David reflects on his life: The path to trusting God
2 Sam 22:1-20
Reflections at funerals can be uplifting as we gain a deeper insight into the inner life and character of the person who died, what motivated them and what they cared most deeply about. A recent funeral I attended was particularly moving because the person’s faith in the Lord, his love for Him and the grace that he lived by was so evident in all the eulogies. What a testimony and legacy to leave behind! Although David is not dead yet, as he reflects on God’s help in this psalm, we get a rare glimpse into his inner life. This is the heart of the book’s conclusion (see my post Lessons from the Gibeonite crisis for the structure), where we come to understand what enabled David to be the kind of person that he was. Judging from the brief explanation (2 Sam 22:1), the psalm may have been spoken when David finally became king over all Israel and his song was incorporated into Israel’s ‘hymnbook’ probably later as Psalm 18.[1]
David’s deliverer and the threat of death
David piles on the descriptors for God using military language such as fortress, stronghold, shield and refuge (2 Sam 22:2-3). In all this, however, there is a personal note reflecting his experience. David knows God as ‘my deliverer’, ‘my rock’, even though he endured years of persecution. Such confidence, however, does not exclude feelings of distress. The watery images expressing this (2 Sam 22:5) are common in the psalms because sea and waters were associated with the forces of chaos and destruction.[2] The threat of death is also compared to cords that may bind and to traps (2 Sam 22:6). David knew what it was like to live under the shadow of death, he was not exaggerating. Saul repeatedly attempted to kill him (1 Sam 18:11; 19:10) and entrapped and surrounded him, so that he only narrowly escaped destruction (e.g. 1 Sam 23:26-28). Yet, he also knew what it was like to have God as his deliverer.
The powerful God who hears
When reality suggested that there was no escape, David cried out to God and was heard from His temple (2 Sam 22:7). This may refer to one of the shrines where God was worshipped at this time, but it is more likely God’s heavenly temple. The Hebrew word used here (and frequently elsewhere to mean the temple) is ‘palace’, which implies that God is King. The description that follows is reminiscent of theophanies (when God appeared, e.g. Mount Sinai; Exod 19:18-19). Although David did not have a theophany, the poetic language conveys how he thought of the Lord. God’s presence triggering earthquakes (2 Sam 22:8), fire and smoke (2 Sam 22:9) and His riding the thunderclouds (2 Sam 22:10-15) are powerful images to describe Him as Lord and King over the created world. David’s enemies were too strong for him (2 Sam 22:18), but they were no match for the Lord. Yet, this great God was not too powerful or busy to hear David’s cry. Not only that, but He was angry (v.8) presumably on his servant’s behalf for being mistreated.
The image we have of God
What kind of image do we carry in our hearts about God? When we are distressed and there is no help in sight, does He feel remote, too far to hear our cry? When our troubles look too big for us to handle, can we see the Lord as bigger still? David’s reflections show that he understood the Lord as both immensely other than us, greater and more powerful, but also one who is near, ready to hear our cry, to stoop down and pluck us out of disaster (2 Sam 22:17). If we feel discouraged that we could never attain to David’s heights of trust, it is good to remember that growing into trust is a process. Neither do feelings of distress mean that we have failed to trust. David knew them too. What shows our trust is the way we let go of our desires and plans and submit to what God allows in our life and wait for Him knowing that He is both powerful to save and cares for our pain beyond our imaginings.
[1] There are minor variations between 2 Samuel 22:2-51 and Psalm 18:1-50. Just like modern worship songs that may exist in more than one version with slight changes to the wording and like earlier hymns get an update from time to time, so the small differences here may be accounted for by a similar process. Although in one sense this is a personal testimony of David’s, the language is general enough to resonate more widely with an audience beyond the king’s specific story. This is in keeping with the conventions of psalm-writing, with the type of literature a psalm is.
[2] Both Canaanite and Babylonian mythology involve stories where rivers or seas symbolise the forces of chaos. Although Israel did not believe in these myths, the association of waters with chaos was part of the cultural thinking of the day, much like secular people today may use biblical phrases (e.g. ‘pride comes before the fall’ – Prov 16:18; ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ – Eccl 1:9, etc.) without believing in God or having read the Bible.
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