2 Samuel 22:1 – 51 “1And David sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer.
3My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.
4I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
5For the waves of death engulfed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
6The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me.
7In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried out to my God. And from His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for help reached His ears.
8Then the earth shook and quaked; the foundations of the heavens trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
9Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals flamed forth.
10He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
11He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
12He made darkness a canopy around Him, a gathering of water and thick clouds.
13From the brightness of His presence, coals of fire blazed forth.
14The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
15He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.
16The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
17He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
18He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, for they were too mighty for me.
19They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.
20He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
21The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.
22For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23For all His ordinances are before me; I have not disregarded His statutes.
24And I have been blameless before Him and kept myself from iniquity.
25So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight.
26To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, and to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
27to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
28You save an afflicted people, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
David’s song of victory recorded here is also known as the 18th Psalm. Because of its length, we are only studying the first part of this song. There are several themes here: God’s mighty power to save, God’s glory and majesty, and God’s faithfulness. The verses glorifying God are some of the most luminous and transcendent verses in all of the Psalms. David describes storms, floods, even tsunamis, as only someone who has witnessed these phenomena might do. Many of these verses have been turned into hymns and songs of praise ever since David wrote them. But there’s a problem.
This is a young man’s psalm. Why? David still has a very high opinion of himself. “21The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. 22For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23For all His ordinances are before me; I have not disregarded His statutes. 24And I have been blameless before Him and kept myself from iniquity. 25So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight. 26To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, and to the blameless You show Yourself blameless; 27to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.” In the arrogance of youth, David is sure that his heart is pure and that it will always remain that way. David contrasts himself with Saul, without mentioning Saul’s name. Saul has been pursuing David, abusing power. David is certain that he will NEVER do something remotely similar. At this point, David is not yet king, so he has no experience with unlimited power and its seductions. Obviously, this psalm was written before David abused his royal power to steal Bathsheba and have her husband killed.
APPLICATION: There’s a line from one of the songs from the musical Fiddler on the Roof: “Life has a way of abusing us, blessing and bruising us!” David’s song of victory is wonderful, awe – inspiring, and can lead one into worship. But this song is also a bit smug. David is sure that he is never going to behave like Saul, not ever, ever, ever! And David is wrong.
David’s sin with Bathsheba, his assassination of Uriah, and his attempts at covering up start a train of destruction that blights his family for several generations. We don’t know exactly the depths of evil to which Saul eventually sank, but we do know that his persecution of the Gibeonites was so bad that God approved having the Gibeonites hang seven of Saul’s male descendants. But David’s sins are also many. The one difference between Saul and David is that David repents while Saul does not. God blesses and honors David for his heart of repentance
For those of us willing to absorb the lessons life teaches us, we will endure abuse, blessing, and bruising. And much of that suffering comes from our own faults. If we are honest, many of us can point to decisions we have taken in our youth that have left deep scars. And if we are honest about our own failings, we should be far less ready to make snap judgements and to jump to conclusions about others. The Ghanaians have a saying that “Just because you hear the sound of fufu being pounded does not mean you know the kind of soup they will eat with it.” Fufu is a starchy staple made from boiled green plantain, cassava, West African yams – any of these separately or in combination. Once the plantain, cassava, or yams have been peeled and boiled, they are pounded in a huge mortar. When someone is pounding fufu, everyone in the neighborhood can hear the noise; it sounds like a small pile driver. But fufu ingredients are cheap while the ingredients for soup can be very expensive, particularly if the soup includes meat or fish. You cannot tell the financial status of a family by hearing them pound fufu. For all you know, the family may be eating dried okra soup, which is quite cheap.
God is the only one who really knows the human heart, and therefore God is the only one qualified to judge. The rest of us need to cut one another a lot of slack. Remember, if you are pounding fufu, your neighbor may think you are enjoying an entire chicken in your soup; meanwhile, all you have is dried okra.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to always praise You but also help us not to judge those around us harshly. You are the only One qualified to judge. Thank You for Your goodness, Your majesty, and Your grace. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment