My Rock, My Fortress, My Deliverer

A passage of scripture that it seems like I cannot get away from lately is 2 Samuel 22.  I have read it over and over, and each time I do it seems like it grows richer and deeper and more beautiful to me.  Truly the word of God is living and active; what a gift it is!  I feel like most of what I want to do is to share this gem of a passage with you and interject a few comments here and there.  May the Word of God shape you, encourage you, empower you, and bless you richly as it has me.

This all started when I was drawn to verses 2 and 3 of this passage as a memory verse for my 2 year old.  We were out looking for "clues" about who God is in nature and talking about how God is our rock.  We then made up litte motions to teach us verses 2-3, "The LORD is my rock (fist motion) and my fortress (make a house over you with your hands) and my deliverer (two thumbs point to yourself), the God of my strength (flex muscles), in whom I will trust (open palms to God)."  We would recite these verses often to help us memorize it well.  Then I began to get drawn into the entire passage.  Let me share a little of that with you...

2 Samuel 22

Praise for God’s Deliverance

22 Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ² And he said:^[a]

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
³ The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation,
My stronghold and my refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.
⁴ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

*Oh what confidence in the Lord and who He is!  He is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer!  I trust Him, He is my strength.  He is my victory.  He is my stronghold and refuge.  He is most worthy of my praise, for He saves me.  He hears me when I call to Him and there is absolutely nothing that is too hard for Him and no one who is stronger than Him.  He is the One to have on your side, and we can be confident here that He is absolutely for us.  He is our defender, He is the mighty warrior who protects us.  What shall we fear?  Whom shall we fear?  Nothing is too great for Him.  Don't believe me?  Read on...

⁵ “When the waves of death surrounded me,
The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
⁶ The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.

*It doesn't get much more desperate than that, folks.  Are the waves of death surrounding you?  Are floods of ungodliness and evil making you afraid?  Are overwhelming sorrows upon you and the snares of death confronting you?  No matter what our situation, God is greater...so what do we do? 

⁷ In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry entered His ears.

*Cry out to Him, beloved!  He is there, He is listening, His will hear and respond.  Just watch...

⁸ “Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of heaven^[b] quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
⁹ Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
¹⁰ He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
¹¹ He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
And He was seen^[c] upon the wings of the wind.
¹² He made darkness canopies around Him,
Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
¹³ From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴ “The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
¹⁵ He sent out arrows and scattered them;
Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them.
¹⁶ Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered,
At the rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

*Wow, does this get you fired up like it does me?  This is my God!  He is mighty, He is the strongest of all, and you DO NOT mess with those that are His!  So often we can portray certain elements of God as all that God is.  I think in today's culture especially we can hung up that God is only love, only forgiveness, only mercy.  We get to thinking the He would never do anything like this, and surely never get mad.  While God is absolutely those things, He is also justice, holiness, jealousy, righteousness, and if you look in His word there are most definitely things that make Him angry.  All I am saying is that you do not want to be against God, and you most certainly do no want to mess with His people.  He is like a protective Father, and if you mess with His kids, He is coming after you.

¹⁷ “He sent from above, He took me,
He drew me out of many waters.
¹⁸ He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me;
For they were too strong for me.
¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.

*Your enemy is stronger than you.  Satan is stronger than you.  But God is stronger than Satan and all evil!  Do not try to fight your battles yourself or you will lose.  Cry out to God, He is your support, He is your deliverer, He is the one who saves you.

²⁰ He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

*Ahh, I love this verse!  Now we get to the "why" of all of this.  Why does He deliver me, save me, respond when I cry out to Him, defeat all of my enemies?  Why is He on my side?  Very painly, "He delivered me because He delighted in me."  He delights in me!  And He delights in you.

²¹ “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.

*I am going to skip a little bit here, but I will just say a quick note on this section.  As for my righteousness, it is not found in my own works but in the atoning work of Jesus Christ.  2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  The only reason that I am seen as clean and righteous before God is because of the blood of Jesus.  He has taken all of my sin upon Himself and thus made me pure, spotless, and blameless before the Father that I might spend eternity in Heaven with God.  Thank you Jesus!

²⁹ “For You are my lamp, O Lord;
The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.

*Do you feel like there is any area of your life that is cloaked in darkness or uncertainty?  Do you need guidance, wisdom, direction?  Go to the Lord.  He is your lamp and He alone will enlighten your darkess and show you the way.  

³⁰ For by You I can run against a troop;
By my God I can leap over a wall.
³¹ As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

³² “For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
³³ God is my strength and power,^[e]
And He makes my^[f] way perfect.
³⁴ He makes my^[g] feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.
³⁵ He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶ “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great.
³⁷ You enlarged my path under me;
So my feet did not slip.

*Precious, precious, precious truths.  I can say nothing here but go back and read this again, it is so rich!

⁴⁷ “The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let God be exalted,
The Rock of my salvation!

You have delivered me ...
⁵⁰ Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.

*So how do we respond to all of this?  God has said that He delivers us because He delights in us.  He makes our way perfect and sets us on high places.  How can we possibly respond to such unmerited favor?  We see the answer here...praise Him!  Exalt and bless His name.  Give thanks in all things, sing praises to Him always.  Share His mighty deeds with those who don't know Him.  Praise Him, for He is most worthy of our praise! 

Thank you God for Your Word, for your Love, for Your Power.  Thank You for being our Rock, our Fortress, our Deliverer simply because You delight in us.  We respond in praise to You and we bless and exalt Your Name.  Who is like You, Lord?  Indeed, there is none like You, none but You.  Thank you for protecting us as your children.  We love you and trust You, Abba Father.  Amen.