II Samuel 22:1-20 – Praise for God’s Deliverance
The Living Word With Chuck Davis
II Samuel 22:1-20 – Praise for God’s Deliverance
Welcome to the Living Word with Chuck Davis. 2 Samuel 22, 1 to 20. Praise for God's deliverance. David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all of his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said, "The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliver, my God, my rock, and whom I take refuge, my shield in the horn of my salvation, my stronghold in my refuge, my Savior, you save me from violence." I call upon the Lord who was worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. For the waves of death encompassed me and the torrents of destruction assailed me, the cords of shoal entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord to my God I called. From his temple he heard my voice. And my cry came to his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked and the foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth, glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew. He was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness around him his canopy. Thick clouds a gathering of water. Out of the brightness before him, coals of fire flamed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven and the most high uttered his voice. And he sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning and routed them. Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were laid bare, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. He sent from unhigh, he took me. He drew me out of any waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me. For they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place. He rescued me because he delighted in me. Chapter 22 is a long declaration of praise from David. We're going to break it into four sections. It's David's song of deliverance, because each section is worth taking a bit of a note. This one has the echo of Psalm 18, which has many common things. It all begins with David's declaration, the Lord is. My rock, my fortress, my deliver, my God, my rock, my shield, my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my savior. David has a high view of God, but it's a personalized view. He's not basically talking about God. He's releasing his praise to God, even in this direct declaration. It's in the midst of his troubles. There's a whole section in the middle that has the echo of Jonah praying from inside the great fish. From his temple, he has heard my voice. The earth reeled and rocked. I met the foundation of this place of trouble. But in the midst of that, the Lord thundered. The most high uttered his voice. He sent rescue. He sent support. He sent. And because of that, the psalmist, David in this space, is able to declare that the Lord delights in him. This is kind of a counterpart. Now remember, we're coming to the end of the David story and the Samuel narrative. We're going to move into a final couple structures that come to us in First Kings. But this kind of serves as an inclusio for the author who has collected the Samuel story. We could call it the Samuel/David story. This is the counterpart to the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, 1 to 10. It's the bracket to the story. What has held this whole story together? It is the worship of God. And the soul what of this initial part of praise is certainly the dominant theme that deliverance comes from Yahweh. Without the Lord stepping in, we have nothing. The now what for me is to remember that and to join the song. Not wait for Sunday for bringing my worship, which is very important in the corporate section, that we bring it together. But today stopping and acknowledging and singing praise to God, adorning the heavens with our declarations and our singing and our music that is just repeating the ongoing declaration from heaven and in all of creation. And so Lord, we can say today, you are my rock. You are my Savior, and we hide ourselves in you. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.