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:
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.
4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid;
6 The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;
7 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.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth.
9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.
13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled.
14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them.
16 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.
17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters;
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.
19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.
24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity.
25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.
26 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright.
27 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory.
28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.
29 For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness.
30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
32 For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?
33 God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
34 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places.
35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.
37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.
38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them.
39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet.
40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.
41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
43 Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.
44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me.
45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me.
46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places.
47 The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.
48 It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me.
49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.
1 And David H1732 spake H1696 unto the LORD H3068 the words H1697 of this song H7892 in the day H3117 that the LORD H3068 had delivered H5337 him out of the hand H3709 of all his enemies, H341 and out of the hand H3709 of Saul: H7586
2 And he said, H559 The LORD H3068 is my rock, H5553 and my fortress, H4686 and my deliverer; H6403
3 The God H430 of my rock; H6697 in him will I trust: H2620 he is my shield, H4043 and the horn H7161 of my salvation, H3468 my high tower, H4869 and my refuge, H4498 my saviour; H3467 thou savest H3467 me from violence. H2555
4 I will call H7121 on the LORD, H3068 who is worthy to be praised: H1984 so shall I be saved H3467 from mine enemies. H341
5 When the waves H4867 of death H4194 compassed H661 me, the floods H5158 of ungodly men H1100 made me afraid; H1204
6 The sorrows H2256 of hell H7585 compassed me about; H5437 the snares H4170 of death H4194 prevented H6923 me;
7 In my distress H6862 I called H7121 upon the LORD, H3068 and cried H7121 to my God: H430 and he did hear H8085 my voice H6963 out of his temple, H1964 and my cry H7775 did enter into his ears. H241
8 Then the earth H776 shook H1607 H1607 and trembled; H7493 the foundations H4146 of heaven H8064 moved H7264 and shook, H1607 because he was wroth. H2734
9 There went up H5927 a smoke H6227 out of his nostrils, H639 and fire H784 out of his mouth H6310 devoured: H398 coals H1513 were kindled H1197 by it.
10 He bowed H5186 the heavens H8064 also, and came down; H3381 and darkness H6205 was under his feet. H7272
11 And he rode H7392 upon a cherub, H3742 and did fly: H5774 and he was seen H7200 upon the wings H3671 of the wind. H7307
12 And he made H7896 darkness H2822 pavilions H5521 round about H5439 him, dark H2841 waters, H4325 and thick clouds H5645 of the skies. H7834
13 Through the brightness H5051 before him were coals H1513 of fire H784 kindled. H1197
14 The LORD H3068 thundered H7481 from heaven, H8064 and the most High H5945 uttered H5414 his voice. H6963
15 And he sent out H7971 arrows, H2671 and scattered H6327 them; lightning, H1300 and discomfited H2000 them.
16 And the channels H650 of the sea H3220 appeared, H7200 the foundations H4146 of the world H8398 were discovered, H1540 at the rebuking H1606 of the LORD, H3068 at the blast H5397 of the breath H7307 of his nostrils. H639
17 He sent H7971 from above, H4791 he took H3947 me; he drew H4871 me out of many H7227 waters; H4325
18 He delivered H5337 me from my strong H5794 enemy, H341 and from them that hated H8130 me: for they were too strong H553 for me.
19 They prevented H6923 me in the day H3117 of my calamity: H343 but the LORD H3068 was my stay. H4937
20 He brought me forth H3318 also into a large place: H4800 he delivered H2502 me, because he delighted H2654 in me.
21 The LORD H3068 rewarded H1580 me according to my righteousness: H6666 according to the cleanness H1252 of my hands H3027 hath he recompensed H7725 me.
22 For I have kept H8104 the ways H1870 of the LORD, H3068 and have not wickedly departed H7561 from my God. H430
23 For all his judgments H4941 were before me: and as for his statutes, H2708 I did not depart H5493 from them.
24 I was also upright H8549 before him, and have kept H8104 myself from mine iniquity. H5771
25 Therefore the LORD H3068 hath recompensed H7725 me according to my righteousness; H6666 according to my cleanness H1252 in his eye sight. H5048 H5869
26 With the merciful H2623 thou wilt shew thyself merciful, H2616 and with the upright H8549 man H1368 thou wilt shew thyself upright. H8552
27 With the pure H1305 thou wilt shew thyself pure; H1305 and with the froward H6141 thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury. H6617
28 And the afflicted H6041 people H5971 thou wilt save: H3467 but thine eyes H5869 are upon the haughty, H7311 that thou mayest bring them down. H8213
29 For thou art my lamp, H5216 O LORD: H3068 and the LORD H3068 will lighten H5050 my darkness. H2822
30 For by thee I have run H7323 through a troop: H1416 by my God H430 have I leaped over H1801 a wall. H7791
31 As for God, H410 his way H1870 is perfect; H8549 the word H565 of the LORD H3068 is tried: H6884 he is a buckler H4043 to all them that trust H2620 in him.
32 For who is God, H410 save H1107 the LORD? H3068 and who is a rock, H6697 save H1107 our God? H430
33 God H410 is my strength H4581 and power: H2428 and he maketh H5425 my way H1870 perfect. H8549
34 He maketh H7737 my feet H7272 like H7737 hinds' H355 feet: and setteth H5975 me upon my high places. H1116
35 He teacheth H3925 my hands H3027 to war; H4421 so that a bow H7198 of steel H5154 is broken H5181 by mine arms. H2220
36 Thou hast also given H5414 me the shield H4043 of thy salvation: H3468 and thy gentleness H6031 H6038 hath made me great. H7235
37 Thou hast enlarged H7337 my steps H6806 under me; so that my feet H7166 did not slip. H4571
38 I have pursued H7291 mine enemies, H341 and destroyed H8045 them; and turned not again H7725 until I had consumed H3615 them.
39 And I have consumed H3615 them, and wounded H4272 them, that they could not arise: H6965 yea, they are fallen H5307 under my feet. H7272
40 For thou hast girded H247 me with strength H2428 to battle: H4421 them that rose up H6965 against me hast thou subdued H3766 under me.
41 Thou hast also given H5414 me the necks H6203 of mine enemies, H341 that I might destroy H6789 them that hate H8130 me.
42 They looked, H8159 but there was none to save; H3467 even unto the LORD, H3068 but he answered H6030 them not.
43 Then did I beat H7833 them as small as the dust H6083 of the earth, H776 I did stamp H1854 them as the mire H2916 of the street, H2351 and did spread them abroad. H7554
44 Thou also hast delivered H6403 me from the strivings H7379 of my people, H5971 thou hast kept H8104 me to be head H7218 of the heathen: H1471 a people H5971 which I knew H3045 not shall serve H5647 me.
45 Strangers H1121 H5236 shall submit H3584 themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, H8085 H241 they shall be obedient H8085 unto me.
46 Strangers H1121 H5236 shall fade away, H5034 and they shall be afraid H2296 out of their close places. H4526
47 The LORD H3068 liveth; H2416 and blessed H1288 be my rock; H6697 and exalted H7311 be the God H430 of the rock H6697 of my salvation. H3468
48 It is God H410 that avengeth H5414 H5360 me, and that bringeth down H3381 the people H5971 under me,
49 And that bringeth me forth H3318 from mine enemies: H341 thou also hast lifted me up on high H7311 above them that rose up H6965 against me: thou hast delivered H5337 me from the violent H2555 man. H376
50 Therefore I will give thanks H3034 unto thee, O LORD, H3068 among the heathen, H1471 and I will sing praises H2167 unto thy name. H8034
51 He is the tower H4024 H1431 of salvation H3444 for his king: H4428 and sheweth H6213 mercy H2617 to his anointed, H4899 unto David, H1732 and to his seed H2233 for H5704 evermore. H5769
1 And David spake unto Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:
2 and he said, Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;
3 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, thou savest me from violence.
4 I will call upon Jehovah, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
5 For the waves of death compassed me; The floods of ungodliness made me afraid:
6 The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came upon me.
7 In my distress I called upon Jehovah; Yea, I called unto my God: And he heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry `came' into his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth.
9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.
11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13 At the brightness before him Coals of fire were kindled.
14 Jehovah thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; Lightning, and discomfited them.
16 Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of Jehovah, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters;
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
19 They came upon me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay.
20 He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21 Jehovah rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his ordinances were before me; And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.
24 I was also perfect toward him; And I kept myself from mine iniquity.
25 Therefore hath Jehovah recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight.
26 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; With the perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect;
27 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; And with the perverse thou wilt show thyself froward.
28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save; But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.
29 For thou art my lamp, O Jehovah; And Jehovah will lighten my darkness.
30 For by thee I run upon a troop; By my God do I leap over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is perfect: The word of Jehovah is tried; He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in him.
32 For who is God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God?
33 God is my strong fortress; And he guideth the perfect in his way.
34 He maketh his feet like hinds' `feet', And setteth me upon my high places.
35 He teacheth my hands to war, So that mine arms do bend a bow of brass.
36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation; And thy gentleness hath made me great.
37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; And my feet have not slipped.
38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
39 And I have consumed them, and smitten them through, so that they cannot arise: Yea, they are fallen under my feet.
40 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
41 Thou hast also made mine enemies turn their backs unto me, That I might cut off them that hate me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save; Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.
43 Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth, I did crush them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad.
44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people; Thou hast kept me to be the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
45 The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.
46 The foreigners shall fade away, And shall come trembling out of their close places.
47 Jehovah liveth; And blessed be my rock; And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,
48 Even the God that executeth vengeance for me, And that bringeth down peoples under me,
49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: Yea, thou liftest me up above them that rise up against me; Thou deliverest me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the nations, And will sing praises unto thy name.
51 Great deliverance giveth he to his king, And showeth lovingkindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, for evermore.
1 And David speaketh to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah hath delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,
2 and he saith: `Jehovah `is' my rock, And my bulwark, and a deliverer to me,
3 My God `is' my rock -- I take refuge in Him; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, My high tower, and my refuge! My Saviour, from violence Thou savest me!
4 The Praised One, I call Jehovah: And from mine enemies I am saved.
5 When the breakers of death compassed me, The streams of the worthless terrify me,
6 The cords of Sheol have surrounded me, Before me have been the snares of death.
7 In mine adversity I call Jehovah, And unto my God I call, And He heareth from His temple my voice, And my cry `is' in His ears,
8 And shake and tremble doth the earth, Foundations of the heavens are troubled, And are shaken, for He hath wrath!
9 Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils. And fire from His mouth devoureth, Brands have been kindled by it.
10 And He inclineth heaven, and cometh down, And thick darkness `is' under His feet.
11 And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And is seen on the wings of the wind.
12 And He setteth darkness Round about Him -- tabernacles, Darkness of waters -- thick clouds of the skies.
13 From the brightness before Him Were brands of fire kindled!
14 Thunder from the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice.
15 And He sendeth forth arrows, And scattereth them; Lightning, and troubleth them;
16 And seen are the streams of the sea, Revealed are foundations of the world, By the rebuke of Jehovah, From the breath of the spirit of His anger.
17 He sendeth from above -- He taketh me, He draweth me out of many waters.
18 He delivereth me from my strong enemy, From those hating me, For they were stronger than I.
19 They are before me in a day of my calamity, And Jehovah is my support,
20 And He bringeth me out to a large place, He draweth me out for He delighted in me.
21 Jehovah recompenseth me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He doth return to me.
22 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not done wickedly against my God.
23 For all His judgments `are' before me, As to His statutes, I turn not from them.
24 And I am perfect before Him, And I keep myself from mine iniquity.
25 And Jehovah returneth to me, According to my righteousness, According to my cleanness before His eyes.
26 With the kind Thou shewest Thyself kind, With the perfect man Thou shewest Thyself perfect,
27 With the pure Thou shewest Thyself pure, And with the perverse Thou shewest Thyself a wrestler.
28 And the poor people Thou dost save, And Thine eyes on the high causest to fall.
29 For Thou `art' my lamp, O Jehovah, And Jehovah doth lighten my darkness.
30 For by Thee I run -- a troop, By my God I leap a wall.
31 God! Perfect `is' His way, The saying of Jehovah is tried, A shield He `is' to all those trusting in Him.
32 For who is God save Jehovah? And who a Rock save our God?
33 God -- my bulwark, `my' strength, And He maketh perfect my way;
34 Making my feet like hinds, And on my high places causeth me to stand,
35 Teaching my hands for battle, And brought down was a bow of brass by mine arms,
36 And Thou givest to me the shield of Thy salvation, And Thy lowliness maketh me great.
37 Thou enlargest my step under me, And mine ankles have not slidden.
38 I pursue mine enemies and destroy them, And I turn not till they are consumed.
39 And I consume them, and smite them, And they rise not, and fall under my feet.
40 And Thou girdest me `with' strength for battle, Thou causest my withstanders to bow under me.
41 And mine enemies -- Thou givest to me the neck, Those hating me -- and I cut them off.
42 They look, and there is no saviour; Unto Jehovah, and He hath not answered them.
43 And I beat them as dust of the earth, As mire of the streets I beat them small -- I spread them out!
44 And -- Thou dost deliver me From the strivings of my people, Thou placest me for a head of nations; A people I have not known do serve me.
45 Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me, At the hearing of the ear they hearken to me.
46 Sons of a stranger fade away, And gird themselves by their close places.
47 Jehovah liveth, and blessed `is' my Rock, And exalted is my God -- The Rock of my salvation.
48 God -- who is giving vengeance to me, And bringing down peoples under me,
49 And bringing me forth from mine enemies, Yea, above my withstanders Thou raisest me up. From a man of violence Thou deliverest me.
50 Therefore I confess Thee, O Jehovah, among nations. And to Thy name I sing praise.
51 Magnifying the salvations of His king, And doing loving-kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed -- unto the age!'
1 And David spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul.
2 And he said, Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
3 God is my rock, in him will I trust -- My shield, and the horn of my salvation, My high tower, and my refuge, My saviour: thou wilt save me from violence.
4 I will call upon Jehovah, who is to be praised; So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
5 For the waves of death encompassed me, Torrents of Belial made me afraid.
6 The bands of Sheol surrounded me; The cords of death encountered me;
7 In my distress I called upon Jehovah, And I cried to my God; And he heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry [came] into his ears.
8 Then the earth shook, and quaked; The foundations of the heavens trembled And shook because he was wroth.
9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals burned forth from it.
10 And he bowed the heavens, and came down; And darkness was under his feet.
11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; And he was seen upon the wings of the wind.
12 And he made darkness round about him a tent, Gatherings of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13 From the brightness before him Burned forth coals of fire.
14 Jehovah thundered from the heavens, And the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent arrows, and scattered [mine enemies]; Lightning, and discomfited them.
16 And the beds of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At the rebuke of Jehovah, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 He reached forth from above, he took me, He drew me out of great waters;
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From them that hated me; For they were mightier than I.
19 They encountered me in the day of my calamity; But Jehovah was my stay.
20 And he brought me forth into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21 Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his ordinances were before me, And his statutes, I did not depart from them,
24 And I was upright before him, And kept myself from mine iniquity.
25 And Jehovah hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his sight.
26 With the gracious thou dost shew thyself gracious; With the upright man thou dost shew thyself upright;
27 With the pure thou dost shew thyself pure; And with the perverse thou dost shew thyself contrary.
28 And the afflicted people thou dost save; And thine eyes are upon the haughty, [whom] thou bringest down.
29 For thou art my lamp, Jehovah; And Jehovah enlighteneth my darkness.
30 For by thee I have run through a troop; By my God have I leaped over a wall.
31 As for ùGod, his way is perfect; The word of Jehovah is tried: He is a shield to all that trust in him.
32 For who is ùGod, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God?
33 ùGod is my strong fortress, And he maketh my way perfectly smooth.
34 He maketh my feet like hinds' [feet], And setteth me upon my high places.
35 He teacheth my hands to war, And mine arms bend a bow of brass.
36 And thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, And thy condescending gentleness hath made me great.
37 Thou enlargedst my steps under me; And mine ankles did not slip.
38 I pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them, And I turned not again till they were consumed.
39 And I have consumed them and have crushed them, and they rose not again; Yea, they fell under my feet.
40 And thou girdedst me with strength to battle: Thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me.
41 And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, And those that hated me I destroyed.
42 They looked, and there was none to save -- Unto Jehovah, and he answered them not.
43 And I did beat them small as the dust of the earth, I trod them as the mire of the streets; I stamped upon them.
44 And thou hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, Thou hast kept me to be head of the nations: A people I knew not doth serve me:
45 Strangers come cringing unto me: At the hearing of the ear, they obey me.
46 Strangers have faded away, And they come trembling forth from their close places.
47 Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God, the rock of my salvation,
48 The ùGod who hath avenged me, And hath brought the peoples under me.
49 He brought me forth from mine enemies: Yea, thou hast lifted me up above them that rose up against me; From the man of violence hast thou delivered me.
50 Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, And will sing psalms to thy name.
51 [It is he] who giveth great deliverances to his king, And sheweth loving-kindness to his anointed, To David, and to his seed for evermore.
1 David spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul:
2 and he said, Yahweh is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, even mine;
3 God, my rock, in him will I take refuge; My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge; My savior, you save me from violence.
4 I will call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from my enemies.
5 For the waves of death compassed me; The floods of ungodliness made me afraid:
6 The cords of Sheol were round about me; The snares of death came on me.
7 In my distress I called on Yahweh; Yes, I called to my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, My cry [came] into his ears.
8 Then the earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked Were shaken, because he was angry.
9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, Fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; Thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub, and did fly; Yes, he was seen on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13 At the brightness before him Coals of fire were kindled.
14 Yahweh thundered from heaven, The Most High uttered his voice.
15 He sent out arrows, and scattered them; Lightning, and confused them.
16 Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare, By the rebuke of Yahweh, At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 He sent from on high, he took me; He drew me out of many waters;
18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
19 They came on me in the day of my calamity; But Yahweh was my stay.
20 He brought me forth also into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21 Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
22 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his ordinances were before me; As for his statutes, I did not depart from them.
24 I was also perfect toward him; I kept myself from my iniquity.
25 Therefore has Yahweh recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight.
26 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful; With the perfect man you will show yourself perfect;
27 With the pure you will show yourself pure; With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
28 The afflicted people you will save; But your eyes are on the haughty, that you may bring them down.
29 For you are my lamp, Yahweh; Yahweh will lighten my darkness.
30 For by you I run on a troop; By my God do I leap over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is perfect: The word of Yahweh is tried; He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God, save Yahweh? Who is a rock, save our God?
33 God is my strong fortress; He guides the perfect in his way.
34 He makes his feet like hinds' [feet], Sets me on my high places.
35 He teaches my hands to war, So that my arms do bend a bow of brass.
36 You have also given me the shield of your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great.
37 You have enlarged my steps under me; My feet have not slipped.
38 I have pursued my enemies, and destroyed them; Neither did I turn again until they were consumed.
39 I have consumed them, and struck them through, so that they can't arise: Yes, they are fallen under my feet.
40 For you have girded me with strength to the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
41 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, That I might cut off those who hate me.
42 They looked, but there was none to save; Even to Yahweh, but he didn't answer them.
43 Then did I beat them small as the dust of the earth, I did crush them as the mire of the streets, and did spread them abroad.
44 You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me to be the head of the nations: A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
45 The foreigners shall submit themselves to me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.
46 The foreigners shall fade away, Shall come trembling out of their close places.
47 Yahweh lives; Blessed be my rock; Exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,
48 Even the God who executes vengeance for me, Who brings down peoples under me,
49 Who brings me forth from my enemies: Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me; You deliver me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations, Will sing praises to your name.
51 Great deliverance gives he to his king, Shows loving kindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, forevermore.
1 And David made a song to the Lord in these words, on the day when the Lord made him free from the hands of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul:
2 And he said, The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour, even mine;
3 My God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my safe place; my saviour, who keeps me safe from the violent man.
4 I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.
5 For the waves of death came round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear;
6 The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me.
7 In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came to his ears.
8 Then the earth was moved with a violent shock; the bases of heaven were moved and shaking, because he was angry.
9 There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: coals were lighted by it.
10 The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.
11 And he went through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.
12 And he made the dark his tent round him, a mass of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13 Before his shining light his dark clouds went past, raining ice and coals of fire.
14 The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out.
15 And he sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.
16 Then the deep beds of the sea were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of the Lord's wrath, because of the breath of his mouth.
17 He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters.
18 He made me free from my strong hater, from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.
19 They came on me in the day of my trouble: but the Lord was my support.
20 He took me out into a wide place; he was my saviour because he had delight in me.
21 The Lord gives me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean before him.
22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God.
23 For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me.
24 And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin.
25 Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes.
26 On him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright;
27 He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.
28 For you are the saviour of those who are in trouble; but your eyes are on men of pride, to make them low.
29 For you are my light, O Lord; and the Lord will make the dark bright for me.
30 By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in: by the help of my God I have gone over a wall.
31 As for God, his way is all good: the word of the Lord is tested; he is a safe cover for all those who put their faith in him.
32 For who is God but the Lord? and who is a Rock but our God?
33 God puts a strong band about me, guiding me in a straight way.
34 He makes my feet like roes' feet, and puts me on high places.
35 He makes my hands expert in war, so that a bow of brass is bent by my arms.
36 You have given me the breastplate of your salvation, and your mercy has made me great.
37 You have made my steps wide under me, so that my feet make no slip.
38 I go after my haters and overtake them; not turning back till they are all overcome.
39 I have sent destruction on them and given them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet.
40 For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who came out against me.
41 By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off.
42 They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer.
43 Then they were crushed as small as the dust of the earth, stamped down under my feet like the waste of the streets.
44 You have made me free from the fightings of my people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.
45 Men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority: from the time when my name comes to their ears, they will be ruled by me.
46 They will be wasted away, they will come out of their secret places shaking with fear.
47 The Lord is living; praise be to my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be honoured:
48 It is God who sends punishment on my haters, and puts peoples under my rule.
49 He makes me free from my haters: I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.
50 Because of this I will give you praise, O Lord, among the nations, and will make a song of praise to your name.
51 Great salvation does he give to his king; he has mercy on the king of his selection, David, and on his seed for ever.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on 2 Samuel 22
Commentary on 2 Samuel 22 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
David's Psalm of Thanksgiving for Victory over All His Enemies - 2 Samuel 22
In the following psalm of thanksgiving, David praises the Lord as his deliverer out of all dangers during his agitated life and conflicts with his foes (2 Samuel 22:2-4). In the first half he pictures his marvellous deliverance out of all the troubles which he passed through, especially in the time of Saul's persecutions, under the image of an extraordinary theophany (vv. 5-20), and unfolds the ground of this deliverance (2 Samuel 22:21-28). In the second half he proclaims the mighty help of the Lord, and his consequent victories over the foreign enemies of his government (vv. 29-46), and closes with renewed praise of God for all His glorious deeds (2 Samuel 22:47-51). The psalm is thus arranged in two leading divisions, with an introductory and concluding strophe. But we cannot discover any definite system of strophes in the further arrangement of the principal divisions, as the several groups of thoughts are not rounded off symmetrically.
The contents and form of this song of praise answer to the fact attested by the heading, that it was composed by David in the later years of his reign, when God had rescued him from all his foes, and helped his kingdom to victory over all the neighbouring heathen nations. The genuineness of the psalm is acknowledged to be indisputable by all the modern critics, except J. Olshausen and Hupfeld,
(Note: Even Hitzig observes ( die Psalmen , i. p. 95): “There is no ground whatever for calling in question the Davidic authorship of the psalm, and therefore the statement made in the heading; and, in fact, there is all the more reason for adhering to it, because it is attested twice. The recurrence of the psalm as one of Davidic origin in 2 Samuel 22 is of some weight, since not the slightest suspicion attaches to any of the other songs of sayings attributed to David in the second book of Samuel (e.g., 2 Samuel 3:33-34; 2 Samuel 5:8; 2 Samuel 7:18-29; 2 Samuel 23:1-7). Moreover, the psalm is evidently ancient, and suited to the classical period of the language and its poetry. 2 Samuel 22:31 is quoted as early as Proverbs 30:5, and 2 Samuel 22:34 in Habakkuk 3:19. The psalm was also regarded as Davidic at a very early period, as the ' diaskeuast ' of the second book of Samuel met with the heading, which attributes the psalm to David. No doubt this opinion might be founded upon 2 Samuel 22:51; and with perfect justice if it were: for if the psalm was not composed by David, it must have been composed in his name and spirit; and who could have been this contemporaneous and equal poet?” Again, after quoting several thoroughly Davidic signs, he says at p. 96: “It is very obvious with how little justice the words of 2 Samuel 22:51, relating to 2 Samuel 7:12-16, 2 Samuel 7:26, 2 Samuel 7:29, have been pronounced spurious. Besides, the psalm can no more have concluded with למשׁיחו (2 Samuel 22:51) than with 2 Samuel 22:50; and if David refers to himself by name at the commencement in 2 Samuel 23:1, and in the middle in 2 Samuel 7:20, why should he not do the same at the close?”)
who, with hypercritical scepticism, dispute the Davidic origin of the psalm on subjective grounds of aesthetic taste. This psalm is found in the Psalter as Ps 18, though with many divergences in single words and clauses, which do not, however, essentially affect the meaning. Commentators are divided in opinion as to the relation in which the two different forms of the text stand to one another. The idea that the text of 2 Samuel. rests upon a careless copy and tradition must decidedly be rejected: for, on the one hand, by far the larger portion of the deviations in our text from that of the Psalter are not to be attributed to carelessness on the part of copyists, but are evidently alterations made with thoughtfulness and deliberation: e.g., the omission of the very first passage (2 Samuel 22:1), “I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength;” the change of צוּרי אלי (my God, my strength, or rock) into צוּרי אלהי (the God of my rock), as “the God of the rock” occurs again in 2 Samuel 22:47 of the text before us; or the substitution of ויּרא (He was seen, 2 Samuel 22:11) for ויּדא (He did fly), etc. On the other hand, the original reading has undoubtedly been retained in many passages of our text, whilst simpler and more common forms have been substituted in that of the Psalms; e.g., in v. 5, מות משׁבּרי instead of מות fo d חבלי ; in v. 8, השּׁמים מוסדות (the foundations of the heavens) for הרים מוסדי (the foundations of the hills); in v. 12, השׁרת־מים for חשׁכת־מים ; in v. 16, ים אפיקי for מים אפיקי ; in v. 28, תּשׁפּיל על־רמים ועניך for תּשׁפּיל רמות וענים ; in v. 33, דּרכּו תמים ויּתּר for דּרכּי תמים ויּתּן ; and in v. 44, לראשׁ תּשׁמרני for לראשׁ תּשׂימני , and several others. In general, however, the text of the Psalms bears the stamp of poetical originality more than the text before us, and the latter indicates a desire to give greater clearness and simplicity to the poetical style. Consequently neither of the two texts that have come down to us contains the original text of the psalm of David unaltered; but the two recensions have been made quite independently of each other, one for the insertion of the psalm in the Psalter intended for liturgical use, and the other when it was incorporated into the history of David's reign, which formed the groundwork of our books of Samuel. The first revision may have been made by David himself when he arranged his Psalms for liturgical purposes; but the second was effected by the prophetic historian, whose object it was, when inserting David's psalm of praise in the history of his reign, not so much to give it with diplomatic literality, as to introduce it in a form that should be easily intelligible and true to the sense.
The heading is formed precisely according to the introductory formula of the song of Moses in Deuteronomy 31:30, and was no doubt taken from the larger historical work employed by the author of our books. It was probably also adopted from this into the canonical collection of the Psalter, and simply brought into conformity with the headings of the other psalms by the alteration of דּוד וידבּר (and David said) into דּבּר עשׁר לדוד יהוה לעבד (“Of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake:” Eng. ver.), and the insertion of למנצּח (“to the chief musician:” Eng. ver.) at the head (see Delitzsch on the Psalms). “ In the day ,” i.e., at the time, “ when Jehovah had delivered him .” Deliverance “ out of the hand of Saul ” is specially mentioned, not because this was the last, but because it was the greatest and most glorious, - a deliverance out of the deepest misery into regal might and glory. The psalm is opened by ויּאמר in both texts.
2 Samuel 22:2-4 form the introduction.
2 Jehovah is my rock, my castle, and my deliverer to me;
3 My Rock-God, in whom I trust:
My shield and horn of my salvation, my fortress and my refuge,
My Saviour; from violence Thou redeemest me.
4 I call upon the praised one, Jehovah,
And I am saved from my enemies.
This introduction contains the sum and substance of the whole psalm, inasmuch as David groups the many experiences of divine deliverance in his agitated life into a long series of predicates, in all of which he extols God as his defence, refuge, and deliverer. The heaping up of these predicates is an expression both of liveliest gratitude, and also of hope for the future. The different predicates, however, are not to be taken as in apposition to Jehovah , or as vocatives, but are declarations concerning God, how He had proved himself faithful to the Psalmist in all the calamities of his life, and would assuredly do so still. David calls God וּמצרתי סלעי (my rock, and my castle) in Psalms 31:4 as well (cf. Psalms 71:4). The two epithets are borrowed from the natural character of Palestine, where steep and almost inaccessible rocks afford protection to the fugitive, as David had often found at the time when Saul was pursuing him (vid., 1 Samuel 24:22; 1 Samuel 22:5). But whilst David took refuge in rocks, he placed his hopes of safety not in their inaccessible character, but in God the Lord, the eternal spiritual rock, whom he could see in the earthly rock, so that he called Him his true castle. לי מפלטי (my deliverer to me) gives the real explanation of the foregoing figures. The לי (to me) is omitted in Psalms 18:2, and only serves to strengthen the suffix, “my, yea my deliverer.' “ My Rock-God ,” equivalent to, God who is my Rock: this is formed after Deuteronomy 32:4, where Moses calls the Lord the Rock of Israel, because of His unchangeable faithfulness; for zur , a rock, is a figure used to represent immoveable firmness. In Psalms 18:3 we find צוּרי אלי , “my God” (strong one), “my rock,” two synonyms which are joined together in our text, so as to form one single predicate of God, which is repeated in 2 Samuel 22:47. The predicates which follow, “ my horn and my salvation-shield ,” describe God as the mighty protector and defender of the righteous. A shield covers against hostile attacks. In this respect God was Abraham's shield (Genesis 15:1), and the helping shield of Israel (Deuteronomy 33:29; cf. Psalms 3:4; Psalms 59:12). He is the “horn of salvation,” according to Luther, because He overcomes enemies, and rescues from foes, and gives salvation. The figure is borrowed from animals, which have their strength and defensive weapons in their horns (see at 1 Samuel 2:1). “ My fortress: ” misgab is a high place, where a person is secure against hostile attacks (see at Psalms 9:10). The predicates which follow, viz., my refuge , etc., are not given in Psalms 18:3, and are probably only added as a rhythmical completion to the strophe, which was shortened by the omission of the introductory lines, “I love thee heartily, Jehovah” (Psalms 18:1). The last clause, “ My Saviour, who redeemest me from violence, ” corresponds to אחסה־בּו in the first hemistich. In Psalms 18:4, David sums up the contents of his psalm of thanksgiving in a general sentence of experience, which may be called the theme of the psalm, for it embraces “the result of the long life which lay behind him, so full of dangers and deliverances.” מהלּל , “ the praised one ,” an epithet applied to God, which occurs several times in the Psalms (Psalms 48:2; Psalms 96:4; Psalms 113:3; Psalms 145:3). It is in apposition to Jehovah, and is placed first for the sake of emphasis: “I invoke Jehovah as the praised one.” The imperfects אקרא and אוּשׁע are used to denote what continually happens. In 2 Samuel 22:5 we have the commencement of the account of the deliverances out of great tribulations, which David had experienced at the hand of God.
5 For breakers of death had compassed me,
Streams of wickedness terrified me.
6 Cords of hell had girt me about,
Snares of death overtook me.
7 In my distress I called Jehovah,
And to my God I called;
And He heard my voice out of His temple,
And my crying came into His ears.
David had often been in danger of death, most frequently at the time when he was pursued by Saul, but also in Absalom's conspiracy, and even in several wars (cf. 2 Samuel 21:16). All these dangers, out of which the Lord delivered him, and not merely those which originated with Saul, are included in 2 Samuel 22:5, 2 Samuel 22:6. The figure “ breakers or waves of death ” is analogous to that of the “ streams of Belial .” His distress is represented in both of them under the image of violent floods of water. In the psalm we find מות חבלי , “snares of death,” as in Psalms 116:3, death being regarded as a hunger with a net and snare (cf. Psalms 91:3): this does not answer to well to the parallel נחלי , and therefore is not so good, since שׁאול חבלי follows immediately. בליּעל ( Belial ), uselessness in a moral sense, or worthlessness . The meaning “mischief,” or injury in a physical sense, which many expositors give to the word in this passage on account of the parallel “death,” cannot be grammatically sustained. Belial was afterwards adopted as a name for the devil (2 Corinthians 6:15). Streams of wickedness are calamities that proceed from wickedness, or originate with worthless men. קדּם , to come to meet with a hostile intention, i.e., to fall upon (vid., Job 30:27). היכל , the temple out of which Jehovah heard him, was the heavenly abode of God, as in Psalms 11:4; for, according to 2 Samuel 22:8., God came down from heaven to help him.
8 Then the earth swayed and trembled,
The foundations of the heavens shook
And swayed to and fro, because He was wroth.
9 Smoke ascended in His nose,
And fire out of His mouth devoured,
Red-hot coals burned out of Him.
10 And He bowed the heavens and came down,
And cloudy darkness under His feet.
Jehovah came down from heaven to save His servant, as He had formerly come down upon Sinai to conclude His covenant with Israel in the midst of terrible natural phenomena, which proclaimed the wrath of the Almighty. The theophany under which David depicts the deliverance he had experienced, had its type in the miraculous phenomenon which accompanied the descent of God upon Sinai, and which suggested, as in the song of Deborah (Judges 5:4-5), the idea of a terrible storm. It is true that the deliverance of David was not actually attended by any such extraordinary natural phenomena; but the saving hand of God from heaven was so obviously manifested, that the deliverance experienced by him could be poetically described as a miraculous interposition on the part of God. When the Lord rises up from His heavenly temple to come down upon the earth to judgment, the whole world trembles at the fierceness of His wrath. Not only does the earth tremble, but the foundations of the heavens shake: the whole universe is moved. In the psalm we have “the foundations of the hills” instead of “ the foundations of the heavens ,” - a weaker expression, signifying the earth to its deepest foundations. The Hithpael יתגּעשׁ , lit., to sway itself , expresses the idea of continuous swaying to and fro. לו חרה כּי , “ for it (sc., wrath) burned to him ,” it flamed up like a fire; cf. Deuteronomy 32:22; Deuteronomy 29:19. “Smoke,” the forerunner of fire, “ ascended in His nose .” The figurative idea is that of snorting or violent breathing, which indicates the rising of wrath. Smoke is followed by fire, which devours out of the mouth, i.e., bursts forth devouring or consuming all that opposes it. The expression is strengthened still further by the parallel: “ red-hot coals come out of Him ,” i.e., the flame of red-hot coals pours out of Him as out of a glowing furnace (cf. Genesis 15:17). This description is based entirely upon Exodus 19:18, where the Lord comes down upon Sinai in smoke and fire. We are not to picture to ourselves flashes of lightning; for all these phenomena are merely the forerunners of the appearance of God in the clouds, which is described in 2 Samuel 22:10, “He bowed the heavens” to come down. ערפל , which is frequently connected with ענן , signifies cloudy darkness, or dark clouds. The substratum of this description is the fact that in a severe storm the heavens seem to sink down upon the earth with their dark clouds. The Lord draws near riding upon black thunder-clouds, “that the wicked may not behold His serene countenance, but only the terrible signs of His fierce wrath and punishment” (J. H. Michaelis).
11 He rode upon a cherub and flew hither,
And appeared upon the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness round about Him as pavilions,
Water-gathering, thick clouds.
13 Out of the splendour before Him
Burned red-hot coals of fire.
These three verses are a further expansion of 2 Samuel 22:19, and 2 Samuel 22:11 of 2 Samuel 22:10 . The cherub is not a personified earthly creature, for cherubim are angels around the throne of God (see at Genesis 3:22). The poetical figure “riding upon the cherub” is borrowed from the fact that God was enthroned between the two cherubim upon the lid of the ark of the covenant, and above their outspread wings (Exodus 25:20-21). As the idea of His “dwelling between the cherubim” (2 Samuel 6:2; 1 Samuel 4:4; Psalms 80:2) was founded upon this typical manifestation of the gracious presence of God in the Most Holy place, so here David depicts the descent of Jehovah from heaven as “riding upon a cherub,” picturing the cherub as a throne upon which God appears in the clouds of heaven, though without therefore imagining Him as riding upon a sphinx or driving in a chariot-throne. Such notions as these are precluded by the addition of the term ויּעף , “did fly.” The “ flying ” is also suggested by the wings of the cherubim. As the divine “ shechinah ” was enthroned above the ark of the covenant upon the wings of the cherubim, David in his poetical description represents the cherub and his wings as carrying the throne of God, to express the thought that Jehovah came down from heaven as the judge and saviour of His servants in the splendour of His divine glory, surrounded by cherubim who stand as His highest servants around His throne, just as Moses in his blessing (Deuteronomy 33:2) speaks of Jehovah as coming out of myriads of His holy angels. The elementary substratum of this was the wings of the wind, upon which He appeared. In the psalm we have ויּדא , from דּאה , to soar (Deuteronomy 28:39; Jeremiah 48:40), which suggests the idea of flying better than ויּרא (He was seen), though the latter gives the real explanation. In 2 Samuel 22:12 and 2 Samuel 22:13, the “cloudy darkness under His feet” ( 2 Samuel 22:10 ) is still further expanded, so as to prepare the way for the description of thunder and lightning in 2 Samuel 22:14. God in His wrath withdraws His face from man. He envelopes himself in clouds. The darkness round about him is the black thunder-cloud which forms His hut or tent. The plural succoth is occasioned by the plural סביבתיו , “His surroundings:” it is used with indefinite generality, and is more probably the original term than סכּתו in the psalm. The “ darkness ” is still further explained in the second clause, מים חשׁרת , water-gatherings . חשׁרה ( ἁπ. λεγ. ) signifies, according to the Arabic, a gathering or collection. The expression used in the psalm is מים חשׁכת , water-darkness , which, if not less appropriate, is at any rate not the original term. שׁחקים עבי , clouds of clouds , i.e., the thickest clouds; a kind of superlative, in which a synonym is used instead of the same noun.
The splendour of the divine nature enveloped in clouds breaks through the dark covering in burning coals of fire. The coals of fire which burst forth, i.e., which break out in flame from the dark clouds, are the lightning which shoots forth from the dark storm-clouds in streams of fire.
14 Jehovah thundered from the heavens,
And the Most High gave His voice.
15 He sent arrows, and scattered them;
Lightning, and discomfited them.
16 Then the beds of the sea became visible;
The foundations of the world were uncovered,
Through the threatening of Jehovah,
By the snorting of the breath of His nostrils.
God sent lightning as arrows upon the enemies along with violent thunder, and threw them thereby into confusion. המם , to throw into confusion, and thereby to destroy, is the standing expression for the destruction of the foe accomplished by the miraculous interposition of God (vid., Exodus 14:24; Exodus 23:27; Joshua 10:10; Judges 4:15; 1 Samuel 7:10). To the thunder there were added stormy wind and earthquake, as an effect of the wrath of God, whereby the foundations of the sea and land were laid bare, i.e., whereby the depth of the abyss and of the hell in the interior of the earth, into which the person to be rescued had fallen, were disclosed.
(Note: In 2 Samuel 22:13-16 the text of the Psalms deviates greatly and in many instances from that before us. In v. 13 we find אשׁ וגחלי בּרד עברוּ עביו instead of אשׁ גּחלי בּערוּ ; and after v. 14 אשׁ וגחלי בּרד is repeated in the psalm. In v. 15 we have רב וּברקים for בּרק , and in v. 16 מים אפיקי for ים אפיקי . The other deviations are inconsiderable. So far as the repetition of אשׁ וגחלי בּרד at the end of v. 14 is concerned, it is not only superfluous, but unsuitable, because the lightning following the thunder is described in v. 15, and the words repeated are probably nothing more than a gloss that has crept by an oversight into the text. The מים אפיקי in v. 16 is an obvious softening down of the ים אפיקי of the text before us. In the other deviations, however, the text of the Psalms is evidently the more original of the two; the abridgment of the second clause of v. 13 is evidently a simplification of the figurative description in the psalm, and רב בּרקים in the 15th verse of the psalm is more poetical and a stronger expression than the mere בּרק of our text.)
17 He reached out of the height, He laid hold of me;
Drew me out of great waters:
18 Saved me from my enemy strong;
From my haters, because they were too strong for me.
19 They fell upon me in my day of calamity:
Then Jehovah became my stay,
20 And led me out into a broad place;
Delivered me, because He had pleasure in me.
The Lord stretched His hand from the height into the deep abysses, which had been uncovered through the threatening of the wrath of God, and drew out the sinking man. ישׁלח without יד is used to denote the stretching out of the hand, and in the sense of reaching out to a thing (as in 2 Samuel 6:6). רבּים מים (great waters) does not refer to the enemy, but to the calamities and dangers (waves of death and streams of Belial, 2 Samuel 22:5) into which the enemies of the Psalmist had plunged him. ימשׁני , from משׁה (Exodus 2:10), from which the name of Moses was derived, to whom there is probably an allusion made. As Moses was taken out of the waters of the Nile, so David was taken out of great (many) waters. This deliverance is still further depicted in a more literal terms in 2 Samuel 22:18. עז איבי , my enemy strong, poetical for my strong enemy, does not refer to one single enemy, namely Saul; but, as the parallel “my haters” shows, is a poetical personification of all his enemies. They were stronger than David, therefore the Lord had to deliver him with an almighty hand. The “ day of calamity ” in which the enemy fell upon him ( קדּם : see at 2 Samuel 22:6) was the time when David wandered about in the desert helpless and homeless, fleeing from the pursuit of Saul. The Lord was then his support, or a staff on which he could support himself (vid., Psalms 23:4), and led him out of the strait into the broad, i.e., into a broad space where he could move freely, because God had pleasure in him, and had chosen him in His grace to be His servant. This reason for his deliverance is carried out still further in what follows.
21 Jehovah rendered to me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands He recompensed me.
22 For I have observed the ways of Jehovah,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all His rights are before my eyes;
And His statutes,-I do not depart from them.
24 And I was innocent towards Him,
And kept myself from mine iniquity.
גּמל signifies to do to a person good or evil, like the Greek εὖ and κακῶς πράττειν τινά . The righteousness and cleanness of hands , i.e., the innocence, which David attributed to himself, were not perfect righteousness or holiness before God, but the righteousness of his endeavours and deeds as contrasted with the unrighteousness and wickedness of his adversaries and pursuers, and consisted in the fact that he endeavoured earnestly and sincerely to walk in the ways of God and to keep the divine commandments. מן רשׁע , to be wicked from , is a pregnant expression, signifying to depart wickedly from God. לנגדּי , i.e., as a standard before my eye. In the psalm we find עמּו תמים , innocent in intercourse with the Lord, instead of לו תמים (see Deuteronomy 18:13); and for the fact itself, David's own testimony in 1 Samuel 26:23-24, the testimony of God concerning him in 1 Kings 14:8, and the testimony of history in 1 Kings 15:5. מעוני , from mine iniquity, i.e., from the iniquity which I might have committed.
25 Thus Jehovah repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to my cleanness before His eyes.
26 Towards the pious Thou showest thyself pious,
Towards the perfectly innocent Thou showest thyself innocent.
27 Towards the genuine Thou showest thyself genuine,
And towards the perverse Thou showest thyself crooked.
28 And afflicted people Thou helpest,
And Thine eyes are against the haughty; them Thou humblest.
The motive for deliverance, which was expounded in 2 Samuel 22:21-24, is summed up briefly in 2 Samuel 22:25; and then in 2 Samuel 22:26 and 2 Samuel 22:27 it is carried back to the general truth, that the conduct of God towards men is regulated according to the conduct of men towards God. The vav cons . in ויּשׁב expresses the logical consequence. כּברי is used instead of ידי כּבר in 2 Samuel 22:21, which is repeated in the psalm simply for the sake of variation. The truth that God treats every man in accordance with his conduct towards Him, is expounded in four parallel clauses, in which the conduct of God is expressed in verbs in the Hithpael , formed from the adjectives used to describe the conduct of men towards God. To the חסיד , the pious or devoted to God, He also shows himself pious; and innocent, blameless, to the תמים גּבּור , the man strong in innocence, who walks in perfect innocence. נבר , a Niphal participle, from בּרר , he who keeps himself pure, strives after purity of walk. תּתּבר , an anomalous contraction of תּתבּרר (Ps.), analogous to the formation of נבר for נברר . The form תּתּפּל for תּתפּתּל , to show one's self perverse of crooked, is still more anomalous. God shows himself so towards the perverse, by giving him up to his perverseness (Romans 1:28). This general truth is applied in 2 Samuel 22:28 to the congregation of God, in the contrast which it presents of humble and haughty, and is expounded from the conduct of God, as displayed in the history of Israel, towards these two classes of men, into which the nation was divided. In the psalm, therefore, we find אתּה כּי , for which the simple ו is substituted here, because the verse does not contain any actual reason for what goes before. עני עם , afflicted people, is used to denote the pious and depressed in the nation; רמים , the high , i.e., the haughty, or godless rich and mighty in the nation. תּשׁפּיל is to be taken as a relative: whom Thou humblest (see Ewald, §332, b .; and for the thought, Isaiah 2:11). In the psalm the unusual mode of expression in the second clause is changed into the more common phrase, “Thou bringest down high, i.e., proud looks” (cf. Proverbs 6:17; Proverbs 21:4; Proverbs 30:13; Psalms 131:1, etc.).
2 Samuel 22:29 commences the description of the help which David had already received from God in his conflict with the enemies of Israel, and which he would still receive.
29 For Thou art my lamp, O Jehovah!
And Jehovah maketh my darkness bright.
30 For through Thee I run troops,
And through my God I leap walls.
31 God - innocent is His way.
The word of Jehovah is refined,
A shield is He to all who trust in Him.
The explanatory כּי , with which the new description of the divine mercy commences, refers to the thought implied in 2 Samuel 22:28, that David belonged to the “afflicted people,” whom the Lord always helps. As the Lord delivered him out of the danger of death, because He took pleasure in him, so He also gave him power over all his enemies. For He was his lamp, i.e., He had lifted him out of a condition of depression and contempt into one of glory and honour (see at 2 Samuel 21:17), and would still further enlighten his darkness, i.e., “would cause the light of His salvation to shine upon him and his tribe in all the darkness of their distress” ( Hengstenberg ). In the psalm the verse reads thus: “For Thou lightest (makest bright) my lamp (or candle), Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness;” the bold figure “Jehovah the lamp of David” being more literally explained. The figure is analogous to the one in Psalms 27:1, “The Lord is my light;” whilst the form ניר is a later mode of writing נר .
In the strength of his God he could run hostile troops and leap walls, i.e., overcome every hostile power. ארוּץ , not from רצץ , to smash in pieces, but from רוּץ , to run; construed with the accusative according to the analogy of verbs of motion.
He derives this confidence from the acts of God, and also from His word. האל (God) is written absolutely, like הצּוּר in Deuteronomy 32:4. The article points back to בּאלהי . Jehovah is the God ( האל ), whose way is perfect, without blemish; and His word is refined brass, pure silver (cf. Psalms 12:7). He who trusts in Him is safe from all foes. The last two clauses occur again in Agur's proverbs (Proverbs 30:5). The thought of the last clause is still further explained in 2 Samuel 22:32.
32 For who is God save Jehovah,
And who a rock save our God?
33 This God is my strong fortress,
And leads the innocent his way.
34 He makes my feet like the hinds,
And setteth me upon my high places;
35 He teacheth my hands to fight,
And my arms span brazen bows.
There is no true God who can help, except or by the side of Jehovah (cf. Deuteronomy 32:31; 1 Samuel 2:2). צוּר , as in 2 Samuel 22:2. This God is “my strong fortress:” for this figure, comp. Psalms 31:5 and Psalms 27:1. חיל , strength, might, is construed with מעוּזי , by free subordination: “my fortress, a strong one,” like עז מחסי (Psalms 71:7; cf. Ewald, §291, b .). יתּר for יתר , from תּוּר (vid., Ges . §72; Olshausen, Gram . p. 579), in the sense of leading or taking round, as in Proverbs 12:26. God leads the innocent his way, i.e., He is his leader and guide therein. The Keri דּרכּי rests upon a misunderstanding. There is an important difference in the reading of this verse in Ps 18, viz., “The God who girdeth me with strength, and makes my way innocent.” The last clause is certainly an alteration which simplifies the meaning, and so is also the first clause, the thought of which occurs again, word for word, in 2 Samuel 22:40 , with the addition of למּלחמה . איּלה or איּלת , the hind, or female stag, is a figure of speech denoting swiftness in running. “ Like the hinds: ” a condensed simile for “like the hinds' feet,” such as we frequently meet with in Hebrew (vid., Ges. §144, Anm.). The reference is to swiftness in pursuit of the foe (vid., 2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8). רגליו , his feet, for רגלי ( my feet) in the psalm, may be accounted for from the fact, that David had spoken of himself in the third person as the innocent one. “ My high places ” were not the high places of the enemy, that became his by virtue of conquest, but the high places of his own land, which he maintained triumphantly, so that he ruled the land for them. The expression is formed after Deuteronomy 32:13, and is imitated in Habakkuk 3:19. למּד is generally construed with a double accusative: here it is written with an accusative and ל , and signifies to instruct for the war. נחת , in the psalm נחתה , on account of the feminine זרועתי , is not the Niphal of חתת , to be broken in pieces, but the Piel of נחת , to cause to go down, to press down the bow, i.e., to set it. The bow of brass is mentioned as being the strongest: setting such a bow would be a sign of great heroic strength. The two verses (2 Samuel 22:34 and 2 Samuel 22:35) are simply a particularizing description of the power and might with which the Lord had endowed David to enable him to conquer all his foes.
36 And Thou reachest me the shield of my salvation,
And Thy hearing makes me great.
37 Thou makest my steps broad under me,
And my ankles have not trembled.
The Lord bestows the true strength for victory in His salvation. The shield of salvation is the shield which consists of salvation, of the helping grace of the Lord. ענתך , for which we find in the psalm ענותך , thy humility, i.e., God's condescending grace, does not mean “thy humiliation,” but “ thy hearkening ,” i.e., that practical hearkening on the part of God, when called upon for help, which was manifested in the fact that God made his steps broad, i.e., provided the walker with a broad space for free motion, removing obstructions and stumbling-blocks out of the way. God had done this for David, so that his ankles had not trembled, i.e., he had not been wanting in the power to take firm and safe steps. In this strength of his God he could destroy all his foes.
38 I will pursue my enemies and destroy them,
I will not turn till they are consumed.
39 I will consume them and dash them in pieces, that they may not arise,
And may fall under my feet.
40 And Thou girdest me with strength for war,
Thou bowest mine adversaries under me.
41 And Thou makest mine enemies turn the back to me;
My haters, I root them out.
The optative form ארדּפה serves to make the future signification of ארדּף (in the psalm) the more apparent. Consequently it is quite out of the question to take the other verbs as preterites. We are not compelled to do this by the interchange of imperfects c. vav consec. with simple imperfects, as the vav consec. is not used exclusively as expressive of the past. On the contrary, the substance of the whole of the following description shows very clearly that David refers not only to the victories he has already won, but in general to the defeat of all his foes in the past, the present, and the future; for he speaks as distinctly as possible not only of their entire destruction (2 Samuel 22:38, 2 Samuel 22:39, 2 Samuel 22:43), but also of the fact that God makes him the head of the nations, and distant and foreign nations to him homage. Consequently he refers not only to his own personal dominion, but also, on the strength of the promise which he had received from God, to the increase of the dominion of the throne of his house, whilst he proclaims in the Spirit the ultimate defeat of all the enemies of the kingdom of God. This Messianic element in the following description comes out in a way that cannot be mistaken, in the praise of the Lord with which he concludes in 2 Samuel 22:47-51. ואשׁמידם , “ I destroy them ,” is stronger than ואשּׂיגם , “I reach them” (in the psalm). In 2 Samuel 22:39 the words are crowded together, to express the utter destruction of all foes. In the psalm ואכלּם is omitted. ותּזרני for ותּאזּרני in the psalm is not a poetical Syriasm, and still less a “careless solecism” (Hupfeld), but a simple contraction, such as we meet with in many forms: e.g., מלּפנוּ for מאלּפנוּ (Job 35:11; cf. Ewald, §232, b .). The form תּתּה for נתתּה (in the psalm) is unusual, and the aphaeresis of the נ can only be accounted for from the fact that this much-used word constantly drops its נ as a radical sound in the imperfect (see Ewald, §195, c .). The phrase ערף לּי תּתּה is formed after Exodus 23:27. “Giving the enemy to a person's back” means causing them to turn the back, i.e., putting them to flight.
42 They look out, but there is no deliverer;
For Jehovah, but He answereth them not.
43 And I rub in pieces as the dust of the earth,
Like the mire of the streets I crush them and stamp upon them.
The cry of the foe for help is not attended to; they are annihilated without quarter. ישׁעוּ , to look out to God for help (with אל and על ; vid., Isaiah 17:7-8), is more poetical than ישׁוּעוּ , “they cry” (in the psalm); and כּעפר־ארץ is more simple than על־פּני־רוּח כּעפר (in the psalm), “I crush them as dust before the wind,” for the wind does not crush the dust, but carries it away. In the second clause of 2 Samuel 22:43, אדקּם is used instead of אריקם in the psalm, and strengthened by ארקעם . אדקּם , from דקק , to make thin , to crush; so that instead of “I pour them out like mire of the streets which is trodden to pieces,” the Psalmist simply says, “I crush and stamp upon them like mire of the streets.” Through the utter destruction of the foe, God establishes the universal dominion to which the throne of David is to attain.
44 And Thou rescuest me out of the strivings of my people,
Preservest me to be the head of the heathen.
People that I knew not serve me.
45 The sons of the stranger dissemble to me,
Upon hearsay they obey me.
46 The sons of the stranger despair,
And tremble out of their castles.
By “ the strivings of my people ” the more indefinite expression in the psalm, “strivings of the people,” is explained. The words refer to the domestic conflicts of David, out of which the Lord delivered him, such as the opposition of Ishbosheth and the rebellions of Absalom and Sheba. These deliverances formed the prelude and basis of his dominion over the heathen. Consequently תּשׁמרני ( Thou preservest me to be the head of the nations) occurs quite appropriately in the second clause; and תּשׂימני , “Thou settest me,” which occurs in the psalm, is a far less pregnant expression. עם before ידעתּי לא is used indefinitely to signify foreign nations. Toi king of Hamath (2 Samuel 8:10) was an example, and his subjugation was a prelude of the future subjection of all the heathen to the sceptre of the Son of David, as predicted in Ps 72. In v. 45 the two clauses of the psalm are very appropriately transposed. The Hithpael יתכחשׁוּ , as compared with יכחשׁוּ , is the later form. In the primary passage (Deuteronomy 33:29) the Niphal is used to signify the dissembling of friendship, or of involuntary homage on the part of the vanquished towards the victor. אזן לשׁמוע , “ by the hearing of the ear ,” i.e., by hearsay, is a simple explanation of אזן לשׁמע , at the rumour of the ears (vid., Job 42:5), i.e., at the mere rumour of David's victories. The foreign nations pine away, i.e., despair of ever being able to resist the victorious power of David. יחגּרוּ , “ they gird themselves ,” does not yield any appropriate meaning, even if we should take it in the sense of equipping themselves to go out to battle. The word is probably a misspelling of יחרגוּ , which occurs in the psalm, חרג being a ἁπ. λεγ. in the sense of being terrified, or trembling: they tremble out of their castles, i.e., they come trembling out of their castles (for the thought itself, see Micah 7:17). It is by no means probable that the word חרג , which is so frequently met with in Hebrew, is used in this one passage in the sense of “ to limp ,” according to Syriac usage.
In conclusion, the Psalmist returns to the praise of the Lord, who had so highly favoured him.
47 Jehovah liveth, and blessed is my rock,
And the God of my refuge of salvation is exalted.
48 The God who giveth me vengeance,
And bringeth nations under me;
49 Who leadeth me out from mine enemies,
And exalteth me above mine adversaries,
Delivereth me from the man of violence.
The formula חי־יהוה does not mean “let Jehovah live,” for the word יחי would be used for that (vid., 2 Samuel 16:16; 1 Samuel 10:24), but is a declaration: “the Lord is living.” The declaration itself is to be taken as praise of God, for “praising God is simply ascribing to Him the glorious perfections which belong to him; we have only to give Him what is His own” ( Hengstenberg ). The following clauses also contain simply declarations; this is evident from the word ירוּם , since the optative ירם would be used to denote a wish. The Lord is living or alive when He manifests His life in acts of omnipotence. In the last clause, the expression צוּר (rock) is intensified into ישׁעי צוּר אלהי (the God of my refuge, or rock, of salvation), i.e., the God who is my saving rock (cf. 2 Samuel 22:3). In the predicates of God in 2 Samuel 22:48, 2 Samuel 22:49, the saving acts depicted by David in vv. 5-20 and 29-46 are summed up briefly. Instead of מוריד , “He causes to go down under me,” i.e., He subjects to me, we find in the psalm ויּדבּר , “He drives nations under me,” and מפלטי instead of מוציאי ; and lastly, instead of חמס אישׁ in the psalm, we have here חמסים אישׁ , as in Psalms 140:2. Therefore the praise of the Lord shall be sounded among all nations.
50 Therefore will I praise Thee, O Jehovah, among the nations,
And sing praise to Thy name.
51 As He who magnifies the salvation of His king,
And showeth grace to His anointed,
To David, and his seed for ever.
The grace which the Lord had shown to David was so great, that the praise thereof could not be restricted to the narrow limits of Israel. With the dominion of David over the nations, there spread also the knowledge, and with this the praise, of the Lord who had given him the victory. Paul was therefore perfectly justified in quoting the verse before us (2 Samuel 22:50) in Romans 16:9, along with Deuteronomy 32:43 and Psalms 117:1, as a proof that the salvation of God was intended for the Gentiles also. The king whose salvation the Lord had magnified, was not David as an individual, but David and his seed for ever-that is to say, the royal family of David which culminated in Christ. David could thus sing praises upon the ground of the promise which he had received (2 Samuel 7:12-16), and which is repeated almost verbatim in the last clause of 2 Samuel 22:51. The Chethib מגדיל is the Hiphil participle מגדּיל , according to Ps. 18:51; and the Keri מגדּול , “tower of the fulness of salvation,” is a singular conjecture.