2 Samuel 22 explained: David's Song of Rescue

Who God is to David (vv. 1-4)

David piles up pictures of safety, like rock, fortress and shield, and a 'horn' stands for strength, like an animal's horn. Some readers think the rock images echo the rocky places where David once hid from King Saul, and almost the same song appears in the Bible as Psalm 18.

Drowning, then God arrives (vv. 5-16)

Death is pictured as floods and hunting traps closing in, and God answers by coming down in earthquake, fire, thunder and storm, riding on cherubim (winged heavenly creatures). No battle of David's is recorded with such events, so this is usually read as vivid poetry, echoing God's fiery appearance at Mount Sinai.

Pulled out of deep water (vv. 17-20)

God reaches down and lifts David out, like someone saved from drowning. Being brought into a wide open place means freedom after being hemmed in, and David says it happened because God took pleasure in him.

Claiming clean hands (vv. 21-30)

David says God rewarded him for being blameless, which is hard to square with his adultery with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband, so interpreters are unsure whether he wrote this earlier or meant his loyalty to God and his refusal to harm Saul. Verses 26 and 27 say God deals with people according to their own ways, staying faithful to the faithful and outwitting the crooked.

Strength for brutal battle (vv. 31-43)

God is the only true Rock, and he gives David a deer's sure footing and arms strong enough to bend a bronze bow. The ending is harsh ancient war poetry, celebrating enemies crushed like mud, even as they cry to the LORD and get no answer.

King over nations, final praise (vv. 44-51)

Foreign peoples now submit to David, and he ends by praising God for kindness to his 'anointed' king and his family line forever, recalling God's earlier promise to David. The word 'messiah' comes from the Hebrew word for 'anointed', and Christians read this in light of Jesus, a descendant of David.

Key verse: 2 Samuel 22:2

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether this song is mainly David's own thanks for his own rescues or is also a prophecy pointing ahead to Jesus as the final 'anointed' king.

Something to think about

When you look back on getting through something hard, how much do you credit yourself, other people, luck, or something beyond all of these?