David's Song of The Victorious Life

Victory in the Rock

2 Samuel 22, Psalm 18

Crying Out in Crisis for the Rock - 2 Samuel 22:1-7

This week we are focused on 2 Samuel chapter 22. It is a Prayer Psalm of David extolling the victory of depending wholly on His Lord. Nearing the end of his live, David looks back and writes this beautiful expression of trust and praise to God’s faithfulness.

2 Samuel 22:1–7 “Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. “When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears.”

David starts out praising God his rock, fortress, deliverer, strength, trust, shield, horn of salvation, stronghold, refuge, and SAVIOR. David lists ten characters of God that at different times we can fall upon.

In the midst of troubles David calls upon the Lord and praises Him for the deliverance that is already accomplished. The victory is as good as done because David is living in the finished work. And so David praises God before he is saved from his enemies.

And who are these enemies? David lists five; the waves of death, the floods of ungodliness, the sorrows of Sheol, the snares of death, and his distress. It’s interesting that David doesn’t list people, but he lists distresses.

When you are overwhelmed by situations do like David did and cry out to God. Our cries will enter His ears. expect the victory and praise Him for it.

Divine Deliverance Demonstrated - 2 Samuel 22:8-20.

2 Samuel 22:7–8 tells us, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry entered His ears. “Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry.”

In short David says, “In my distress I called…and cried…He heard…my cry entered His ears…then the earth shook and trembled”.

This is how deliverance looked to David. 2 Samuel 22:11 “He rode upon a cherub, and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind.”

2 Samuel 22:17–18 ““He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me; For they were too strong for me.” For David it seems deliverance was a frequent occurrence. When David cried, God did things. The more this happened, the more David knew he could trust his God. David could venture deep into his faith-walk because he knew that God would be faithful. How about you? Do you have a strong enemy? Does he hate you? Is he stronger than you? Call out to God. Be like David and really fill God’s ears with your cries. God delights when His children come to Him in faith. In fact He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

A Righteous Relationship— 2 Samuel 22:21-30

2 Samuel 22:21 ““The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.” Yes, God does reward those who are faithful. Salvation, that is to say eternal life, is by grace through faith not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). On the other hand, our sanctification as we live the Christian life, is certainly something in which God expects good works produced by faith in the Spirit. And He rewards us accordingly.

Throughout this passage we read of David’s obedience securing a blessing or a rescue from temporal problems. He was secure in fellowship with God. He had a righteous relationship with the Lord, but his day to day deliverances were according to his fellowship. 2 Samuel 22:28–30 “You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. “For You are my lamp, O Lord; The Lord shall enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.”

Again, the salvation and bringing down mentioned here occur in this life. These are temporal consequences of faith. David’s darkness was illuminated by Gods Word. He was empowered to perform greatly in battle and “leap over walls”. Being in fellowship with God means our way is illuminated; our battles are more often won; and those “walls” that sometimes impede our progress can be leaped over.

Confidence in the Cornerstone - 2 Samuel 22:31-46

2 Samuel 22:31-46

This next section of 2 Samuel 22 highlights the various aspects of God’s provisions for David and how David drew his confidence from God, his rock.

2 Samuel 22:2 “And he said: “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;” and 2 Samuel 22:32 ““For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?”

His way is perfect this is translated from the Hebrew word תָּמִים tā·mîm - complete, without blemish, whole. In 2 Samuel 22:33 “God is my strength and power, And He makes my way perfect.” David knew his righteousness came from God.

The word of the Lord is proven. The Hebrew here is צרף ṣrp - smelt, refined, tried, pure. David saw the Word of God as pure “gold” tried and true. A rock that could be trusted see Psalm 119 for the psalmist’s view on the virtues of the Word. His Word is perfect.

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Three time’s the word shield is mentioned in 2 Samuel 22 verses 3, 31, and 36. Shield speaks of protection and something that guards between us and harm. Of course this should make the Christian think of Ephesians 6:16 “above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

:33 God is my strength and power. David mentions that God is his power. In 1 Sa 16:18 when Samuel was looking over Jesse’s son’s for the one to anoint a servant mentions David, “a mighty man of valor”. That is the same word in Hebrew, חַ֫יִל ḥǎʹ·yil

1 Samuel 16:18 “Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the Lord is with him.””

David was who he was because God was his power.

I will conclude with the thought, that the word “strength” in verse 33 is the word in verses translated “mountain” or “stronghold”. It is only fitting that David says that God is his rock, his mountain. Jesus Himself is referred to as the cornerstone. He is our Rock!

Isaiah 28:16 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily.”

Psalm 118:22 “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.”

Ephesians 2:20 “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,”

2 Samuel 22:34 “He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And sets me on my high places.”

Tatry Mountain Adventure

déjà vu - I’ve seen this before - 2 Samuel 22:22:47-51

2 Samuel 22:47-51

I will conclude this week by observing that there are some biblical passages that seem to repeat themselves. Sometimes it’s a story. Sometimes it’s a saying that is often repeated like a proverb to illustrate a point.

Biblical interpretation, or hermeneutics, teaches us to look for repetition. 1 Corinthians 2:13 “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” To compare means to look at together, to compare, combine, or explain.

The reason I bring this up is that the eighteenth Psalm is verse by verse almost identical to 2 Samuel 22. David wrote a Psalm and the writer of 2 Samuel incorporated it here to illustrate the point that God does deliver, has delivered, and will deliver. It’s a beautiful way to summarize David’s life. A man who trusted his Savior. Though he often failed he knew he was secure in his deliverance.

For more parallels in the Bible consider the Chronicles. They quite often repeat the same stories and events in Samuel and Kings. Sometimes a second mention brings more light to the study.

So when you think you may have read something similar in a different part of the Bible you may be right. What is God trying to say when He repeats things to us?