1 And David spoke 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 He said,
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3 my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
4 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 “For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry came to his ears.
8 “Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
10 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness around him his canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.
13 Out of the brightness before him
coals of fire flamed forth.
14 The Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent out 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 blast of the breath of his nostrils. – 2 Samuel 22:1-16 ESV
It was A. W. Tozer who wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy).
When studying any man's life, we can easily become obsessed with his accomplishments, failures, actions, and apparent attitudes about everything from life to leadership and family to financial success. David is no exception. In fact, when looking into David’s life, we are provided with so many painfully transparent details that we can assume to know him all too well. But the one thing we can never really know about any man is the true state of his heart. God had to remind the prophet Samuel of this fact when he was searching for the man to replace Saul as the next king of Israel. Seeing that the prophet was using external criteria as a means to determine the right man for the position, God told him: “The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT).
We can’t see into a man’s heart, but in the case of David, we are given a glimpse into his thoughts and feelings at different points in his tumultuous life. The closing chapters of 2 Samuel contain a literary gem from the pen of David that reads like a personal and very private journal. The words it contains are almost a verbatim recounting of Psalm 18, a psalm that bears the following description:
A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
It is important to keep in mind that the closing chapters of 2 Samuel serve as a kind of appendix to the entire book. They are not in chronological order, but function as a summation of David’s life, providing the reader with a more holistic image of David as a man, leader, father, husband, and servant of God.
Based on the description that accompanies Psalm 18, it can be assumed that this particular psalm was written early in David’s life. It clearly states that it was written after David had been delivered from the hand of Saul. So it is not a late-in-life exposé written as David lay on his deathbed, looking back in regret or in a fit of nostalgia. These are the words of a young man who found himself in the early days of his God-ordained role as the king of Israel. In those inaugural days of his reign, David faced a litany of difficult circumstances that seemed to contradict both God’s call and the promises He had made to David. And yet, these words, which prefaced the rest of his long and storied life were not negative or filled with complaints and fist-shaking diatribes against God. Yes, they are blunt and highly transparent because David was not one to mince words or attempt to hide his true feelings from God. He is open and transparent but also respectful and reverent in the way he talks with God. He was willing to tell God how he felt, but he didn’t let his feelings influence his thoughts about God. Notice how he starts out:
The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
He is my refuge, my savior,
the one who saves me from violence. – 2 Samuel 22:2-3 NLT
All throughout this psalm, he speaks to and about God with reverential awe and honor. He sees God for who He really is: His rock, fortress, deliverer, savior, shield, refuge, and the all-powerful, praise-worthy, transcendent God of the universe. David knew from personal experience that his God was almighty and yet all-loving. He was an ever-present God who was fully aware of David’s plights and heard his cries for help. His God was not distant and disinterested in the trials that David faced. His God was not unresponsive or unapproachable, even though His dwelling place was in heaven. David knew he could call out to God and not only be heard but receive help in his time of need. His God rescued and redeemed, and not in some passive way that left him wondering if it had really been Him at all.
David describes God’s actions in terms that appeal to the senses and leave little doubt as to His power and majesty:
…the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the heavens shook; they quaked because of his anger… – vs 8
Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him. – vs 9
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. – vs 14
David’s descriptions of God are figurative and not meant to be taken literally. They are meant to convey an image of the Almighty that conveys His transcendence and incomparable power. David describes God in otherworldly, supernatural terms that evoke the one-of-a-kind aspect of His divine nature. His God is not only active and alive, but He is also awe-inspiring and fear-inducing. David’s verbal portrait of God is intended to inspire a sense of reverential respect and humble submission in all who read it. God is not to be taken lightly and His gracious involvement in the affairs of daily life should not be dismissed or treated carelessly.
David had never seen God face-to-face or witnessed His providential power firsthand. Yet, he knew that the Almighty's fingerprints could be found on every aspect of his life. God had delivered Goliath into David’s hands and had repeatedly rescued David from the threats of King Saul. God had orchestrated all of David’s victories over his enemies. David viewed these miraculous and inexplicable acts of salvation as the work of an all-powerful, fire-breathing, earth-shattering, voice-like-thunder God.
In a sense, David is attempting to describe the indescribable. Encumbered with the limits of human language to describe the invisible and incomprehensible God, David turned to the natural world for help. He uses creation to convey the greatness of the Creator. For David, using natural phenomena like thunder, lightning, wind, earthquakes, and fire was the best way to put God’s majesty and might into words. His attempt to somehow make the indescribable God visible and relatable was virtually impossible but he did the best he could do within the limits of human language.
A. W. Tozer describes the challenge faced by all the authors of the Holy Scripture when they attempted to make God known.
“The effort of inspired me to express the ineffable has placed a great strain upon both thought and language in the Holy Scriptures. These being often a revelation of a world above nature, and the minds for which they were written being a part of nature, the writers are compelled to use a great many ‘like’ words to make themselves understood.” - A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
David had never witnessed the parting of the Red Sea or the divine manifestation of God’s presence on Mount Sinai in the form of smoke, fire, thunder, and lightning. But he had heard the stories and he believed that God was still fully capable of revealing Himself in supernatural and inexplicable ways. For David, the lack of visible manifestations of God’s power was not a disappointment or a setback to his faith. He fully believed that his God could still shake mountains, divide the seas, rain down fire from heaven, and deliver His people through unprecedented acts of power and providence.
David had a high regard for God and it was this unique, personal relationship with God Almighty that set David apart from so many of his contemporaries. In reading this passage and so many of the psalms that bear his name, we are left with the inarguable conclusion that David really was a man after God’s own heart. As we work our way through the remainder of chapter 22 of 2 Samuel, we will see that David not only knew and understood who God was, but he was comfortable with who he was in his relationship with God. David had no delusions about his own sinfulness and God’s holiness, but he could say, “he rescued me because he delights in me” (2 Samuel 22:20 NLT).
David was a man at peace with his God but he never took his relationship with the Almighty lightly or treated it flippantly. He remained awe-struck by God’s glory but equally amazed by God’s goodness. David was confident, guiltless, content, joyful, grateful, free from fear, and happy to praise his God for who He was and all that He had done.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.