Bibelkommentare

Ch. 22. David’s thanksgiving for deliverance from his enemies

This magnificent hymn is substantially identical with Psalms 18. The chief variations are pointed out in the notes, and some general remarks on the difference of the two texts will be found in Additional Note III., p. 235.

It was written, as the title indicates, when David’s triumphs over his enemies at home and abroad were still recent. Its composition may with much probability be assigned to the period of peace described in ch. 2 Samuel 7:1; but must be placed after Nathan’s visit, as 2 Samuel 22:51 seems clearly to refer to the great promise made through him. The free and joyous tone of the Psalm, and its bold expressions of conscious integrity, also point to the earlier years of David’s reign rather than the later, overclouded as these were by the fatal consequences of his sin.

This chapter is the Haphtarah or lesson from the prophets appointed to be read in the Synagogue on the Sabbath in conjunction with Deuteronomy 32 according to the ritual of the Sephardim or Spanish Jews, and also on the seventh day of the Passover.

1. The title

2. Compare the inscriptions which introduce Moses’ songs in the historical narrative (Exodus 15:1; Deuteronomy 31:30). This inscription seems to have been taken by the compiler of Samuel and the compiler of the Psalter from a common source—probably one of the prophetic histories of David’s reign—in which this Psalm was incorporated.

in the day that] i.e. at the time when.

out of the hand of Saul] Specially mentioned because Saul was the bitterest and most implacable of his enemies, and because the deliverance from his power raised David to the throne of Israel.

2–4. Introductory invocation of Jehovah

2. The Lord is my rock] The opening address to God, found in Psalms 18, “Fervently do I love thee O Jehovah my strength,” is wanting here.

2, 3. The imagery, by which David describes so emphatically all that Jehovah had been to him as a Deliverer from his enemies, is derived from the experiences of his warlike life, and particularly of his flight from Saul. The cliff (1 Samuel 23:25; 1 Samuel 23:28) where he had escaped from Saul, the strong-hold in the wilderness of Judah or the fastnesses of Engedi (1 Samuel 23:14; 1 Samuel 23:19; 1 Samuel 23:29), “the rocks of the wild goats” (1 Samuel 24:2), were all emblems of Him who had been throughout his true Refuge and Deliverer.

3. The God of my rock] = my strong God: but it is better to alter the vowel points and read as in the Ps., “my God, my Rock.” The title Rock is frequently used to describe the strength, faithfulness, and unchangeableness of God. See Deuteronomy 32:4; Deuteronomy 32:37; 1 Samuel 2:2; Psalm 28:1, &c.

in him will I trust] Better, in whom I take refuge: carrying on the metaphor of a hiding-place in the rocks. Quoted in Hebrews 2:13; cp. Psalm 94:22.

my shield] Compare God’s promise to Abram (Genesis 15:1); and Deuteronomy 33:29.

the horn of my salvation] The Power which saves and delivers me. The figure of the horn, as a symbol of victorious strength, is derived from horned animals. Cp. Deuteronomy 33:17; Luke 1:69.

and my refuge, &c.] The words, “and my retreat, my saviour, thou savest me from violence,” are omitted in Psalms 18.

4. I will call … so shall I be saved] Better, I called … and I was saved. The tenses are frequentative, describing David’s habitual experience of God’s readiness to answer prayer. This verse presents “the theme of the Psalm.”

5. waves] Psalm 18:4 reads cords as in 2 Samuel 22:6; E. V sorrows.

ungodly men] Heb. Belial. See note on 1 Samuel 1:16. The parallelism points to the meaning destruction, physical mischief, instead of the ordinary meaning wickedness, moral mischief.

5–7. The Psalmist’s perils. His cry for help

5, 6.  For breakers of death had compassed me,

torrents of destruction were affrighting me,

cords of Sheol had surrounded me,

snares of death had encountered me.

The perils to which he had been exposed are described as waves and floods which threatened to engulf him: Sheol and death are represented as laying wait for his life like hunters with nets and snares.

6. the sorrows of hell] The word may no doubt mean pangs, as it is translated in the Sept. (ὠδῖνες, cp. Acts 2:24); but is better explained of the cords or nets of the hunter. Hell is Sheôl (Gr. Hades), the mysterious unseen world, ready to seize and swallow up its victim. See note on 1 Samuel 2:6.

7. called … cried] This rendering represents a difference of words found in the Heb. of Psalm 18:6, but not here. It is however supported by the Sept. and is probably the true reading.

out of his temple] The palace temple of heaven, where He sits enthroned. Cp. Psalm 11:4.

and my cry did enter into his ears] In place of the terse expression my cry was in his ears, Psalm 18:6 reads “my cry before him came into his ears.”