2 Samuel 22:17

2Sa_22:17

He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.

Progress from above

All real progress is from God. There is no little truth in the observation of Mephistopheles that the human mind merely advances spirally, and reverts to a spot close to its origin. Dr. R. D. Hitch-cock says: In all human advancement, the motive power has not been a force in man, lifting him upward, or on the earthward side, driving him onward, but the movement has been along an inclined plane, due to an engine drawing from the top. (A. T. Pierson, D. D.)

Christ a deliverer

I have heard of the following story of a Chinaman who had become a disciple of the Lord Jesus. In explaining to others what Christ had done for him, he put it thus: It seemed as if I was at the bottom of a pit in great distress crying for help. Buddha passed and said, If you crawl up, never get clown again. Confucius then came to the pits mouth, and said, I have a rope at home that will go two-thirds down the pit, if you can crawl up one-third, but he left me; then the Lord Jesus, hearing my cry, came quickly to my rescue, put His hand down and helped me out of the pit; put my feet upon a rock, and established my goings; that is what Christ has done for me. (Newton Jones.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17–21. Jehovah’s deliverance of his servant for his faithfulness

17. He sent from above] He reached forth from on high: stretched out His hand and caught hold of the sinking man, and drew him out of the floods of calamity which were engulfing him. Cp. 2Sa_22:5; Psa_144:7.

drew me] A word found elsewhere only in Exo_2:10, and suggesting a parallel, as though David would say, ‘He drew me out of the great waters of distress, as He drew Moses out of the waters of the Nile, to be the deliverer of His people.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. See Gill on Psa 18:30.

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2 Samuel 22:32

sa2 22:32

sa2 22:32

sa2 22:32For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God? See Gill on Psa 18:31.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17. Sends from the height — Or, reaches forth his hand from the lofty seat above the clouds, where his Majesty is represented as appearing.

Great waters — Those billows of death and torrents of wickedness by which, according to 2Sa_22:5, he was surrounded.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 17-20.

He stretched forth his hand from on high; he took me, He drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, From them that hated me; for they were too mighty for me.

For they attacked me in the day of my misfortune. But Jehovah became my Staff, And he brought me forth into a wide place He delivered me, because he had pleasure in me.

In the midst of this fearful convulsion of nature, while all around are stricken with panic, David sees a hand stretched out from above, ready to deliver him from the overwhelming flood of hatred and peril. Attacked me. The word does not signify "to prevent," or" anticipate," but "to assail" So in ver. 6, "The snares of death assailed me;" and in Isa_37:33, "The King of Assyria shall not attack this city with shield." It is the same verb in all these places. Staff; in the Authorized Version, "stay." But it means something to lean upon, and is rightly translated "staff" in Psa_23:4. A wide place; in opposition to the straits of affliction. He had pleasure in me. In 2Sa_15:26 this confidence is gone, and David doubts whether the favour of Jehovah had not been forfeited by him.

Vers. 17-20.

Rescue from mighty foes.

In vers. 8-16 the psalmist depicts Jehovah as appearing in his glory for the deliverance of his servant. The picture may have been occasioned by a storm which, in one of his battles, had terrified his enemies and aided in their discomfiture. (comp. Jos_10:11; 1Sa_7:10) In the text he narrates the deliverance itself.

I THE ENEMIES. Who were:

1. Malignant. "Hated me." There was not only opposition and contest, but personal hatred. Many of the Christian"s foes have this quality in a high degree, (Joh_17:14) notably their great leader and chief, Satan (equivalent to "adversary,". (1Pe_5:8)

1. Powerful. "My strong enemy too strong for me." In physical strength, or military, or in numbers. David may have had in view such instances as those recorded in 2Sa_8:3-5 and 21:15-17. The Christian"s foes also are "powers". (Eph_6:12) Wherein consists the power of the enemies of the righteous?

1. Their inherent vigour;

2. their adaptation to our lower nature;

3. their number.

4. Subtle. "They prevented me in the day of my calamity." They rushed upon him unexpectedly, when he was enfeebled by calamity, and poorly prepared for them. David may be thinking of the attack of the Syrians of Damascus, while he and his army were engaged with Hadadezer or exhausted by the contest with him; (2Sa_8:5) or of the assault of the giant Ishbi-benob, while he was faint from fighting against the Philistines. (2Sa_21:15, 2Sa_21:16) Thus, also, the Christian"s foes often surprise him when he is preoccupied or distressed by troubles. The day of calamity is a day of spiritual danger.

5. In a measure successful. So that he became as a man struggling for life in "great waters" (comp. vers. 5, 6). It seemed as if he must be swallowed up. Thus, also, the enemies of the Christian may do him much mischief, temporal and even spiritual; but there is a limit to their power. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him". (2Ch_16:9)

II THE DELIVERER. Jehovah, the Almighty, whose glorious interposition on behalf of his servant, in answer to his cry of distress, is described in the previous verses. They set forth:

1. His awful majesty.

2. His power over all the forces of nature.

3. The intensity of his interest in his troubled servants. How he rouses himself, as it were, for the rescue of those in whom he delights (ver. 20).

4. His anger against their enemies. (Vers. 8, 9.) With such a Friend, who can neither be surprised, evaded, or resisted, the righteous need not dread the might of any adversary, nor despair of deliverance from the direst troubles.

III THE DELIVERANCE, God:

1. Supported him in his perils. "The Lord was my Stay.

1. He saved him from them. "He stretched forth his hand from on high; he laid hold of me; he drew me out of great waters; he delivered me," etc.

2. God"s hand can reach his servants in the lowest depths of trouble, and is strong to rescue them from the strongest of their foes.

3. He brought him into a condition of freedom and safety. "Into a large place," a broad, open space, where no "cords of Sheol," or "snares of death" (Ver. 6, Revised Version), would embarrass or endanger him; where he could move about with perfect freedom, and yet perfect security. Such help from on high is realized by God"s people in this world; perfectly when the hand of their God lays hold of them and raises them from earth to heaven.

IV THE PRAISE. (See homilies on vers. 2 4, 4, and 7.) The perfections and acts of Jehovah are of such a nature that to merely recite them is to praise him. We should acquaint ourselves as fully as possible with his excellences and works, that we may better praise him by declaring them; but our own experience of his power and goodness will give us the liveliest apprehension of them, and stimulate us to the most ardent praise. G.W.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17 He reached out of the height, He laid hold of me;

Drew me out of great waters:

18 Saved me from my enemy strong;

From my haters, because they were too strong for me.

19 They fell upon me in my day of calamity:

Then Jehovah became my stay,

20 And led me out into a broad place;

Delivered me, because He had pleasure in me.

The Lord stretched His hand from the height into the deep abysses, which had been uncovered through the threatening of the wrath of God, and drew out the sinking man. ישׁלח without יד is used to denote the stretching out of the hand, and in the sense of reaching out to a thing (as in Sa2 6:6). רבּים מים (great waters) does not refer to the enemy, but to the calamities and dangers (waves of death and streams of Belial, Sa2 22:5) into which the enemies of the Psalmist had plunged him. ימשׁני, from משׁה (Exo 2:10), from which the name of Moses was derived, to whom there is probably an allusion made. As Moses was taken out of the waters of the Nile, so David was taken out of great (many) waters. This deliverance is still further depicted in a more literal terms in Sa2 22:18. עז איבי, my enemy strong, poetical for my strong enemy, does not refer to one single enemy, namely Saul; but, as the parallel "my haters" shows, is a poetical personification of all his enemies. They were stronger than David, therefore the Lord had to deliver him with an almighty hand. The "day of calamity" in which the enemy fell upon him (קדּם: see at Sa2 22:6) was the time when David wandered about in the desert helpless and homeless, fleeing from the pursuit of Saul. The Lord was then his support, or a staff on which he could support himself (vid., Psa 23:4), and led him out of the strait into the broad, i.e., into a broad space where he could move freely, because God had pleasure in him, and had chosen him in His grace to be His servant. This reason for his deliverance is carried out still further in what follows.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

General Information:

This continues David's song to Yahweh. He uses parallelism to emphasize what he is saying. (See: Parallelism)

out of the surging water

David compares his enemies to a flood that threatens to drown him. (See: Metaphor)

He rescued me from my strong enemy

David's enemies were overwhelming. He praises God for delivering him from all his enemies.

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.