Second Samuel 22 Commentary
The song of praise here seems to have been written during the good old days of King David. For in the song he says, “The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.” David’s later years were different and he would write: “Surely I was sinful at birth.”
Many psalms were written during David’s golden years. Take note that these were years of persecution and general difficulties. There is something negative about affluence: it is strangely never good soil for great spirituality. While running away from Saul, David thinks of God as his refuge. The saint on the throne may think of God as his ATM or simply a good friend to have.
The key theme centers on the thought that the LORD has delivered David from more powerful and stronger enemies. Praise still remains an acknowledgment of the works of the LORD. Importantly, it is a celebration of God’s faithfulness. He had promised to grant Israel victory against stronger nations.
David looks back and compares the LORD’s presence with him to the time when the LORD descended on Mount Sinai. Of course, David is talking too much in comparing his scrapped escapes from Saul to the glorious experiences at Mount Sinai. But he is right. Does the saint see the glorious savior in her daily battles?
This psalm carries with it many themes that are expanded in the larger volume of David’s literature, the Psalms.
This psalm presents a Universal God. He shields all who take refuge in Him. Verse 31. No one should feel like God is for believers only. There is no fixed boundary defining who the child of God is. God’s family is ever increasing. He shields anyone who takes refuge in Him. Each man does well to remember that he has a room in God’s house which is vacant because of his absence.
We are reminded of the times when Joshua matched into Canaan with victory after victory in a single campaign. Here foreign nations cower before David. People he didn’t know give him respect. Nothing short of our expectations! An Israelite man can walk around proud and free.
No one reads the great psalms of David without being interrupted by chapter 11, the Bathsheba chapter. In essence, the chapter interrupts a period of peace, prosperity, and increase. It is a minus on the blessing of the LORD. In essence, it subtracts from our hopes and aspirations. At the same time, it tells us that man’s problem isn’t exactly oppression from external enemies like the Philistines. It’s not even a lack of a consistent income or physical wellbeing for the saint today. Man’s problem is sin.
Look at the raise song again. It is celebrating David’s victory over the enemies. See how one enemy lurks successfully conquers David in chapter 11. The good news of the LORD Jesus is that we can experience victory over this special enemy.
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