The LORD Is My Rock (2 Samuel 22:1-51)
For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who 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.
He said: “I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD and I cried to my God for help.
From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears. Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger. Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals flamed forth. He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds under His feet. He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him. From the brightness of His presence, His clouds advanced— hailstones and coals of fire.
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire. He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them. The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. He reached from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from foes too mighty for me. They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.
He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me. The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His ordinances are before me; I have not disregarded His statutes. And I have been blameless before Him and kept myself from iniquity. So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless; to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd. For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.
For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God enlightens my darkness. For in You I can charge an army,
and with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear. He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me Your shield of salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your gentleness exalts me. You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed. I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet. You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me. You have made my enemies retreat before me;
I put an end to those who hated me. They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but He did not answer. I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
You have delivered me from the strife of the people; You have made me the head of nations; a people I had not known shall serve me. When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me. Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds. The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! And may the God of my salvation be exalted—the God who avenges me and subdues nations beneath me, who delivers me from my enemies. You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.
Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name. Great salvation He brings to His king. He shows loving devotion to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.”
God has delivered David, and David is beyond thrilled and exhilarated! ”I love You, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.” There are many songs of triumph in the Bible, for example, the Song of Deborah in Judges 5:2-31. But for sheer joy and detailed description of God’s awesome power, it’s hard to top Psalm 18. As the introduction states, God has delivered David from Saul and from all of his other enemies, and David is over the moon!
”The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD and I cried to my God for help.” David has really thought he would die at any moment. At one point, David was on one side of a huge rock while Saul and his warriors were on the other side. Just as Saul was about to catch David, a messenger brought word of an attack by a rival nation, forcing Saul to break off the hunt for David and to go protect Israel.
“He reached from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from foes too mighty for me. They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.” “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.” “You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.
Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name.” David is strutting and gesturing and break dancing and gyrating. “Yo Lord! You the Man!”
APPLICATION: Are you stuck between a rock and a hard place? Has God brought you out of a nasty mess? Are you watching your tormentors run off with their tails between their legs? This psalm is for you! This psalm has given hope to untold numbers of people caught in bad situations and individual verses from this psalm have been used as the basis for large numbers of praise choruses that have inspired millions of people. One such chorus proclaims, “I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised! So shall I be saved from my enemies. The Lord liveth, and blessed be my rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted!”
No matter how David failed later in life, this psalm remains as a monument to his exuberant faith. David was the last-born son, the runt of the litter, nothing much to look at. David’s father, Jesse, thought so little of him that he routinely sent David out to herd sheep and goats exposing David to attack by lions and bears. Jesse may have thought that he had several other big handsome sons, so if he lost David, no biggie. But out there with the sheep, David had plenty of time to think and compose songs and to forge a tight relationship with God. David also became a sharp-shooter with a slingshot. Although we think of slingshots as toys for little boys, in Bible times, slings were the equivalent of long-range rifles, and being a dead shot with either hand was a major achievement for warriors.
What should you do with this psalm? If you find the length of this psalm a bit much, find the verses that speak the most directly to your current situation. Copy those verses on cards or on your cell phone so you can refer to them whenever necessary, and repeat those verses as many times a day as you can. The more you repeat these verses to yourself, the more meaningful they will become to you, and the more they will speak to you.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all who read these words to find special messages of love from You in this psalm. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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