2 Samuel 22

Chapter 22

David’s Psalm of Deliverance

^1aAnd David spoke ^bthe words of this song to the Lord in the day that the Lord delivered him from the ¹hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

²He said,

“^aThe Lord is my ¹rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

^31aMy God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

My ^bshield and ^cthe horn of my salvation, my stronghold and ^dmy refuge;

My savior, You save me from violence.

⁴“I call upon the Lord, ^awho is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies.

⁵“For ^athe waves of death encompassed me;

^bThe torrents of ¹destruction ²overwhelmed me;

^6aThe cords of ¹Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

⁷“^aIn my distress I called upon the Lord,

Yes, I ¹cried to my God;

And from His temple He heard my voice,

And my cry for help came into His ears.

⁸“Then ^athe earth shook and quaked,

^bThe foundations of heaven were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁹“Smoke went up ¹out of His nostrils,

^aFire from His mouth devoured;

^bCoals were kindled by it.

¹⁰“He bowed the heavens also, and came down

With ^athick darkness under His feet.

¹¹“^aAnd He rode on a cherub and flew;

And He ¹appeared on ^bthe wings of the wind.

¹²“^aAnd He made darkness ¹canopies around Him,

A mass of waters, thick clouds of the sky.

¹³“From the brightness before Him

^aCoals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴“^aThe Lord thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered His voice.

¹⁵“^aAnd He sent out arrows, and scattered them,

Lightning, and ¹routed them.

¹⁶“Then the channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were ¹laid bare

By the rebuke of the Lord,

^aAt the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

¹⁷“^aHe sent from on high, He took me;

^bHe drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸“He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

¹⁹“They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

^aBut the Lord was my support.

²⁰“^aHe also brought me forth into a broad place;

He rescued me, ^bbecause He delighted in me.

²¹“^aThe Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;

^bAccording to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

²²“^aFor I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not acted wickedly against my God.

²³“^aFor all His ordinances were before me,

And as for His statutes, I did not depart from ¹them.

²⁴“^aI was also ¹blameless toward Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

²⁵“^aTherefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to my cleanness before His eyes.

²⁶“^aWith the ¹kind You show Yourself kind,

With the ²blameless You show Yourself blameless;

^27aWith the pure You show Yourself pure,

^bAnd with the perverted You show Yourself ¹astute.

²⁸“^aAnd You save an afflicted people;

^bBut Your eyes are on the haughty whom You abase.

²⁹“^aFor You are my lamp, O Lord;

And the Lord illumines my darkness.

³⁰“^aFor by You I can ¹run upon a troop;

By my God I can leap over a wall.

³¹“^aAs for God, His way is ¹blameless;

^bThe word of the Lord is tested;

^cHe is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

³²“^aFor who is God, besides the Lord?

^bAnd who is a rock, besides our God?

³³“^aGod is my strong fortress;

And He ¹sets the ²blameless in ³His way.

³⁴“^aHe makes ¹my feet like hinds’ feet,

^bAnd sets me on my high places.

³⁵“^aHe trains my hands for battle,

^bSo that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶“You have also given me ^athe shield of Your salvation,

And Your ¹help makes me great.

³⁷“^aYou enlarge my steps under me,

And my ¹feet have not slipped.

³⁸“I pursued my enemies and ^adestroyed them,

And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁹“And I have devoured them and shattered them, so that they did not rise;

And ^athey fell under my feet.

⁴⁰“For You have girded me with strength for battle;

You have ¹subdued under me ^athose who rose up against me.

⁴¹“You have also ^amade my enemies turn their backs to me,

And I ¹destroyed those who hated me.

⁴²“^aThey looked, but there was none to save;

^bEven to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

⁴³“^aThen I pulverized them as the dust of the earth;

^bI crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.

⁴⁴“^aYou have also delivered me from the contentions of my people;

^bYou have kept me as head of the nations;

^cA people whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁵“^aForeigners pretend obedience to me;

As soon as they hear, they obey me.

⁴⁶“Foreigners ¹lose heart,

^aAnd ²come trembling out of their ³fortresses.

⁴⁷“The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock;

And exalted be ^1aGod, the rock of my salvation,

^48aThe God who executes vengeance for me,

^bAnd brings down peoples under me,

⁴⁹Who also brings me out from my enemies;

You even lift me above ^athose who rise up against me;

^bYou rescue me from the violent man.

⁵⁰“^aTherefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations,

And I will sing praises to Your name.

⁵¹“^aHe is a tower of ¹deliverance to His king,

And ^bshows lovingkindness to His anointed,

^cTo David and his ²descendants forever.”