Wisdom Wednesday: Wisdom of David -Part 5
David’s Song of Deliverance and Praise
Submitted by Debbie’s Dad
“The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be God, the rock of my salvation,
(2 Sam 22:47) NASB 95
One mark of David’s wisdom was his desire to explicitly write down his reverence for God, his acknowledgment of God’s provision in his life, and his praise for God as his deliverer. The 22nd chapter of the book of Second Samuel records a Psalm of David that is also provided in Psalm 18. Almost verbatim, Chapter 22 follows the accounts of David’s decade as a fugitive, then as king who faced conspiracies, revolts, and cycles of wars. This writing by David is provided in Second Samuel to complement the historical account of his life and was placed in Psalm 18 as a song to be read or sung in worship.
David’s 50-verse psalm is as lengthy statement of his experience as a fugitive, warrior, and king and the deliverance that God provided to him as he trusted in his unseen savior. It may be described in seven sections, summarized below:
- The Lord is a Refuge (22:1-7) Close to death on many occasions, David cried out to the Lord, his God and he was saved from his enemies. The language is defensive – the fortress, the shield, the horn (the last defense for many animals).
- The Lord is all-powerful (8-16) With vivid language, David describes the power of God on the offensive – Shaking mountains, smoke and fire, clouds and darkness. “The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice.” (22:14)
- The Lord is a Rescuer (22:17-20) David acknowledged he could not survive alone – he needed a rescuer; he was over his head. “He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.” (22:18)
- The Lord helps the Righteous (21:22-30) David claimed he was delivered because he looked to the Lord, “For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not acted wickedly against my God.’ (22:22). He walked in the ways of the Lord, a life he described as “righteousness”, “cleanness”, “blameless”, “kept from iniquity”, and “pure” – because the Lord was His “lamp”.
- The Lord Delivers from Battle (22: 31-43) Using battle language, David describes how God. “…trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze” (22:35). He details how God shields him (v.36), keeps him from falling (v.37), destroyed enemies before him (vv.38-41). His strongest language against the wicked concludes this section, “Then I pulverized them as the dust of the earth; I crushed and stamped them as the mire of the streets.” (v. 43)
- The Lord Delivers from Life (22:44-46) Next, using leadership language, David addressed how the Lord helped him through the challenges of leading the nation of Israel, including dealing with contentious people, and foreigners who pretend to obey him.
- The Lord is Worthy of Praise (47-51) David concludes with praise for the living Lord who rescued him, subdued his enemies and then lifted him up to be a leader. Because of all this, He concludes: “Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the nations, And I will sing praises to Your name.” (v. 50)
This was just one of David’s explicit, written acknowledgements of God’s care for him in a poem, song or psalm. David’s wisdom was to write to acknowledge how God had cared for him, delivered him, and became the rock of his life. We all face life’s challenges, though perhaps not as extreme as David, yet it would be wise for all of us, in our own way, to write down how God has faithfully cared for us throughout the challenges of our own lives. – and to declare that He alone is the rock of our salvation.