2 Sam. 22
We have now reached David's final deliverance. All his enemies, of whom Saul was one (2 Sam. 22:1), have disappeared. This song which historically belongs at the beginning of 2 Sam. 7 is placed here because the last enemy of David and of his people has just been defeated (2 Sam. 21:21) and from now on this hostile power will never again raise its head. Indeed, these words which we find again in Psa. 18 could not have been spoken on this occasion, for they mention a time when David was not under discipline but had by grace been preserved from falling amid his cruel enemy's pursuit. But even in these times of strength and holiness which had characterized the first period of his career David could never have applied all the verses of this psalm to himself, as we shall see. David was a prophet; his prophetic songs arise from his personal experiences, but they would not have been prophetic if they did not have Christ as their object. In his experiences David is a reflection of Christ, and this is an immense privilege; but this is only a feeble light, a small reproduction of the perfect Model.
This psalm here before us is divided into three parts.
The first part (Psa. 18:1-19) celebrates deliverance from Saul's hand: "He delivered me from my strong enemy" (Psa. 18:17). This deliverance recalls that of Israel, saved from Pharaoh's pursuit, crossing the Red Sea: "The beds of the sea were seen, the foundations of the world were uncovered at the rebuke of Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils. He reached forth from above, He took me, He drew me out of great waters" (Psa. 18:15-16). However, this picture does not correspond exactly to David's deliverance or to Israel's deliverance out of Egypt. It treats of a time yet future and prophetic. It deals with the remnant's deliverance at the time of the end when God will intervene openly and visibly in their favor (Psa. 18:8-15). They will be led to death's door, and then God will intervene in their favor and will scatter their enemies in an instant. Before this deliverance the remnant will learn that their Messiah, David's Son, passed through this anguish alone and bore it, thus associating Himself with the future distress of His people, in order that He might deliver them. David could only in feeble measure realize these words which make us think of the agony at Gethsemane: "The waves of death encompassed me, torrents of Belial made me afraid. The bands of Sheol surrounded me; the cords of death encountered me" (Psa. 18:4-5).
The second part of the Psalm (Psa. 18:19-30) is even more striking in this respect than the first. The reason for David's deliverance is that God takes pleasure in His anointed according to all the perfection of his character. Now, even before David's fall and how much less after that fall, David's character did not exactly correspond to these verses: "He brought me forth into a large place: He delivered me, because He delighted in me. Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands hath He recompensed me. For I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all His ordinances were before me, and His statutes, I did not depart from them, and I was upright before Him, and kept myself from mine iniquity. And Jehovah hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to my cleanness in His sight. With the gracious Thou dost show Thyself gracious; with the upright man Thou dost show Thyself upright; with the pure Thou dost show Thyself pure; and with the perverse Thou dost show Thyself contrary" (Psa. 18:19-26). David is celebrating the perfection of Someone other than himself: "Jehovah hath recompensed Me according to My righteousness, according to My cleanness in His sight." Christ alone could give His Father a reason for loving Him and for saving Him—but His salvation has become His people's salvation (Psa. 18:27).
In the third part of the Psalm (Psa. 18:31-51) David celebrates what God had done for him. God had answered him by delivering him "from the strivings of my people" (which corresponds to 2 Sam. 20 in David's history), by making him "head of the nations" whom he had subjugated (Psa. 18:43). The children of Ammon, the Philistines, the Syrians, and Edom had had to bow beneath his yoke. But how all this speaks to us of One who is greater than David! He comes forth from the trial to be acknowledged as King of Israel and Head of the nations. "Strangers come cringing unto [Him]" (Psa. 18:45) God avenges Him and brings the peoples under Him (Psa. 18:47). He lifts Him up above them that rose up against Him (Psa. 18:48; cf. Psa. 2:2,6).
Nevertheless David could celebrate these things with a heart filled with thanksgiving. Grace rested on him at that time on account of the integrity and perfection of his conduct. He was at the end of his path of difficulties, and this path was the path of a walk with God. With a peaceful rejoicing heart he celebrated the deliverance that grace accorded his faithfulness. On David's side all is joy, liberty, power, and thanksgiving; on God's side all is favor and grace.
What will we find in the following chapter where it is a question of the king's responsibility?