2 Samuel 22:32

2Sa_22:32

For who is God, save the Lord?

and who is a Rock, save our God?

Jehovah owned and honoured

If these questions were proposed from the throne of God amidst the surrounding glorified spirits, there would be but a single word of answer echoed through the glorious realm, None! none is is God, save Jehovah. None! none a Rock, save our God. If that echo were caught by the adjacent circle of angels within the sphere of bliss, and they were asked one by one, or in the mass, Who is God, save the Lord? the reply would but reiterate the answer which sounds upon the harps of the glorified spirits, None! none is God, save the Lord! If the question were put by Beelzebub, in the bottomless pit, among his infernal crew, Who is a God, save the Lord? the howling of their despair, the anguish of their spirits, the horror of their damnation, would all echo, None but Jehovah is God, and we feel his power. Put the question, here upon earth, to the ears of poor, win, proud mortals, Who is God, save the Lord? and we shall find the reply in that solemn Scripture, There are Gods many, and Lords many, and all owned by poor sinners in rebellion against the Most High God. But put the question in the Church of the living God, to those who stand upon the same ground that David did when he wrote this song. Put the question to those who have experienced delivering grace by the mighty hand of Jehovah, who have been subdued at the foot of the cross by omnipotent power, and of whose hearts the Holy Ghost has taken possession, and commanded them to submit to the sway of King Jesus; and they, with one voice, would exclaim, The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is our God.

I. The appeal. Fallen man has made many gods, and, consequently, the world is full of idoltary. I need not go to the millions of avowed Pagans and Mahometants for examples of idolatry, and of bowing down to stocks and stones. I need not go to what are called Popish countries for examples of unmitigated idolatry. There are cases constantly coming before our notice in wretched Ireland, aye, and in dear old England too, in which the grossest idolatry is transacted. Men make unto themselves gods of materials. They make unto themselves gods of mortals. They make unto themselves gods of meal. I wonder who, in the possession of the meanest common sense, would worship such gods--gods of mortals; gods of materials, and gods of meal, gods of wafers. These are specimens of the brutish ignorance, the worse than brutish ignorance, into which man has fallen.

II. A challenge. In the 41st chapter of Isaiah the Lord is reproving these idolators, and says, If ye be gods, show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods; ye, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. If ye be gods, show us the things that are to come. And let these idols--these material gods, and mortal gods--show us the things that are to come hereafter. Then we wilt own them to be gods. Now the great matter of fact, with relation to our covenant God, is that He has told us the things that are to come hereafter. He has set down in His own most precious word what is to take place in time, at the judgment and in eternity. He has shown tile things that are to come hereafter to the faith of many of us, and we do not and cannot dispute them. Faith has discerned and received them, and has acknowledged that God hath shown them unto us.

III. The triumph. (J. Irons.)

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

22:32 See Isa 43:11; 44:6, 8; 45:5, 21.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

32–37. The praise of Jehovah the giver of victory

32. For who is a strong God (El) save Jehovah?

and who is a rock, save our God (Elôhîm)?

Cp. ch. 2Sa_7:22; Deu_32:31; 1Sa_2:2.

El, the name which describes God as the Mighty One, is found in Samuel only in 1Sa_2:3; 2Sa_22:31-33; 2Sa_22:48; 2Sa_23:5. For the combination of El and Elôhîm see Gen_33:20.

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.

Vers. 32-34.

For who is God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God? God is my strong Fortress, And he guideth the perfect in his way. He maketh my feet like the hinds, And upon my high places he cloth set me.

God; Hebrew, El; the Mighty One, used several times in this psalm. In the second clause the word is Elohim, the ordinary name of God. The psalmist"s question is a strong assertion that Jehovah alone is God, and that he alone is a Rock of safety for his people. He guideth, etc. In Psa_18:32 "He maketh my way perfect," like his own. The phrase here isprobably that which David wrote, as being less usual, and it signifies that God will direct the upright man in his good way. Hinds. David"s feet are swift as hinds, an animal famous for its speed and sureness of foot. My high places. The tops of the mountains are the favourite resort of the antelope; (2Sa_1:18) and so with David, the possession of such rocky citadels as Bozez and Seneh (1Sa_14:4) made him master of the whole country.

Jehovah the only God, the only Rock.

David"s experience of what Jehovah his God had been to him impels him triumphantly to contrast him with all other that men called gods.

I JEHOVAH ALONE IS GOD. David was thinking of the idols worshipped by the nations around, which had proved themselves unable to protect their worshippers from his victorious arms. The question may be asked as to all other idols, and all persons and things that men serve as if they were gods self, wealth, the world, etc.:

1. Which of them has perfections like those of Jehovah? He is the living God, the everlasting, infinite in power, wisdom, and love; perfect in holiness and righteousness. To whom besides can such attributes be ascribed? "There is none else". (Deu_4:39)

2. Which of them has done or can do works like his? "All the gods of the peoples are idols: but the Lord made the heavens" (Psa_96:5, Revised Version; comp. Isa_45:18)

3. Which of them can help their worshippers as he can? They are "vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain". (1Sa_12:21)

4. Which of them, then, is worthy to receive homage such as is due to him? Fear, trust, love, worship, obedience. Yet the unregenerate do honour one or other of these vanities more than God. They, as truly as the heathen, "worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever". (Rom_1:25, Revised Version)

II JEHOVAH ALONE IS A ROCK.

1. God is a Rock. A term applied to him by Moses, (Deu_32:4) and afterwards very frequently, especially in the Book of Psalms. God is to those who trust in him what a rock, lofty and difficult of ascent and access to strangers, is to a people invaded by powerful foes. In him they find safety and protection. And as a rock is marked by strength, stability, and permanence, so God is mighty to protect, unchangeable, a

2. Rock of ages, "an everlasting Rock", (Isa_26:4, Revised Version) a Refuge available through each life and for all generations.

3. He alone is worthy of the name. There are other persons and things which minister strength and safety to men. "Wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence", (Ecc_7:12) friendship also, and civil government and military force, etc. But none besides God deserves the name of a Rock.

(1) They are limited in their worth; he, unbounded One or another of them may be a refuge against some dangers; he, against all. They may not be at hand in the time of most pressing need; he is always near.

(2) They are feeble and unstable; he, strong and firm.

(3) They are transient; he, everlasting.

(4) They are dependent; he, their independent Source. All their fitness and ability to aid us is from him; so that, when they are of service to us, it is he that is showing himself to be our Rock.

Then:

1. Accept thankfully the good they can do; but trust in the Lord alone with absolute and unwavering confidence.

2. Beware of resorting to God"s gifts as a refuge from himself. From the thought of him; from the reproaches of a guilty conscience; from the penalties of his Law

3. If you reject or neglect God for others, bethink you what help they cangive you when he executes his judgments upon you. (Jud_1:10:14; Jer_2:28) 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.

32 For who is God save Jehovah,

And who a rock save our God?

33 This God is my strong fortress,

And leads the innocent his way.

34 He makes my feet like the hinds,

And setteth me upon my high places;

35 He teacheth my hands to fight,

And my arms span brazen bows.

There is no true God who can help, except or by the side of Jehovah (cf. Deu 32:31; Sa1 2:2). צוּר, as in Sa2 22:2. This God is "my strong fortress:" for this figure, comp. Psa 31:5 and Psa 27:1. חיל, strength, might, is construed with מעוּזי, by free subordination: "my fortress, a strong one," like עז מחסי (Psa 71:7; cf. Ewald, 291, b.). יתּר for יתר, from תּוּר (vid., Ges. 72; Olshausen, Gram. p. 579), in the sense of leading or taking round, as in Pro 12:26. God leads the innocent his way, i.e., He is his leader and guide therein. The Keri דּרכּי rests upon a misunderstanding. There is an important difference in the reading of this verse in Ps 18, viz., "The God who girdeth me with strength, and makes my way innocent." The last clause is certainly an alteration which simplifies the meaning, and so is also the first clause, the thought of which occurs again, word for word, in Sa2 22:40, with the addition of למּלחמה. איּלה or איּלת, the hind, or female stag, is a figure of speech denoting swiftness in running. "Like the hinds:" a condensed simile for "like the hinds' feet," such as we frequently meet with in Hebrew (vid., Ges. 144, Anm.). The reference is to swiftness in pursuit of the foe (vid., Sa2 2:18; Ch1 12:8). רגליו, his feet, for רגלי (my feet) in the psalm, may be accounted for from the fact, that David had spoken of himself in the third person as the innocent one. "My high places" were not the high places of the enemy, that became his by virtue of conquest, but the high places of his own land, which he maintained triumphantly, so that he ruled the land for them. The expression is formed after Deu 32:13, and is imitated in Hab 3:19. למּד is generally construed with a double accusative: here it is written with an accusative and ל, and signifies to instruct for the war. נחת, in the psalm נחתה, on account of the feminine זרועתי, is not the Niphal of חתת, to be broken in pieces, but the Piel of נחת, to cause to go down, to press down the bow, i.e., to set it. The bow of brass is mentioned as being the strongest: setting such a bow would be a sign of great heroic strength. The two verses (Sa2 22:34 and Sa2 22:35) are simply a particularizing description of the power and might with which the Lord had endowed David to enable him to conquer all his foes.

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:

David continues his song to Yahweh.

For who is God except Yahweh, and who is a rock except our God?

David uses this question to emphasize that there is no God apart from Yahweh. These may be translated as statements. AT: "Yahweh alone is God. Our God alone is a rock." (See: Rhetorical Question)

who is a rock

David compares Yahweh to a rock to emphasize his strength and ability to protect his people. (See: Metaphor)

he leads the blameless person on his path

Yahweh keeps the blameless person safe and removes anything that may harm him.

translationWords

God

Yahweh

refuge

blameless

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