2 Samuel 22

David’s Song of Deliverance

1 And David spoke a to the  Lord the words of this song on the day when the  Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2  b He said,

c “The  Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
 3  d my ▼
▼ Septuagint (compare Psalm 18:2); Hebrew lacks  my
 God, my rock f in whom I take refuge,
g my shield, and h the horn of my salvation,
i my stronghold and j my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
 4 I call upon the  Lord, who is k worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
 5  l “For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of destruction assailed me; ▼
▼ Or terrified me

 6  n the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
 7  o “In my distress I called upon the  Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry p came to his ears.
 8  “Then q the earth reeled and rocked;
r the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
 9 Smoke went up from his nostrils ▼
▼ Or in his wrath

and devouring fire from his mouth;
t glowing coals flamed forth from him.
 10  u He bowed the heavens and v came down;
w thick darkness was under his feet.
 11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen on x the wings of the wind.
 12 He made y darkness around him z his canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.
 13 Out of the brightness before him
aa coals of fire flamed forth.
 14  ab The  Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
 15 And he sent out ac arrows and scattered them;
lightning, and routed them.
 16 Then the channels of the sea were seen;
the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the  Lord,
at the ad blast of the breath of his nostrils.
 17  ae “He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
 18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
 19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the  Lord was my support.
 20  af He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, because ag he delighted in me.
 21  “The  Lord ah dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to the ai cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
 22  aj For I have kept the ways of the  Lord
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
 23  ak For all his rules were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
 24 I was al blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
 25  am And the  Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.
 26  an “With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the ao blameless man you show yourself blameless;
 27 with the purified you deal purely,
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
 28  ap You save a humble people,
aq but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
 29  ar For you are my lamp, O  Lord,
and my God lightens my darkness.
 30 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
 31 This God— as his way is perfect;
the at word of the  Lord proves true;
he is au a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
 32  “For who is God, but the  Lord?
av And who is a rock, except our God?
 33 This God is my aw strong refuge
and has made my ▼
▼ Or his; also verse 34
 way blameless. ▼
▼ Compare Psalm 18:32; Hebrew he has blamelessly set my way free, or he has made my way spring up blamelessly

 34  az He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me secure ba on the heights.
 35  bb He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
 36 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your gentleness made me great.
 37  bc You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet ▼
▼ Hebrew ankles
 did not slip;
 38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
 39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
they fell be under my feet.
 40 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made bf those who rise against me sink under me.
 41 You bg made my enemies turn their backs to me, ▼
▼ Or  You gave me my enemies’ necks

those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
 42 They looked, but there was none to save;
they cried to the  Lord, but bi he did not answer them.
 43 I beat them fine bj as the dust of the earth;
I crushed them and stamped them down bk like the mire of the streets.
 44  “You delivered me from strife with my people; ▼
▼ Septuagint  with the peoples

you kept me as the head of bm the nations;
bn people whom I had not known served me.
 45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
 46 Foreigners lost heart
and came trembling ▼
▼ Compare Psalm 18:45; Hebrew equipped themselves
 bp out of their fortresses.
 47  “The  Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be bq my God, br the rock of my salvation,
 48 the God who gave me vengeance
and bs brought down peoples under me,
 49 who brought me out from my enemies;
you exalted me above bt those who rose against me;
you delivered me from bu men of violence.
 50  bv “For this I will praise you, O  Lord, among the nations,
and sing praises to your name.
 51  bw Great salvation he brings ▼
▼ Or He is a tower of salvation
 to his king,
and shows steadfast love to by his anointed,
to David and his offspring bz forever.”
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