2 Samuel 22

David’s Song of Praise

1David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. 2He sang:

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;

3my 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.

4I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and he saved me from my enemies.

5“The waves of death overwhelmed me;

floods of destruction swept over me.

6The grave#22:6 Hebrew Sheol. wrapped its ropes around me;

death laid a trap in my path.

7But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;

yes, I cried to my God for help.

He heard me from his sanctuary;

my cry reached his ears.

8“Then the earth quaked and trembled.

The foundations of the heavens shook;

they quaked because of his anger.

9Smoke poured from his nostrils;

fierce flames leaped from his mouth.

Glowing coals blazed forth from him.

10He opened the heavens and came down;

dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

11Mounted on a mighty angelic being,#22:11a Hebrew a cherub. he flew,

soaring#22:11b As in some Hebrew manuscripts (see also Ps 18:10); other Hebrew manuscripts read appearing. on the wings of the wind.

12He shrouded himself in darkness,

veiling his approach with dense rain clouds.

13A great brightness shone around him,

and burning coals#22:13 Or and lightning bolts. blazed forth.

14The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

15He shot arrows and scattered his enemies;

his lightning flashed, and they were confused.

16Then at the command of the Lord,

at the blast of his breath,

the bottom of the sea could be seen,

and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

17“He reached down from heaven and rescued me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

18He rescued me from my powerful enemies,

from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

19They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,

but the Lord supported me.

20He led me to a place of safety;

he rescued me because he delights in me.

21The Lord rewarded me for doing right;

he restored me because of my innocence.

22For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I have not turned from my God to follow evil.

23I have followed all his regulations;

I have never abandoned his decrees.

24I am blameless before God;

I have kept myself from sin.

25The Lord rewarded me for doing right.

He has seen my innocence.

26“To the faithful you show yourself faithful;

to those with integrity you show integrity.

27To the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

28You rescue the humble,

but your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them.

29O Lord, you are my lamp.

The Lord lights up my darkness.

30In your strength I can crush an army;

with my God I can scale any wall.

31“God’s way is perfect.

All the Lord’s promises prove true.

He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

32For who is God except the Lord?

Who but our God is a solid rock?

33God is my strong fortress,

and he makes my way perfect.

34He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

35He trains my hands for battle;

he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

36You have given me your shield of victory;

your help#22:36 As in Dead Sea Scrolls; Masoretic Text reads your answering. has made me great.

37You have made a wide path for my feet

to keep them from slipping.

38“I chased my enemies and destroyed them;

I did not stop until they were conquered.

39I consumed them;

I struck them down so they did not get up;

they fell beneath my feet.

40You have armed me with strength for the battle;

you have subdued my enemies under my feet.

41You placed my foot on their necks.

I have destroyed all who hated me.

42They looked for help, but no one came to their rescue.

They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.

43I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth;

I trampled them#22:43 As in Dead Sea Scrolls (see also Ps 18:42); Masoretic Text reads I crushed and trampled them. in the gutter like dirt.

44“You gave me victory over my accusers.

You preserved me as the ruler over nations;

people I don’t even know now serve me.

45Foreign nations cringe before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they submit.

46They all lose their courage

and come trembling#22:46 As in parallel text at Ps 18:45; Hebrew reads come girding themselves. from their strongholds.

47“The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!

May God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted!

48He is the God who pays back those who harm me;

he brings down the nations under me

49and delivers me from my enemies.

You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;

you save me from violent opponents.

50For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;

I will sing praises to your name.

51You give great victories to your king;

you show unfailing love to your anointed,

to David and all his descendants forever.”

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2 Samuel 22: NLT

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2 Samuel 22

Hymn of Praise

1And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: 2and he said,

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

3The God of my rock; in him will I trust:

He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge,

My saviour; thou savest me from violence.

4I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised:

So shall I be saved from mine enemies.

5When the waves of death compassed me,

The floods of ungodly men made me afraid;

6The sorrows of hell compassed me about;

The snares of death prevented me;

7In my distress I called upon the LORD,

And cried to my God:

And he did hear my voice out of his temple,

And my cry did enter into his ears.

8Then the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations of heaven moved

And shook, because he was wroth.

9There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,

And fire out of his mouth devoured:

Coals were kindled by it.

10He bowed the heavens also, and came down;

And darkness was under his feet.

11And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:

And he was seen upon the wings of the wind.

12And he made darkness pavilions round about him,

Dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.

13Through the brightness before him

Were coals of fire kindled.

14The LORD thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered his voice.

15And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;

Lightning, and discomfited them.

16And the channels of the sea appeared,

The foundations of the world were discovered,

At the rebuking of the LORD,

At the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

17He sent from above, he took me;

He drew me out of many waters;

18He delivered me from my strong enemy,

And from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.

19They prevented me in the day of my calamity:

But the LORD was my stay.

20He brought me forth also into a large place:

He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

21The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness:

According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

22For I have kept the ways of the LORD,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

23For all his judgments were before me:

And as for his statutes, I did not depart from them.

24I was also upright before him,

And have kept myself from mine iniquity.

25Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness;

According to my cleanness in his eye sight.

26With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful,

And with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.

27With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;

And with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.

28And the afflicted people thou wilt save:

But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

29For thou art my lamp, O LORD:

And the LORD will lighten my darkness.

30For by thee I have run through a troop:

By my God have I leaped over a wall.

31 As for God, his way is perfect;

The word of the LORD is tried:

He is a buckler to all them that trust in him.

32For who is God, save the LORD?

And who is a rock, save our God?

33God is my strength and power:

And he maketh my way perfect.

34He maketh my feet like hinds' feet:

And setteth me upon my high places.

35He teacheth my hands to war;

So that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

36Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation:

And thy gentleness hath made me great.

37Thou hast enlarged my steps under me;

So that my feet did not slip.

38I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them;

And turned not again until I had consumed them.

39And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise:

Yea, they are fallen under my feet.

40For thou hast girded me with strength to battle:

Them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.

41Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies,

That I might destroy them that hate me.

42They looked, but there was none to save;

Even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

43Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth,

I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad.

44Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people,

Thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen:

A people which I knew not shall serve me.

45Strangers shall submit themselves unto me:

As soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me.

46Strangers shall fade away,

And they shall be afraid out of their close places.

47The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock;

And exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation.

48It is God that avengeth me,

And that bringeth down the people under me,

49And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies:

Thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me:

Thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

50Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen,

And I will sing praises unto thy name.

51 He is the tower of salvation for his king:

And sheweth mercy to his anointed,

Unto David, and to his seed for evermore.

Rights in the Authorized (King James) Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Published by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press.

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