2 Samuel 22
1 After Yahweh had rescued David from Saul and his other enemies, David sang a song to Yahweh.
David sang the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord saved him from all his enemies, and from Saul.
2 [This is what] he sang: Yahweh, you are like a [huge overhanging] rock [under which I can hide] [MET]; you are like my fortress, and you rescue me.
He sang: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Savior.
3 Yahweh, you protect me; you are like a shield; you are the powerful one [MET] who saves me; you are like a place where I (find refuge/am safe). You save me from those who act violently toward me.
He is my God, my rock who protects me. He shields me from harm, his power saves me, he keeps me safe. He is my protector; he is my savior; he saves me from violence.
4 I call out to you, Yahweh; you deserve to be praised, and you rescue me from my enemies.
I call for help from the Lord, who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.
5 “almost died [PRS]; it was like [MET] a huge wave had crashed over me, and almost destroyed me like a flood.
The waves of death swept over me; surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
6 I thought that I would die; it was as though death wrapped ropes around me; it was as though I was in a trap where I would surely die. [PRS, MET] (Sheol h7585)
The grave wound its ropes around me; death set snares for me. (Sheol h7585)
7 But when I was (very distressed/in great trouble), I called out to you, Yahweh; I cried out to you, my God. And from your temple you heard me; you listened when I called to you to help me.
In my despair I called on the Lord; I called out to my God. He heard my voice from his Temple; my cry for help reached his ears.
8 “Then [it was as though] the earth quaked and shook; [it was as though] the foundations that ([held up/supported]) the sky trembled, because you were angry.
The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the heavens trembled, shaking because of his anger.
9 [It was as though] smoke poured out of your nostrils and burning coals and fire that burns everything came out of your mouth.
Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire from his mouth, burning coals that blazed before him.
10 You tore open the sky and came down; there was a thick dark [cloud] under your feet.
He pushed aside the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
11 You rode [through the sky] on a winged creature; the wind enabled you to travel [swiftly] [MET], like a bird.
Riding on a heavenly being he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
12 The darkness surrounded you, like a blanket; thick clouds that were full of water also surrounded you.
He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black rainclouds.
13 Out of the lightning in front of you fire from burning coals flamed.
Burning coals blazed out of his brightness.
14 Then, Yahweh, you spoke like thunder from the sky; it was your voice, God, you who are greater than all other gods, that was heard.
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
15 When you sent flashes of lightning, [it was as though] [MET] you shot your arrows and scattered your enemies.
He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies, he routed them with his lightning bolts.
16 Then the bottom of the ocean was uncovered; the foundations of the world could be seen when you rebuked [your enemies] with a snort from your nostrils.
The Lord roared, and by the wind from the breath of his nostrils the valleys of the sea could be seen and the foundations of the earth were uncovered.
17 “Yahweh, you reached down from heaven and lifted me up; you pulled me up from the deep water.
He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He dragged me out of the deep water.
18 You rescued me from my strong enemies, from those who hated me; [I could not defeat them because] they were very strong.
He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
19 They attacked me when I was experiencing troubles/difficulties, but Yahweh, you protected me.
They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
20 You brought me to a place where I was safe; you rescued me because you were pleased with me.
He set me free, he rescued me because he's happy with me.
21 “Yahweh, you rewarded me because I do what is right; you did good things for me because I (was innocent/had not done things that are wrong).
The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
22 Yahweh, I have obeyed your laws; I have not turned away from you, my God.
For I have followed the Lord's ways; I have not sinned by turning away from my God.
23 All of your regulations were in my mind, and I did not turn away from [obeying] all your statutes.
I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
24 You know that I have not done anything that is evil; I have kept myself from doing things for which I should be punished.
I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
25 So you have rewarded me in return for my doing what is right, because [you know that] I (am innocent of doing/have not done) wrong things.
The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
26 “Yahweh, you are faithful/loyal to those who always trust in you; you always do what is good to those whose behavior is always good.
You show trust to those who are trusting; you show integrity to those with integrity,
27 You act sincerely toward those whose inner beings are pure, but you are hostile to those who are perverse/wicked.
You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself astute to those who are crafty.
28 You rescue those who are humble, but you watch [MTY] those who are proud and humiliate them.
You save the humble, but your eyes watch the proud to bring them down.
29 Yahweh, you are [like] [MET] a lamp that causes it to become light when I am in the dark.
You, Lord, are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness.
30 With your strength/help I can run through a line of enemy soldiers and I can climb over the wall [that surrounds their city].
With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.
31 “My God whom I worship, everything that you do is perfect; you always do what you promise that you will do. You are like a shield [MET] to all those who request you to protect them.
God's way is absolutely right. What the Lord says is trustworthy. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
32 Yahweh, you are [RHQ] the only one who is God; only you are like a huge rock [MET] [under which we are protected/safe].
For who is God except the Lord? Who is a Rock, except our God?
33 God, you [whom I worship] are a strong refuge for me; you keep me safe on the roads that I [walk on].
God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
34 [When I walk] in the mountains, you enable me to walk safely, without stumbling [MET] like a deer runs.
He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
35 You teach me [how to fight] in a battle in order that I can shoot arrows well from a very strong bow.
He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
36 [It is as though] [MET] you have given me a shield by which you have saved/rescued me, and you have answered my prayers and caused me to become famous/great.
You protect me with the shield of your salvation; your help has made me great.
37 You have not allowed [my enemies] to capture me [IDM], and I have not fallen down [during battles].
You gave me room to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
38 “pursued my enemies and defeated them; I did not stop [fighting them] until they were all killed.
I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
39 I struck them down; I stabbed them with my sword; they fell down at my feet and did not stand up again.
I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
40 You have given me strength for fighting battles and caused those who were attacking me to fall down, and I trampled on them.
You made me strong for the battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel low before me.
41 You caused my enemies to turn and run away from me; I destroyed those who hated me.
You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
42 They (looked for/wanted) someone to rescue them, but no one did. They cried out to you, Yahweh, [for help, ] but you did not answer them.
They cried out for help, but no one came to rescue them. They even called out to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
43 I crushed them, and as a result they became like [SIM] tiny particles of dust. I trampled them, and they became like [SIM] mud in the streets.
I ground them into dust, like the dust of the earth. I crushed them and threw them out like mud in the street.
44 “You rescued me from those who tried to rebel [against me], and you appointed me to rule many nations; people whom I did not know previously are now (under my authority/my slaves).
You rescued me from rebellious people; you have kept me as ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
45 Foreigners humbly bowed down in front of me; as soon as they heard about me, they obeyed me.
Foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey.
46 They became afraid, and they came to me, trembling, from the places where they were hiding.
They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
47 “Yahweh, you are alive! I praise you! You are like [MET] a [huge overhanging] rock under which I am safe/protected! You are the one who rescues me [MET]. Everyone should exalt/honor/praise you.
The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
48 You enable me to conquer my enemies; you cause people of [other] nations to be (under my authority/my slaves).
God avenges me, he puts peoples under me,
49 You delivered me from my enemies; you caused me to be honored more than they were; you rescued me from men who [always] acted violently.
He frees me from those who hate me. You keep me safe from those who rebel against me, you save me from violent men.
50 Because of all that, I exalt you among many people-groups and I sing to praise you.
That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
51 You enable me, whom you appointed to be king, to powerfully conquer [my enemies]; you faithfully love me, David, and you will love my descendants forever.
You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.”
