2 Samuel 22

2 Samuel 22

Morris - Neither David nor Christ were drawn out of "many waters" in any literal sense, though this could be understood figuratively as applicable to either one. Noah, however, and those preserved by God in the ark, were indeed really drawn by God out of many waters. NET NOTE Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see v. 5 and Ps 144:7). Where’s Your Anchor? In You, O Lord, I put my trust. — Psalm 71:1 Today's Scripture: 2 Samuel 22:1-7 An unknown author made this analogy: “Can you imagine the captain of a ship, driven about by rough winds and desiring to drop anchor, trying to find a suitable place to do so right on board his own vessel? Such a thing seems ridiculous, but for the sake of a lesson let’s picture the skipper doing that. He hangs the anchor at the bow, but still the boat drives before the wind. He sets it on the deck, but this too fails to hold it steady. At last he puts it down into the hold, but has no better success. “You see, an anchor resting on the storm-driven craft will never do the job. Only as it is thrown into the deep can it be effective against the wind and tide. In the same way, the person whose confidence is in himself will never experience true peace and safety. His actions are as futile as one who keeps the anchor aboard his own ship. Cast your faith into the great depths of God’s eternal love and power. Place your trust in the infinitely faithful One.” Though waves and billows o’er me roll In crushing floods of ill, Within the haven of God’s love My soul is anchored still. —Anon. We’ll be steady in the storm if we’re anchored to Christ the rock. Pulled to Safety He reached down from on high and took hold of me. 2 Samuel 22:17 Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Samuel 22:13–20 A little girl waded in a shallow creek while her father watched. Her rubber boots reached her knees. As she sloshed downstream, the water deepened until it flowed over the top of her waders. When she couldn’t take another step, she yelled, “Daddy, I’m stuck!” In three strides, her father was at her side, pulling her to the grassy bank. She yanked her boots off and laughed as water poured onto the ground. After God rescued the psalmist David from his enemies, he took a moment to sit down, “pull off his boots,” and allow the relief to flood his soul. He wrote a song to express his feelings. “I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and have been saved from my enemies,” he said (2 Samuel 22:4). He praised God as his rock, fortress, shield, and stronghold (vv. 2–3), and then went on to narrate a poetic response of God’s response: The earth trembled. God came down from heaven. Lightning bolts flew from His presence. His voice thundered, and He drew him out of deep water (vv. 8, 10, 13–15, 17). Why is it easy to overlook the good things God’s done for you in the past when you’re in the midst of trouble? How does praising God increase your faith in Him? Dear heavenly Father, thank You for coming to my aid so many times. Help me to know I can face any battle with You by my side. Deep-Water Rescue He drew me out of deep waters. Psalm 18:16 Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 18:1–3, 16–19 A record rainfall more than tripled what was forecasted in Waverly, Tennessee, in August 2021. In the wake of the powerful storm, twenty people lost their lives and hundreds of homes were destroyed. Had it not been for the compassion and skill of helicopter pilot Joel Boyers, the loss of human life would’ve been even greater. The pilot took flight in response to a phone call from a woman who was concerned about her loved ones. In addition to seeing houses on fire and cars in trees, Boyers noted, “It was nothing but [muddy], raging water below me.” The pilot, however, bravely proceeded to rescue twelve people from the roofs of their homes. More often than not in life, the swirling floods we face aren’t literal—but oh, how real! In days of uncertainty and instability, we can feel overwhelmed, unsafe—“in over our heads” mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. But we don’t need to despair. What deep waters are you facing that compel you to call upon God? What keeps you from calling on Him? Strong, saving, rescuing God, in the midst of my distress, when life’s waters are raging, grant me the faith to see You and cleave to You in every storm. For further study, read Clinging to Hope in the Storm. 2 Samuel 22:18 "He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. BGT 2 Samuel 22:18 ἐρρύσατό με ἐξ ἐχθρῶν μου ἰσχύος ἐκ τῶν μισούντων με ὅτι ἐκραταιώθησαν ὑπὲρ ἐμέ LXE 2 Samuel 22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemies, from them that hated me, for they were stronger than I. KJV 2 Samuel 22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. NET 2 Samuel 22:18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hate me, for they were too strong for me. CSB 2 Samuel 22:18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. ESV 2 Samuel 22:18 He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. NIV 2 Samuel 22:18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. NLT 2 Samuel 22:18 He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. NRS 2 Samuel 22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. NJB 2 Samuel 22:18 rescued me from my mighty foe, from my enemies who were stronger than I. NAB 2 Samuel 22:18 He rescued me from my mighty enemy, from my foes, who were too powerful for me. YLT 2 Samuel 22:18 He delivereth me from my strong enemy, From those hating me, For they were stronger than I. delivered: 2Sa 22:1 Ps 3:7 56:9 2Co 1:10 2Ti 4:17 Related Passages: Psalm 18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, And from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me "David in his picture refers first to his powerful enemy Saul, and then from many others foes who were too strong for him. The last one when Abishai rescued him by slaying the Philistine!" (Anderson) CHS - When we have been rescued, we must take care to ascribe all the glory to God by confessing our own weakness, and remembering the power of the conquered enemy. God's power derives honour from all the incidents of the conflict. Our great spiritual adversary is a "strong enemy" indeed, much too strong for poor, weak creatures like ourselves, but we have been delivered hitherto and shall be even to the end. Our weakness is a reason for divine help; mark the force of the "for" in the text. NET NOTE strong enemy - The singular refers either to personified death or collectively to the psalmist’s enemies. The following line, which refers to “those [plural] who hate me,” favors the latter. Rescued from Powerful Enemies [God] rescued me from my powerful enemy. 2 Samuel 22:18 Today's Scripture & Insight: 2 Samuel 22:17–20 In 2010, at the age of ninety-four, George Vujnovich was awarded the bronze star for organizing what the New York Times called “one of the greatest rescue efforts of World War II.” Vujnovich, son of Serbian immigrants to the US, had joined the US Army. When word arrived that downed American airmen were being protected by rebels in Yugoslavia, Vujnovich (who wanted to go on the mission himself, but could not) put together a three-man team that parachuted into the country and located the pilots. The soldiers were divided into small groups and taught how to blend in with the Serbs (wearing Serbian clothes and eating Serbian food). Then, over months, each small group was walked out one at a time to C-47 transport planes waiting at a landing strip they’d cut out of the woods. Vujnovich helped rescue 512 elated, joyful men. David described the elation of being rescued by God from enemies who’d hemmed him in with no escape. God “reached down from on high and took hold of me,” David said, “he drew me out of deep waters” (2 Samuel 22:17). King Saul, enraged with jealousy, hounded David, ruthlessly seeking blood. But God had other plans. “He rescued me from my powerful enemy,” David recounted, “from my foes, who were too strong for me” (v. 18). Where do you feel hemmed in, with no escape from lies you believe or sin that binds you? How do you see Jesus coming to rescue you? All-powerful God, I need to be rescued. If You don’t help me, I’m finished. I have no escape. So I’m turning to You. Please help me. 2 Samuel 22:19 "They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. BGT 2 Samuel 22:19 προέφθασάν με ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεώς μου καὶ ἐγένετο κύριος ἐπιστήριγμά μου LXE 2 Samuel 22:19 The days of my affliction prevented me; but the Lord was my stay. KJV 2 Samuel 22:19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. NET 2 Samuel 22:19 They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD helped me. CSB 2 Samuel 22:19 They confronted me in the day of my distress, but the LORD was my support. ESV 2 Samuel 22:19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. NIV 2 Samuel 22:19 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support. NLT 2 Samuel 22:19 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the LORD supported me. NRS 2 Samuel 22:19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my stay. NJB 2 Samuel 22:19 They assailed me on my day of disaster, but Yahweh was there to support me, NAB 2 Samuel 22:19 They attacked me on my day of calamity, but the LORD came to my support. YLT 2 Samuel 22:19 They are before me in a day of my calamity, And Jehovah is my support, prevented: 2Sa 15:10-13 1Sa 19:11-17 23:26,27 Ps 18:18,19 118:10-13 Mt 27:39-44 the Lord: Ps 71:20,21 Isa 26:19 50:10 Related Passage: 2 Timothy 4:16-18+ (HE RESCUED PAUL) At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. CHS - It was an ill day, a day of calamity, of which evil foes took cruel advantage, while they used crafty means utterly to ruin him, yet David could say, "but the Lord is my stay." What a blessed but which cuts the Gordian knot, and slays the hundred-headed hydra! There is no fear of deliverance when our stay is in Jehovah. 2 Samuel 22:20 "He also brought me forth into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. BGT 2 Samuel 22:20 καὶ ἐξήγαγέν με εἰς πλατυσμὸν καὶ ἐξείλατό με ὅτι εὐδόκησεν ἐν ἐμοί LXE 2 Samuel 22:20 And he brought me into a wide place, and rescued me, because he delighted in me. KJV 2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me. NET 2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me out into a wide open place; he delivered me because he was pleased with me. CSB 2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me out to a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. ESV 2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me. NIV 2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. NLT 2 Samuel 22:20 He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me. NRS 2 Samuel 22:20 He brought me out into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. NJB 2 Samuel 22:20 he freed me, set me at large, he rescued me, because he loves me. NAB 2 Samuel 22:20 He set me free in the open, and rescued me, because he loves me. IV YLT 2 Samuel 22:20 And He bringeth me out to a large place, He draweth me out for He delighted in me. brought: Ge 26:22 1Ch 4:10 Ps 31:8 118:5 Ho 4:16 delighted: 2Sa 15:26 Ps 22:8 147:11 149:4 Isa 42:1 Mt 3:17 17:5 27:43 Ac 2:32-36 Ryrie notes that in 2Sa 22:20-28 "David presented the reasons for God's condescension and deliverance." He also brought me forth into a broad place - Earlier David was in distress (literally a tight place), but here God brought him out of the tight space into a broad space. Jamieson, Fausset, Brown — large place—denotes safety or relief, as contrasted with the straits of distress (Ps 4:1). All his deliverance is ascribed to God, and this sublime poetical representation is given to inspire the pious with confidence and the wicked with dread. (aka "Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable!") CHS - He brought me forth also into a large place." After pining awhile in the prison-house Joseph reached the palace, and from the cave of Adullam David mounted to the throne. Sweet is pleasure after pain. Enlargement is the more delightful after a season of pinching poverty and sorrowful confinement. Besieged souls delight in the broad fields of the promise when God drives off the enemy and sets open the gates of the environed city. The Lord does not leave his work half done, for having routed the foe he leads out the captive into liberty. Large indeed is the possession and place of the believer in Jesus, there need be no limit to his peace, for there is no bound to his privilege. He rescued me, because He delighted in me "“To God be the glory, great things He hath done.” He not only REACHED DOWN, TOOK HOLD, DREW HIM and RESCUED HIM, but he also BROUGHT HIM OUT into a spacious place. The reason for his rescue is because “he delighted in him.” Yes, David was a man after God’s own heart" (Anderson) Vos points out, “What an absolutely mind-boggling description of God’s intervention on behalf of his servant. Of course, God did not actually employ natural phenomena in this way to rescue David. But he evidently so intervened on various occasions to protect him or give him the victory, that David practically describe God’s interpositions in this majestic fashion.” (Borrow 1, 2 Samuel : Bible study commentary) CHS - "He delivered me, because he delighted in me." Free grace lies at the foundation. Rest assured, if we go deep enough, sovereign grace is the truth which lies at the bottom of every well of mercy. Deep sea fisheries in the ocean of divine bounty always bring the pearls of electing, discriminating love to light. Why Jehovah should delight in us is an answerless question, and a mystery which angels cannot solve; but that he does delight in his beloved is certain, and is the fruitful root of favours as numerous as they are precious. Believer, sit down, and inwardly digest the instructive sentence now before us, and learn to view the uncaused love of God as the cause of all the lovingkindness of which we are the partakers. Freed from Our Cage [God] brought me out into a spacious place. Psalm 18:19 Today's Scripture & Insight: Psalm 18:3–6, 16–19 While out taking walks, writer Martin Laird would often encounter a man with four Kerry Blue Terriers. Three of the dogs ran wild through the open fields, but one stayed near its owner, running in tight circles. When Laird finally stopped and asked about this odd behavior, the owner explained that it was a rescue dog that had spent most of his life locked in a cage. The terrier continued to run in circles as though contained inside a confined box. The Scriptures reveal that we’re trapped and hopeless unless God rescues us. The psalmist spoke of being afflicted by an enemy, entrapped by “the snares of death” with the “cords of death . . . coiled around” him (Psalm 18:4–5). Enclosed and shackled, he cried to God for help (v. 6). And with thundering power, He “reached down . . . and took hold” of him (v. 16). What are the cages that have you confined? How are you living as though an old cage still traps and holds you? God, You say You set the captives free. Help me to believe it. Help me to live it. I want to be free. I want to be in Your spacious place. 2 Samuel 22:21 "The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. BGT 2 Samuel 22:21 καὶ ἀνταπέδωκέν μοι κύριος κατὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην μου κατὰ τὴν καθαριότητα τῶν χειρῶν μου ἀνταπέδωκέν μοι LXE 2 Samuel 22:21 And the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands did he recompense me. KJV 2 Samuel 22:21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. NET 2 Samuel 22:21 The LORD repaid me for my godly deeds; he rewarded my blameless behavior. CSB 2 Samuel 22:21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. ESV 2 Samuel 22:21 "The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. NIV 2 Samuel 22:21 "The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me. NLT 2 Samuel 22:21 The LORD rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence. NRS 2 Samuel 22:21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me. NJB 2 Samuel 22:21 Yahweh rewards me for my uprightness, as my hands are pure so he repays me, NAB 2 Samuel 22:21 "The LORD rewarded me according to my justice; according to the cleanness of my hands he requited me. YLT 2 Samuel 22:21 Jehovah recompenseth me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He doth return to me. rewarded: 2Sa 22:25 1Sa 26:23 1Ki 8:32 Ps 7:3,4,8 18:20-25 Ps 19:11 1Co 15:58 cleanness: Job 17:9 Ps 24:4 Jas 4:8 THE LORD REWARDS FAITHFULNESS The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me - Hands suggest activity and behavior. David not saying he is sinless, but as I like to say, because he is a believer and because he has the Spirit in his life (1Sa 16:13+), he would sin less. Sadly one of his costliest sins was the death of 70,000 Israelites because of his sin of numbering the military forces (2Sa 24). But even there, he confessed and repented of his sin. This passage reiterates 1 Samuel 26:23+ in which Saul prophetically says of David “The LORD will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; for the LORD delivered you into my hand today, but I refused to stretch out my hand against the LORD’S anointed." Clearly God is not speaking of positional righteousness which is a gift of God and not our merit. But once we are saved, the practical outworking of our position (perfect righteousness in Christ by grace through faith) results is experiential righteousness which is just another way to describe progressive sanctification, or growth in holiness (in NT terms grown in Christlikeness). Rev 22:12+ Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. Jamieson, Fausset, Brown — The statements of innocence, righteousness, &c., refer, doubtless, to his personal and official conduct and his purposes, during all the trials to which he was subjected in Saul’s persecutions and Absalom’s rebellions, as well as the various wars in which he had been engaged as the head and defender of God’s people. Kirkpatrick - This is no vain-glorious boasting of his own merits, but a testimony to the faithfulness of Jehovah to guard and reward His faithful servants. David does not lay claim to a perfect righteousness, but to sincerity and single-heartedness in his devotion to God. Compare his own testimony (1 Samuel 26:23), God’s testimony (1 Kings 14:8), and the testimony of history (1 Kings 11:4; 1 Kings 15:5), to his essential integrity. Vos points out, “David spoke of being rewarded according to his righteousness, according to the cleanness of his hands. It should not be thought that he was claiming perfect holiness before God. Rather, he was characterized by integrity of character, and his hands were clean because he had not raised them to shed the blood of Saul, God’s anointed. He had kept the ways of the Lord.” (Borrow 1, 2 Samuel : Bible study commentary)