2 Samuel 22: 1 – 51
Save the humble – oppose the proud
22 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. 2 And he said: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 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. 4 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. 5 “When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 7 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. 8 “Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. 9 Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. 10 He bowed the heavens also and came down with darkness under His feet. 11 He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness canopies around Him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 13 From the brightness before Him coals of fire were kindled. 14 “The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. 15 He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them. 16 Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. 17 “He sent from above, He took me, He 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, but the LORD was my support. 20 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me. 21 “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. 24 I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. 25 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His eyes. 26 “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; 27 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. 28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down. 29 “For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness. 30 For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall. 31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. 32 “For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? 33 God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. 34 He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places. 35 He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great. 37 You enlarged my path under me; So, my feet did not slip. 38 “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. 39 And I have destroyed them and wounded them, so that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet. 40 For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me. 41 You have also given me the necks of my enemies, so that I destroyed those who hated me. 42 They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them. 43 Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod them like dirt in the streets, and I spread them out. 44 “You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me as the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me. 45 The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. 46 The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their hideouts. 47 “The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation! 48 It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me; 49 He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. 50 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name. 51 “He is the tower of salvation to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore.”
We read in the book of 1 Peter 5:5-7 this important truth, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
How many times have I read passages on humility and pride and thought, “I’m doing okay in this area.” And then I go about my day. There have been other times that I have stared at the word “humility” and realize how far I fall short of doing this.
The apostle Peter discusses humility throughout his letter. When you go through the Gospels you will find out that this was an area where Peter stumbled. It was in chapter 5 that something stood out. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble”. The question came to me, “How many of my failures and how many of my unanswered prayers have been because God Is opposing me? Has my relationship with Christ Jesus my Lord been affected because I have failed to deal with my pride?
I’ve always thought of pride as that guy who is always boasting about how much money he makes or how important he is, or how many letters he has after his name.. But there are several expressions of pride. Self-sufficiency is one. Trusting only in yourself and believing you have the knowledge and power to achieve anything you desire and overcome any problem that comes your way. Sadly many books on this attitude has made their way into the church.
This form of pride has been part of my life for years. I honestly don’t know when it cropped up because I come from a pauper’s beginning. Maybe having fought all my life for climbing out of my hole in coming from the basement, I do not like asking for help or saying I’m wrong. The problem with self-sufficiency is it the denies the need for Christ and other believers. If I can fix all my problems, then why do I need a savior and why do I need others? Therein lies the problem. Pride also makes you think you can be self-sufficient.
One more area is selfish motives. The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians in chapter 2:3-4 “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others”. So often I do good things for others not because the love of Christ compels me to but I feel that I have no other choice.
Now that the problem has been diagnosed, what is the treatment? The scripture is clear that humility is the remedy. So, what does it mean to be humble? Humility means a modest or low view of one's own importance.
We need only think for a moment what being humble is. Is it not the confession of nothingness and helplessness, the surrender fo the ‘self’ and the waiting to let God be all? Is it not in itself the most humbling thing there can be –the acceptance of our place as dependents. Humility is simply the disposition which prepares the soul for living on trust in our Holy Lord and Master.
Pride stumps out any humbleness that you have. Salvation comes through a cross and a crucified Christ. Salvation is the fellowship with the crucified Christ in the spirit of His cross. Salvation is union with and delight in Jesus.
“Humble yourselves… casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you,”. I am to take on the role of the dependent. Because I’m dependent on God for even my next breath, all of life is up to Him. I have no control of anything. So, I am to turn to the One Holy God Who truly cares for me and can fix my problems.
“‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,’” 2 Corinthians 12:9. If I act like I have ultimate control of my life, then Christ’s power will not be perfected in me. God will only be strong when I am weak.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Philippians 2:5-8
Christ had everything to give up and he did so to fulfill the will of His Father. I have nothing and yet think that I do. Surrender to Him is letting go control of my life. letting God do His job as Creator and sustainer and I do my job of being an empty vessel. That is what the scriptures call us to.
“True humility comes when, in light of God, we have seen ourselves to be nothing, have consented to part with and cast away self, to let God be all.”
In the later point of his life, David came to understand this point and as we will read and hopefully take to heart, we also can be so likeminded.
22 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.
David wanted no glory to go to himself. Rather he recognized that he owed all to Father God Yahweh and to His great demonstrations of invisible power. For David was only too aware that when he and his men had trudged the hot and dusty desert as they had fled from Saul, it had been Yahweh Who had been there, effectively working in his defense in supernatural power. And it had been the same when he had faced his other enemies. And he was duly grateful.
2 And he said: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; 3 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. 4 I will call upon the LORD, Who Is worthy to be praised; So, shall I be saved from my enemies.
David was ever conscious of how unworthy he was that Yahweh should be so good to him. The emphasis is on the fact that he is firmly established and totally safe. He is founded on Yahweh as his Rock. He is safe in our Holy Father God as his heavenly mountain fortress. Furthermore, Yahweh God Is his Shield and Protector, and Is The One Whose mighty strength (horn) constantly saves him. He Is his High Tower and Refuge. How could he possibly have been safer?
5 “When the waves of death surrounded me, the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 6 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 7 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 fully understood that he had needed Yahweh’s protection because of the dangers that he had had to face, the cords of the Grave wrapping round him and binding him as he looked death in the face, and the snares of Death entangling him as he felt himself being slowly drawn in. He had felt as though he was constantly in danger of being both engulfed and ensnared. The description is vivid. It is the picture of a man fighting for his very existence, with death a hairsbreadth away.
No wonder then that he had often been distressed. But in that distress he had called on Yahweh and his cry had reached God’s ears. And the result was that God had come in majestic and awesome power.
8 “Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven quaked and were shaken, because He was angry. 9 Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. 10 He bowed the heavens also and came down with darkness under His feet. 11 He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He was seen upon the wings of the wind. 12 He made darkness canopies around Him, dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 13 From the brightness before Him coals of fire were kindled.
Our Majestic Holy Ruler of the heavens and earth’s coming to David’s assistance is vividly portrayed in terms of a terrible storm. The violent thunder causes the earth to shake and reveals His anger. The lightning starts fires, the smoke of which, as it were, comes out of His nostrils. The darkness surrounds Him like a tent or pavilion and the wind swirls around Him, while the thick thunder clouds also gather around.
So the fierceness of God’s anger over the treatment of His Anointed is being expressed in terms of the quaking earth and the mountains shaking at their very bases, in the midst of the thick, swirling clouds that sometimes come down to cover the earth and with the fire and smoke, which result from bolts of lightning starting fierce fires on it, as the lightning strikes the very ground. It presents an awe-inspiring scene.
14 “The LORD thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice. 15 He sent out arrows and scattered them; Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them. 16 Then the channels of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered, at the rebuke of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.
In this action by our Great God David sees that it is not just a revelation of Yahweh’s power here. There is also reference to His warlike activity. He thunders from Heaven, He utters His voice, He sends out arrows of lightning, He opens up the sources of the sea, He lays bare the foundations of the earth, and all this occurs as a result of the rebuke of YHWH. Here David has seen firsthand The Holy Majesty on High acting in all His awe-inspiring mightiness and power on David’s behalf as he had at the Red Sea. No wonder David was victorious over all his enemies.
17 “He sent from above, He took me, He 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, but the LORD was my support. 20 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.
David then remembers back to how Yahweh had ‘sent from on High’ and drawn him out of the trials that seemed to be engulfing him. His strong enemy had been primarily Saul and his courtiers, who had hated him, and had appeared to be too mighty for him. But he had overcome because Yahwehhad been his protector. And Yahweh had always brought him out into a large place, the place of deliverance. And He had done it because He had delighted in him. Thus, all that he now enjoyed he owed to Yahweh and His elective goodness and love. David was very conscious of Yahweh’s love for him.
21 “The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 23 For all His judgments were before me; And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them. 24 I was also blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. 25 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His eyes.
In these words of David, I want all of us to take to memory the importance of obedience to all that our Loving God has shared with us. You see I have learned from His kind insight that we all reek with sin. In this mortal sinful body, we all face the consistent attacks of our own flesh, the world, and the devil. Our Good and Merciful God in His Holy Word gives us the answers in how we can overcome this sinful existence and ultimately live a good life. If we obey his word this will happen for us. The problem is that we do not know fully His Word. So, if you want to make your life pleasant and successful, you have the answers at your fingertips. You need to get into His word with all your might.
26 “With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless; 27 With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd. 28 You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down.
David recognizes that it is a settled principle of the spiritual life that men will reap what they sow. Those who are merciful, will find mercy from God. This statement suggests how aware David was that he had especially received the mercy of God. Those who are truly developed in righteousness will discover that God’s righteousness is fully developed towards them, so that He acts towards them as the Righteous One. Those who are pure will discover that God deals with them purely and reveals to them His utter dependability and integrity. Thank you, O Lord God.
In contrast those who are wayward will never be sure how God will deal with them. He will appear to be as ‘wayward’ in His dealings with them as they are with Him. This is the contrary side to God’s reciprocation. And while He will certainly save those who are afflicted, He will also bring down those who are haughty. For He seeks always those who are of a humble and contrite spirit. David wants us all to recognize that God Is responsive to what we are, and acts towards us as we act towards others, and that he therefore deals hardly with those who fail to walk in His ways. It is a general principle of the spiritual life. This is the normal way of things.
29 “For You are my lamp, O LORD; The LORD shall enlighten my darkness. 30 For by You I can run against a troop; By my God I can leap over a wall.
Because his heart is towards God with a desire to do His will David sees Yahweh as his lamp Who will show him the way in which he must go. David is confident that He will lighten his darkness, and show him the way forward. It is because God lights his way that he can successfully attack a troop and can equally successfully leap over the walls of a resisting city. The twofold thought here is of success in warfare. To ‘run on a troop’ is to race at them, and then chase, attack and defeat them, as he had done with the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30), to leap over a wall described his taking of cities like the Jebusite city of Jerusalem. Such walls were no hindrance to him. He, as it were, simply leapt over them. And it was because Yahweh was with him. He gave all the glory for his success to God.
31 As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. 32 “For who is God, except the LORD? And Who Is a rock, except our God?
David understands that all things rely on the fact that the way of Yahweh is ideal, and the word of Yahweh, is tried and tested. Both are thus fully to be relied on. Nor can we go wrong in them if we follow Him in them, for He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. Yahweh is the only God Who counts for anything, and as such He Is the perfect and only foundational Rock for those who trust in Him. So, with all his failings David’s heart was set firmly on the way of Yahweh, and he trusted wholly in His upholding, and it was this that explained the greatness of his success.
33 God Is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. 34 He makes my feet like the feet of deer and sets me on my high places. 35 He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 36 “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great.
David was aware that it was not because of his own ability and strength that he had succeeded up until now. It was because Yahweh was his strong fortress, his guaranteed protection, and because Yahweh always guides those whose hearts are set on doing His will in the right way, in His way. For the ‘perfect’ are those who seek to do His will and are committed to His covenant. He makes their feet stable and firm however rough the pathway, in the same way as the hind never loses her footing on even the most precipitous mountain path.
37 You enlarged my path under me; So my feet did not slip. 38 “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them; Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed. 39 And I have destroyed them and wounded them, so that they could not rise; They have fallen under my feet. 40 For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me.
David had been able, through YHWH’s enabling, to make great strides, without his feet having slipped. He had been able to pursue his enemies and destroy them, never having to turn back until he had utterly defeated them, until they had fallen under his feet. And it was all because Yahweh had girded him with strength for battle and had Himself subdued those who revolted against him. He owed all his victories to Father God Yahweh.
41 You have also given me the necks of my enemies, so that I destroyed those who hated me. 42 They looked, but there was none to save; Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them. 43 Then I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trod them like dirt in the streets, and I spread them out.
It was Yahweh Who made all his enemies turn their backs on him and run, so that he was enabled to cut off all who hated him. And when they looked to YHWH they received no answer, because they only did so in a superstitious and ritualistic way, otherwise they would have been responsive and obedient towards the one who was Yahweh’s Anointed. The result was that David had been able to beat them into fine dust.
44 “You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me as the head of the nations. A people I have not known shall serve me. 45 The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. 46 The foreigners fade away and come frightened from their hideouts.
And all this applied both to the strivings of his own people against him, and to peoples whom he had not known over whom Yahweh had given him supremacy, thus making him ‘the head of the nations’. It was Yahweh Who had enabled him to defeat the Amalekites, the Philistines, the Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Aramaeans, with the result that other nations had submitted willingly without even a fight, before he had even approached them.
47 “The LORD lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let God be exalted, The Rock of my salvation! 48 It is God who avenges me and subdues the peoples under me; 49 He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.
David now relates his victories to his prior commencing eulogy about Yahweh as his Rock in verse 2. He has been delivered from all his enemies because Yahweh lives, and because He Is his Rock, even the Rock of his salvation. All his deliverances are owed to that solid Rock Who has made his feet firm and has brought down his enemies. It was Yahweh Who had executed vengeance for him so that, for example, he had been able to leave Saul in God’s hands without killing him himself. It was Yahweh Who had brought down people under him, and had always brought him back from the presence of his enemies in triumph. It was Yahweh Who had always lifted him up above those who rose against him, and who had delivered him from ‘the violent man’ .
50 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name. 51 “He Is the tower of salvation to His king, and shows mercy to His anointed, to David and his descendants forevermore.”
And all this was because He was fulfilling His everlasting divine promises to His king and to His Anointed and was revealing towards him His covenant love. No wonder then that David expresses his thanks and praise to Yahweh among the nations for all that He has so lovingly done for him. He will not fall short in making clear to all the power and love of Yahweh.
