2 Samuel 22 mirrors Psalm 18, both written by David, and opens with hints of a political mess.
I bet we can relate…
But seriously, let’s pray our country’s political situation never escalates to the level in which David experienced.
King Saul, among David’s other enemies, had been pursuing David relentlessly. Saul didn’t want to lose his throne to David, and decided to kill him. So David was running for his life. The soon-to-be king was in a desperate situation that he describes in verses 5-7:
“For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of destruction assailed me;[b]
6 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
7 “In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
This is about as bad as it gets people, yet David doesn’t start this chapter with this dire scenario–he starts by declaring “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.”
Notice who David is writing to. He’s writing to God. Not Israel, or Samuel, or his family, or even for our benefit–his audience is God. He’s praising God for the sake of praising God.
We can take note of that and apply it to our own lives. There’s nothing wrong with praising God in public, but do we praise Him when no one is listening? Something to think about.
And the way David praises God–the names and imagery produced is nothing short of incredible. Incredible and personal.
After going through an intense time in his life, we see David express the intimate relationship he has with God. He says the Lord is “my rock”, “my fortress”, “my deliverer”, “my shield”, “my salvation”, “my stronghold”, “my savior”. The keyword is “my.”
God became real during this terrible and strenuous time in David’s life. Without the struggle, would David have known these things about God? Would we?
No one wants the struggles. We don’t pray for God to give them to us, and we definitely don’t want to be on the run for our life, but be certain of this–God shows up & grows us up in mighty ways through the most challenging times in our life.
Note this: God doesn’t like when we hurt or struggle or experience an injustice. He’s upset when we’re wronged. He allows it, yes–but that’s Him working all things together for those that love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). His response to our cries are rescue–a strong, mighty, relentless rescue (see verses 8-17). God was angered by what happened to David, but not once did He leave David’s side.
David clung to God in his time of distress and in his time of rejoicing. He gives God the glory for the victory and is able to say, “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation” (vs 47).
Let’s cling to God in our distress, cling to God in our rejoicing and say, “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation” (vs 47).
Blessings.
VC Devotionals 