Chapter 22 David responds to the Lord's grace with a psalm of praise.
v2-3 The Lord is strong.
v4-6 I was in trouble--near death.
v8 "then the earth shook and quaked, the foundations of heaven were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry." Some intense imagery here.
v17 He saved me.
v18-19 I was weak. My enemies were strong. But HE was stronger.
v29 "for you were my lamp, Oh LORD, and the LORD illuminates my darkness."
David seems to spew praise and love to the Lord, in what seems like a stream-of-consciousness poem to the One who has proved Himself faithful. David can't get the words out fast enough.
What would my stream-of-consiousness love-poem to the Lord look like? And yours? I guess you start with a time He delivered you, and go from there. Note to self: write a psalm of praise and deliverance.
v1 I love how David is introduced here, esp the "sweet psalmist of Israel".
v8 And introduction to the "mighty men". Here are some of their incredible feats of skill, strength, and war.
--Eight HUNDRED slain by him at one time.
--battled the Philistines when the rest of Israel had withdrawn.
--defended a plot of lentils, alone against an army.
--broke into enemy camp just to get David water from a certain well.
--killed 300 men with a spear.
--killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.
--killed an Egyptian with his own spear.
v31 Uriah the Hittite is immortalized as one of these great men.
Why do you think these guys got there own special mention in Scripture? They were amazing on their own, I'm sure--but I bet none of them had ever taken on hundreds of other guys (or a lion) just for the fun of it. I'm guessing that these men were the top athletes of their time, but what made them mighty was their availability to be used for God's glory. God uses the natural abilities of faithful men--and then turns up the volume on those talents--just to bring glory to His Name. Doesn't that make you want to lift up your talents to Him and say, USE ME!
Next time: II Samuel 24 (The last chapter in this book!)
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