Join us for an enriching session as our host shares his personal reflections from three decades worth of Bible reading journals. Through different perspectives and interpretations from years past, we uncover how David’s poetic expression in 2 Samuel 22 resonates with believers today. Reflect on the key attributes of God that David celebrates and consider the personal significance of these attributes in your own spiritual journey. Engage with us in contemplating how these timeless scriptures can inspire praise and gratitude in our lives.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
SPEAKER 03 :
Today brings us to 2 Samuel chapter 22. We’re in the home stretch, only a couple chapters to go. Let’s listen in to our guest reader, Vicki Bustos, chaplain of the Ezra Project, as she reads 2 Samuel 22, all 51 verses.
SPEAKER 02 :
2 Samuel chapter 22. 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. He said, The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, 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. I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. For the waves of death encompassed me. The torrents of destruction assailed me. The cords of Sheol entangled me. The snares of death confronted me. 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. Then the earth reeled and rocked. The foundations of the heavens trembled and quaked because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth. Glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew. He was seen on the wings of the wind. He made darkness around him, his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water. Out of the brightness before him, coals of fire flamed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven and the Most High uttered His voice. And He sent out arrows and scattered them, lightning and routed them. 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. He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place. He rescued me because He delighted in me. The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he rewarded me. For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his rules were before me, and from his statutes I did not turn aside. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt. And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight. With the merciful, you show yourself merciful. With the blameless man, you show yourself blameless. With the purified, you deal purely. And with the crooked, you make yourself seem torturous. You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down. For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord proves true. He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. For who is God but the Lord? And who is a rock except our God? This God is my strong refuge and has made my way blameless. He made my feet like the feet of a deer and he set me secure on the heights. He trains my hands for war so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. You have given me the shield of your salvation and your gentleness made me great. You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. I pursued my enemies and destroyed them and did not turn back until they were consumed. I consumed them. I thrust them through so that they did not rise. They fell under my feet. for you equipped me with strength for the battle. You made those who rise against me sink under me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, those who hated me, and I destroyed them. They looked, but there was none to save. They cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them. I beat them fine as the dust of the earth. I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets. You delivered me from strife with my people. You kept me as the head of the nations. People whom I had not known served me. Foreigners came cringing to me. As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me. Foreigners lost heart and came trembling out of their fortresses. The Lord lives and blessed be my rock and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation, the God who gave me vengeance and brought down peoples under me, who brought me out from my enemies. You exalted me above those who rose against me. You delivered me from men of violence. For this, I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations and sing praises to your name. Great salvation he brings to his king and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
SPEAKER 03 :
As we just listened to 2 Samuel 22, remember that the last four chapters do not fit in chronological order with the rest of the book. They are more like an epilogue. So this chapter could have taken place at any time during the events that we’ve just read during 2 Samuel. In my first journal back in 1983, when I read 2 Samuel 22, I wrote, The Lord liveth and blessed be thy rock. David’s song of deliverance and strengthening by the Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for you bless the faithful and obedient. I even had some explanation points in those words in my first journal, so it was pretty exciting to read 2 Samuel chapter 22 then, just as it was today as we heard David’s great psalm of praise to God. In 1997, my journal entry was a little different. It was David was a poet and a writer, yet he wrote no books of the Bible. Yes, his songs are recorded as psalms, but he didn’t write a full book of the Bible. Chapter 22 is like those psalms. David praised the Lord. And I quoted a couple of verses back then. The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness. Mercy begets mercy. And blameless results in blamelessness. Pure becomes pure. As for God, His ways are perfect. The word of the Lord is proven. He is a shield to all who trust in him. Wow, some great and powerful verses in this chapter. In 2007, when I read this chapter, I wrote again, what a great chapter to read today. Encouragement in the battle, all of it. And I quoted many verses. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock and where I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my Savior. Those are verses 2 and 3. Then again, I quoted, He rescued me because he delighted in me. Verse 20. And again, you enlarge my steps under me. Verse 37. There are just so many great verses in this chapter, this praise psalm from David. In my Bible, I have also underlined several verses in this chapter. I’d like to share those that I’ve underlined with you today. I start with verse 7. Isn’t it great that God listens? He hears us when we cry out to Him. The next verse I have underlined is verse 20. Isn’t it great that God delights in us? Then verse 22, for I have kept the ways of the Lord. Yeah, he wants us to be obedient. And David at that time was keeping the ways of the Lord. Are we keeping the ways of the Lord? Verse 23, for all his rules were before me, and from his statutes I did not turn aside. So David knew the Torah, he knew the Word, just like we are to know our Bibles and we’re not to turn from them. There are rules. These are the statutes we are to live by. Then verse 26. With the merciful, you show yourself merciful. With the blameless man, you show yourself blameless. So if we are merciful to others, he is merciful to us. If we are blameless, he shows himself blameless to us. And verse 27. With the purified, you deal purely. And so how do we become purified? We become purified when we accept the Lord, Jesus, as our personal Savior. On to verse 31. This God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord proves true. So God’s ways are perfect and His Word is true. And that’s another one of those reasons I love the Word, the Bible, because it’s true. On to verse 36, you have given me the shield of your salvation and your gentleness made me great. God’s gentleness to us allows us to be great here on earth. And lastly, verse 47, the Lord lives and blessed be my rock and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation. David praises the Lord, depends on the Lord, stands on the Lord. The Lord lives. He is my rock. He is my salvation. So as I read chapter 22, my mind wanders to David as he sat and thought about the Lord and wrote all these great verses, the attributes of God. Have you ever thought about that? If you were to sit down and write your description of God, what would it be like? Maybe that’s a neat exercise you can think about doing. Sit down and just write down all the things you think about when you think about the Lord. How would you write chapter 22 of 2 Samuel? David shared his heart. He shared his love for the Lord. He shared his thankfulness for the protection from his enemies. Again, what would you write? What has God meant to you in your life? What has He done for you? Who is He to you? Now, maybe you wouldn’t write 51 verses, but maybe you’d just write a few. Start, put a pen in your hand and a piece of paper before you, maybe sometime today or sometime in the near future, and just write down your thoughts about God. Who is God to you? What does he mean to you? What has he done for you? How can you thank him? Father, you have been good to us. You are a good, good father. And Lord, we should take time out to praise you, to thank you, to think about your attributes and who you really are to us. Remind us to do that today, Lord, and let us give you all the praise and the glory for that which you’ve done for us. We give you thanks in Jesus’ name. Amen. I know you’re going to like it and want to share it with others.
