Thy Strong Word — 2 Samuel 22: David’s Song of Deliverance

The Rev. Dr. Brian Kachelmeier, pastor of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study 2 Samuel 22.

In this chapter, we are invited into an intimate moment as King David pours out a heartfelt song of praise and thanksgiving to God. This chapter beautifully encapsulates David’s personal journey, marked by triumphant victories, profound losses, and unshakeable faith. David’s song gives us a stirring testament of God’s unwavering protection, his deliverance from enemies, and his guidance through the trials and triumphs of life.

2 Samuel tells how David becomes the king of Israel and faces both success and failure. It shows YHWH’s faithfulness to His promise and David’s need for His mercy. Through this book, God reveals David in times of both strength and weakness, but nevertheless as a man after God’s heart.

Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations.

Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.

2 Samuel 22

David’s Song of Deliverance

22 And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ²He said,

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
³    my^[a] God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
    my stronghold and my refuge,
    my savior; you save me from violence.
⁴I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵“For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of destruction assailed me;^[b]
⁶the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

⁷“In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.

⁸“Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations of the heavens trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
⁹Smoke went up from his nostrils,^[c]
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
¹⁰He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
¹¹He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he was seen on the wings of the wind.
¹²He made darkness around him his canopy,
    thick clouds, a gathering of water.
¹³Out of the brightness before him
    coals of fire flamed forth.
¹⁴The Lord thundered from heaven,
    and the Most High uttered his voice.
¹⁵And he sent out arrows and scattered them;
    lightning, and routed them.
¹⁶Then the channels of the sea were seen;
    the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷“He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁸He rescued me from my strong enemy,
    from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁹They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
²⁰He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

²¹“The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
²³For all his rules were before me,
    and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
²⁴I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from guilt.
²⁵And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to my cleanness in his sight.

²⁶“With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
²⁷with the purified you deal purely,
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
²⁸You save a humble people,
    but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
²⁹For you are my lamp, O Lord,
    and my God lightens my darkness.
³⁰For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
³¹This God—his way is perfect;
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³²“For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?
³³This God is my strong refuge
    and has made my^[d] way blameless.^[e]
³⁴He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
³⁵He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁶You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your gentleness made me great.
³⁷You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet^[f] did not slip;
³⁸I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
    and did not turn back until they were consumed.
³⁹I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
    they fell under my feet.
⁴⁰For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
⁴¹You made my enemies turn their backs to me,^[g]
    those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
⁴²They looked, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴³I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;
    I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.

⁴⁴“You delivered me from strife with my people;^[h]
    you kept me as the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
⁴⁵Foreigners came cringing to me;
    as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
⁴⁶Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling^[i] out of their fortresses.

⁴⁷“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,
⁴⁸the God who gave me vengeance
    and brought down peoples under me,
⁴⁹who brought me out from my enemies;
    you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you delivered me from men of violence.

⁵⁰“For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing praises to your name.
⁵¹Great salvation he brings^[j] to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.”

Footnotes

2 Samuel 22:3 Septuagint (compare Psalm 18:2); Hebrew lacks my
2 Samuel 22:5 Or terrified me
2 Samuel 22:9 Or in his wrath
2 Samuel 22:33 Or his; also verse 34
2 Samuel 22:33 Compare Psalm 18:32; Hebrew he has blamelessly set my way free, or he has made my way spring up blamelessly
2 Samuel 22:37 Hebrew ankles
2 Samuel 22:41 Or You gave me my enemies’ necks
2 Samuel 22:44 Septuagint with the peoples
2 Samuel 22:46 Compare Psalm 18:45; Hebrew equipped themselves
2 Samuel 22:51 Or He is a tower of salvation

Rev. Dr. Phil Booe

Native North Carolinian Rev. Dr. Phil Booe serves pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, and host of Thy Strong Word on KFUO Radio. His parishioners probably think he can’t teach Bible study without a mug of coffee in his hand, and he’ll always be happy to eat a plate of sushi. When he’s not shepherding his flock or teaching on the radio, you might find him watching bad movies from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and especially binging RiffTrax and MST3K episodes. Some day he’d love to travel to the Lutheran homeland in Germany, but for now he spends time in Minnesota with his wife, son, daughter, and cat, and looks forward to Holy Week every year.