LHC Midday Word: The Second Book of SAMUEL

David’s song of praise

1 David sang to the Lord the words of this song 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, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation.

He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour –

from violent people you save me.

‘I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and have been saved from my enemies.

The waves of death swirled about me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

‘In my distress I called to the Lord;

I called out to my God.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came to his ears.

The earth trembled and quaked,

the foundations of the heavens shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness his canopy around him –

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

Out of the brightness of his presence

bolts of lightning blazed forth.

The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at the rebuke of the Lord,

at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

‘He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

‘The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to my cleanness in his sight.

‘To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

You save the humble,

but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

You, Lord, are my lamp;

the Lord turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

‘As for God, his way is perfect:

the Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You make your saving help my shield;

your help has made me great.

You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

‘I pursued my enemies and crushed them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

They cried for help, but there was no one to save them –

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;

I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.

‘You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples;

you have preserved me as the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

‘The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Saviour!

He is the God who avenges me,

who puts the nations under me,

who sets me free from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.

‘He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,

to David and his descendants for ever.’

=-=-=-=-=-=-

Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

2^nd Samuel 22: “enables” (v.34)

David is getting old. We saw how “he became exhausted” and his own men said, “never again will you go out with us to battle” (21 vv.15 & 17). But he can still sing to the LORD, as this whole chapter shows. He attributes any successes to God: “He enables me” (v.34).

How? “I call [N.B. the Present Habitual, not past tense] to the LORD … and I am saved from my enemies” (v.4). “He reached down … and … drew me out of deep waters” (v.17); “… turns my darkness into light” (v.29); “you broaden the path beneath me” (v.37); etc. “The LORD lives!” (v.47).

Present Tense! For you! Amen?

-=-=-=-=-