CHAPTER 22

(1018 B.C.)

DAVIDS LAST SONG

¹And David spoke unto the LORD the words of this song (this Song, or Psalm, is virtually identical to the Eighteenth Psalm, but with some minor exceptions) in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul (only the Lord can truly deliver; as well, this probably refers to the close of his life):

²And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer (the words used here portray the fact of the power arrayed against us as Believers; we are delivered by Faith in Christ and the Cross, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work in our lives; He can overcome anything, for He is God [Rom. 8:1-2, 11]);

³The God of my rock; in Him will I trust: He is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; You save me from violence (Rock suggests an immovable might; it is often used for Gods Glory as being the Strength and Protection of His People; the shield, of course, is for defense, while the horn is for attack; the high tower signifies a place of refuge, which saves the blessed one from the violence of his enemies).

⁴I will call on the LORD (actually says, in the Hebrew, Whenever I call, I am saved), Who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from my enemies (in all times of difficulties, praise brings immediate deliverance).

⁵When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid (Satan, time and time again, attempted to kill David, as he does many Believers);

⁶The sorrows of Hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me (the attacks originated in Hell);

⁷In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and He did hear my voice out of His Temple, and my cry did enter into His Ears (the Lord is the only One Who can actually help; the implication is, if we truly call on Him, He will always hear; the Temple should have been translated Heavenly Temple).

⁸Then the Earth shook and trembled; the foundations of Heaven moved and shook, because He was wroth (this is intended to magnify to us the spiritual conception of Gods justice coming forth to visit the Earth and to do right with equal justice).

⁹There went up a smoke out of His nostrils, and fire out of His mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it (this has to do with when the Lord descended on Mount Sinai, with the manifestations resembling this which David says; out of this came the Law, in effect, the Righteousness of God).

¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under His feet (all of this portrays the Glory of God).

¹¹And He rode upon a Cherub (His traveling Throne), and did fly: and He was seen upon the wings of the wind (once again, portrays Mount Sinai, and the various manifestations of His Appearance, with some who actually observed Him [Ex. 24:9-11]).

¹²And He made darkness pavilions round about Him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies (the dark storm-clouds are gathered round the Almighty, to veil His awful Form from sight as He goes forth for judgment).

¹³Through the brightness before Him were coals of fire kindled (this brightness is the Shechinah, to which Paul also refers, where he says that Gods dwelling is in the unapproachable light).

¹⁴The LORD thundered from Heaven, and the Most High uttered His Voice. (This happened at Sinai, and it also happened for Israel when the Lord thundered against the Philistines [I Sam. 7:10]. It also happened on the Day of Pentecost [Acts 2:2].)

¹⁵And He sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them (once again, the Lord is speaking of various happenings of this nature, when He helped Israel against her enemies [I Sam. 14:15]).

¹⁶And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the LORD, at the blast of the breath of His nostrils (the word discovered should have been translated laid bare).

¹⁷He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters (the Lord will do the same, and we speak of Deliverance, of anyone and everyone who will call on Him out of a repentant heart);

¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them who hated me: for they were too strong for me (to be sure, Satan will always attack with overwhelming force; within ourselves, we are no match; Believers presently, at least since the Cross, are meant to place their Faith exclusively in Christ and His Cross, which will then give the Holy Spirit the latitude to work within our lives, bringing about the desired victory [Rom., Chpt. 6; 8:1-2, 11]).

¹⁹They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay (David faced death many times, but the Lord always delivered him).

²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place: He delivered me, because He delighted in me (the Lord delights in us, only according to our Faith in Christ and His Cross; basically it was the same before the Cross, but centered up in the Sacrifices, which were a Type of the Cross).

²¹The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands has He recompensed me (the cleanness of any hands can only be claimed by Faith in Christ and His shed Blood, which cleanses from all sin; otherwise, it is a farce [I Jn. 1:7; Eph. 2:13-18]).

²²For I have kept the Ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God (David is not claiming here sinless perfection, but rather that he did not try to address his sins other than by Faith in the Lord, and that alone; to do otherwise is to sin wickedly).

²³For all His Judgments were before me: and as for His Statutes, I did not depart from them (once again, David went to the Word of God for help, whether in time of affliction, or respecting forgiveness for sin; he did not depart from the Word of God).

²⁴I was also upright before Him, and have kept myself from my iniquity (he took the iniquity to the Lord, and left it there [Ps. 51]).

²⁵Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in His Eyesight (this Psalm has two persons as its intended subjects, David and the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ; however, the greater meaning is, by far, referring to our Lord; it points prophetically to the Messiah, Who, in His sufferings and the glories which are to follow, will fulfill and satisfy the language of these utterances).

²⁶With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful, and with the upright man You will show Yourself upright (the Holy Spirit placed this Psalm at the conclusion of the historical narrative of David to portray the difference of fallibility, which was David, and infallibility, which was the Holy Spirit upon David; self-righteousness can never understand the Grace of God; it can only see Davids terrible sins and faults; it can never see the repentant heart, or the Blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses from all sin).

²⁷With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the froward You will show Yourself unsavoury (it is not by luck or good fortune that prosperity attends the righteous, nor is it by chance that things go awry with the fraudulent, but it is by the Law of Gods providence).

²⁸And the afflicted people You will save: but Your eyes are upon the haughty, that You may bring them down (God resists the proud, but gives Grace to the humble [James 4:6]).

²⁹For You are my Lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness (the Lord is a Lamp unto our feet, and a Light unto our path [Ps. 119:105]).

³⁰For by You I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall (the Lord gives strength to those who trust Him).

³¹As for God, His Way is perfect; the Word of the LORD is tried: He is a Buckler to all them who trust in Him (this does not mean only that it is proved by experience and found true, but that it is absolutely good and perfect like refined gold).

³²For Who is God, save the LORD? and Who is a Rock, save our God? (Jehovah Alone is God and He Alone is a Rock of safety for His People.)

³³God is my strength and power: and He makes my way perfect (it signifies that God will direct the upright man in his good way).

³⁴He makes my feet like hinds feet (as fast as the feet of deer): and sets me upon my high places (master over everything).

³⁵He teaches my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by my arms (as the Lord gave Israel great victory over her enemies, likewise, He gives the present Believer victory over the powers of darkness [Col. 2:14-15]).

³⁶You have also given me the shield of Your salvation: and Your gentleness has made me great (gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit [Gal. 5:22-23]).

³⁷You have enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip (we walk after the Spirit, because we keep our eyes on Christ and the Cross [Rom. 8:1]).

³⁸I have pursued my enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them (this can be done only by one trusting in Christ, which refers to what He did for us at the Cross [I Cor. 1:17-18], and doing so exclusively).

³⁹And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yes, they are fallen under my feet (all victory comes through the Cross of Christ [Col. 2:14-15]).

⁴⁰For You have girded me with strength to battle: them who rose up against me have You subdued under me (as David overcame his enemies in the physical sense, likewise, we do so in the spiritual sense [Rom. 6:14]).

⁴¹You have also given me the necks of my enemies, that I might destroy them who hate me (every Believer is intended to be completely victorious over the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and can do so through the Cross, and only through the Cross [Rom. 6:3-14]).

⁴²They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but He answered them not (the Lord will not help or answer those who trust in self, or anything else other than the Cross [I Cor. 1:21, 23; 2:2]).

⁴³Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the Earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad (this is what we are to do with every sin which doth so easily beset us [Heb. 12:1]; we are to overcome all, and nothing must overcome us; it can be done only in Christ).

⁴⁴You also have delivered me from the strivings of my people, You have kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me (while this happened with David, its greater fulfillment awaits the greater Son of David, which will take place upon His Second Advent; the entire world will then serve Him).

⁴⁵Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me (once again, refers to the Second Coming, with the whole world bowing at the Feet of Christ; it will happen!).

⁴⁶Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places (Christ shall rule with great Power; strangers to His Grace and Ways will soon be no more).

⁴⁷The LORD lives; and blessed be my Rock; and exalted be the God of the Rock of my Salvation (after the Cross, He was most definitely exalted [Phil. 2:9]).

⁴⁸It is God Who avenges me, and Who brings down the people under me (the Believer must not take vengeance into his own hands, but leave all such to the Lord [Rom. 12:19-21]),

⁴⁹And Who brings me forth from my enemies: You also have lifted me up on high above them Who rose up against me: You have delivered me from the violent man (as David was delivered from Saul, we are delivered from the powers of darkness, but only as our Faith is placed in Christ and the Cross [Gal., Chpt. 5]).

⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks unto You, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto Your name (because He has done so much for us!).

⁵¹He is the tower of Salvation for His King: and shows Mercy to His Anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore (speaks of David, but more particularly to the Son of David).