to their king from the
Jordan to Jerusalem. The construction of ‫ק‬ ַ‫ב‬ ָ with ‫ד‬ ַ‫ע‬ְ‫ו‬ ... ‫ן‬ ִ‫מ‬ is a pregnant one: they
adhered to and followed him. The expression “from Jordan” does not prove that
Sheba's rebellion broke out at the Jordan itself, and before David's arrival in Gilgal,
but may be accounted for from the fact that the men of Judah had already fetched the
king back across the Jordan.
LANGE, "2 Samuel 22:2-4. The prologue of the song. With an unusually great
number of predicates, David out of his joyously thankful heart, praises the Lord for
His many deliverances. The numerous designations of God in 2 Samuel 22:2-3 are
the summary statement of what, as the song exhibits in detail, the Lord has been to
him in all his trials. In 2 Samuel 22:4 the thankful testimony to the salvation that
God (as above designated in 2 Samuel 22:2-3) has vouchsafed him, is set forth as the
theme of the whole song. The opening words of Psalm 18 ( 2 Samuel 22:2 [ 2 Samuel
22:1]): “I love thee, O Lord, my strength,” are wanting in our passage. The originality
of this introduction, which the Syriac [of 2 Samuel22] contains, and which “carries
its own justification” (Thenius), is not to be doubted; it has here fallen out either
“from illegible writing” (Thenius), or through mistake. “I deeply love[FN2] thee;”
David’s deep love to his God is the fruit of God’s manifestations of love to him.
Luther: “Thus he declareth his deepest love, that he delighteth in our Lord God; for
he feeleth that his benefits are unspeakable, and from this exceeding great delight
and love it cometh that He giveth him so many names, as in what followeth.” These
words of Psalm 18:2 have occasioned the noble hymns:[FN3] “With all my heart, O
Lord, I love Thee” (M. Schalling), and: “Thee will I love, my strength” (J. Scheffler).—
The phrase: “my strength”[FN4] denotes not the inner power of heart received by
David from God (Luther), but (as is shown by the following names of God, which all
refer to outward help) the manifestations of the might of God amid the trials brought
on him by enemies.—My rock and my fortress; the same designation is found in
Psalm 31:4 [ Psalm 31:3] and Psalm 71:3. “My rock, properly cleft[FN5] of a rock,
which gives concealment from enemies,=he who conceals me to save me. So in Psalm
42:10 [ Psalm 42:9] the strong God (‫ל‬ ֵ‫,)א‬ is called, over against pressing enemies, “my
rock.”—My fortress,[FN6] a place difficult of access from its height and strength, offering
protection against ambush and attack, a watchtower. The natural basis for these figures is
found in the frequent rock-clefts and steep, inaccessible hills of Palestine. Comp. Judges 6:2;
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30. Job 39:27-28; Isaiah 33:16. The historical basis is furnished by David’s experiences in Saul’s
time, when he was often obliged to betake himself to clefts and hills. Comp. 1 Samuel 22:5;
23:14, 19; 24:1, 23.—The meaning of these concrete figures is indicated in the added
expression: My deliverer. Böttcher would change the pointing and read: “My deliverance;”
[FN7] but there is no good ground for this, either in the occurrence of this latter word in
Psalm 55:9, 8] and Psalm 144:2, or in the abstract expressions of 2 Samuel 22:4 [ 2 Samuel
22:3]. Rather the indication of the Lord’s personal, active help in the words saviour and
savest, favors the reading “deliverer.”
PETT, "2 Samuel 22:2-4
‘And he said:
“YHWH is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine,
God, my rock, in him will I take refuge,
My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge,
My saviour, you save me from violence.
I will call upon YHWH, who is worthy to be praised,
So will I be saved from my enemies.”
Note how these verses pile one description on another as David seeks to express the
confidence that he has in YHWH, a confidence matured by bitter experience. YHWH is his
Rock, and his Fortress, and his Deliverer, yes, ‘even mine’. He was ever conscious of how
unworthy he was that YHWH should be so good to him. The emphasis is on the fact that he is
firmly established and totally safe. He is founded on YHWH as his Rock, he is safe in
YHWH as his heavenly mountain fortress, and he looks to YHWH as his own personal
Deliverer. Furthermore YHWH is the Rock in which he finds refuge, is his Shield and
Protector, and is the One Whose mighty strength (horn) constantly saves him. He is his High
Tower and Refuge. How could he possibly have been safer?
Note also the emphasis on salvation. ‘Refuge’, ‘salvation’, ‘Saviour’, ‘save me’, ‘so will I be
saved’. His whole dependence for deliverance is in his God who saves him from violence and
from his enemies and from all that he has to face. That is why He is worthy to be praised. The
idea underlines the whole Psalm.
PULPIT 2-4, "The Syriac in 2 Samuel 22:2 inserts, "Fervently do I love thee, Jehovah my
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31. Strength;" but it probably only borrows the words from Psalms 18:1. For we may well believe
that it was at a later period of his life, after deeper and more heart searching trials, that
David thus felt his love to Jehovah only strengthened and made more necessary to him by the
loss of his earthly happiness. In Psalms 18:3, The God of my rock is changed in Psalms 18:2
into "My God my Rock" (Authorized Version, "strength")—probably an intentional
alteration, as being far less rugged and startling than this bold metaphor of the Deity being
his rock's God. In the original the words present each its distinct idea. Thus in Psalms 18:2 the
rock is a high cliff or precipice. It is the word sela, which gave its name to the crag city of
Idumea. Fortress really means a rock, difficult of access, and forming a secure retreat. It is
entirely a natural formation, and not a building. In Psalms 18:3 rock is a vast mountainous
mass (Job 18:4), and, as it suggests the ideas of grandeur and immovable might, it is often
used for God's glory as being the Strength and Protection of his people. Next follow two
ordinary metaphors, the shield for defence, and the horn for attack; after which David, who
had so often sought safety among the cliffs and fastnesses of the mountains, returns to the
same circle of thoughts, and calls God his High Tower, the word signifying, not a building,
but a height, a lofty natural stronghold; and finally his Refuge, a place of safe retreat among
the mountains. This and the rest of the verse are omitted in Psalms 18:2. In Psalms 18:4 the
words are as literally translated above, and signify, "Whenever call, I am saved." In all times of
difficulty, prayer brings immediate deliverance.
3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior-
from violent men you save me.
CLARKE, "The ten women - He could not well divorce them; he could not
punish them, as they were not in the transgression; he could no more be familiar
with them, because they had been defiled by his son; and to have married them to
other men might have been dangerous to the state: therefore he shut them up and fed
them - made them quite comfortable, and they continued as widows to their death.
GILL, "And David came to his house at Jerusalem,.... His palace there, which
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