2 Samuel 22:1-51 - The Victory Song Of David

¹ David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued 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,
³ my God, my mountain where I seek refuge.
My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge,
and my Savior, You save me from violence.
⁴ I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was saved from my enemies.
⁵ For the waves of death engulfed me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
⁶ The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me. ⁷ I called to the Lord in my distress;
I called to my God.
From His temple He heard my voice,
and my cry for help reached His ears.
⁸ Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the heavens trembled;
they shook because He burned with anger.
⁹ Smoke rose from His nostrils,
and consuming fire came from His mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.
¹⁰ He parted the heavens and came down,
a dark cloud beneath His feet.
¹¹ He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
¹² He made darkness a canopy around Him,
a gathering of water and thick clouds.
¹³ From the radiance of His presence,
flaming coals were ignited.
¹⁴ The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High projected His voice.
¹⁵ He shot arrows and scattered them;
He hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
¹⁶ The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. ¹⁷ He reached down from heaven
and took hold of me;
He pulled me out of deep waters.
¹⁸ He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my distress,
but the Lord was my support.
²⁰ He brought me out to a spacious place;
He rescued me because He delighted in me. ²¹ The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;
He repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.
²² For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.
²³ Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind
and have not disregarded His statutes.
²⁴ I was blameless before Him
and kept myself from sinning.
²⁵ So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in His sight. ²⁶ With the faithful
You prove Yourself faithful;
with the blameless man
You prove Yourself blameless;
²⁷ with the pure
You prove Yourself pure,
but with the crooked
You prove Yourself shrewd.
²⁸ You rescue an afflicted people,
but Your eyes are set against the proud—
You humble them.
²⁹ Lord, You are my lamp;
the Lord illuminates my darkness.
³⁰ With You I can attack a barrier,
and with my God I can leap over a wall.
³¹ God—His way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. ³² For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is a rock? Only our God.
³³ God is my strong refuge;
He makes my way perfect.
³⁴ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the heights.
³⁵ He trains my hands for war;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁶ You have given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your help exalts me.
³⁷ You widen a place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.
³⁸ I pursue my enemies and destroy them;
I do not turn back until they are wiped out.
³⁹ I wipe them out and crush them,
and they do not rise;
they fall beneath my feet.
⁴⁰ You have clothed me with strength for battle;
You subdue my adversaries beneath me.
⁴¹ You have made my enemies retreat before me;
I annihilate those who hate me.
⁴² They look, but there is no one to save them—
they look to the Lord, but He does not answer them.
⁴³ I pulverize them like dust of the earth;
I crush them and trample them like mud in the streets. ⁴⁴ You have freed me from the feuds among my people;
You have appointed me the head of nations;
a people I had not known serve me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners submit to me grudgingly;
as soon as they hear, they obey me.
⁴⁶ Foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their fortifications. ⁴⁷ The Lord lives—may my rock be praised!
God, the rock of my salvation, is exalted.
⁴⁸ God—He gives me vengeance
and casts down peoples under me.
⁴⁹ He frees me from my enemies.
You exalt me above my adversaries;
You rescue me from violent men. ⁵⁰ Therefore I will praise You, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing about Your name.
⁵¹ He is a tower of salvation for His king;
He shows loyalty to His anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.