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| 1 And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: |
David spake – The entire chapter is one of David's songs of praise and gratitude to God for his loving providence. R2031:1[R2031:4]
A type of the Church in her deliverance. R153:6, R264:6, R265:1, R287:6
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| 2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; |
The LORD is my rock – Upon which I safely build my hopes. R2032:4[R2032:2]
And my fortress – In which I may safely hide. R2032:4[R2032:2]
And my deliverer – In every time of trouble. R2032:4[R2032:2]
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| 3 The 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; thou savest me from violence. |
And the horn – Horns are symbols of power. T42[T41:3]
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| 4 I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. |
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| 5 When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; |
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| 6 The sorrows of Sheol compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; |
Sorrows of hell – Sheol, oblivion, the state of death. E358[E358:1]
In the Revised Version, anglicized as "sheol," as in all poetic passages. R828:5
A figure in which trouble is represented as hastening one to the tomb. R2599:3
Compassed me – Literally David; prophetically The Christ. E358[E358:2]
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The sorrows of hell compassed me – The translators here used the word hell to translate the Hebrew word sheol. This presents a problem for any reasonable minded person. The speaker here is David. Did David really think he was being surrounded by the sorrows of a burning place of eternal torment? |
| 7 In 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. |
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| 8 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. |
Then – The deliverance of the Body of Christ will be just before a great time of trouble and manifestation of divine power and indignation against wickedness. E358[E358:2]
Shook – A great time of trouble. E358[E358:2]
Of heaven – The powers of spiritual control. A318[A318:1]
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| 9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. |
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| 10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
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| 11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. |
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| 12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. |
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| 13 Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. |
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| 14 The LORD thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. |
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| 15 And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. |
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| 16 And 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. |
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| 17 He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters; |
He took me – See comment on 2 Sam. 22:8 from E358.
Delivering his Bride from her fleshly nature into the perfection of our new nature. R153:6, R265:1
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| 18 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. |
My strong enemy – Death. R153:6, R265:1
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| 19 They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. |
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| 20 He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me. |
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| 21 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. |
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| 22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. |
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| 23 For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. |
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| 24 I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity. |
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| 25 Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight. |
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| 26 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright. |
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| 27 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavoury. |
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| 28 And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. |
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| 29 For thou art my lamp, O LORD: and the LORD will lighten my darkness. |
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| 30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. |
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| 31 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. |
His way is perfect – He could not be holy in all his works if he were the author of sin and crime. R1351:4, R849:1
Therefore we cannot conclude that God made us sinners. HG650:2[HG650:4]
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| 32 For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God? |
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| 33 God is my strength and power: And he maketh my way perfect. |
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| 34 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places. |
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| 35 He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. |
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| 36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. |
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| 37 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. |
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| 38 I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. |
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| 39 And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. |
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| 40 For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. |
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| 41 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. |
The necks of mine enemies – Enemies of the Lord which David was commissioned to conquer--prophetic of Christ's victories over the enemies of truth and righteousness. R2032:1[R2032:1]
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| 42 They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the LORD, but he answered them not. |
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| 43 Then 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. |
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| 44 Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me. |
Head of the heathen – Verses 44 to 46 are fully applicable only to the wider dominion of Christ as earth's future king. R2032:4[R2032:1]
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| 45 Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. |
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| 46 Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places. |
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| 47 The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. |
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| 48 It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, |
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| 49 And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. |
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| 50 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. |
Therefore I will give thanks – "We love him because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19) R2031:5[R2031:7]
No one can be a true Christian and be unthankful. R2460:2
This principal of gratitude and praise is that which makes human fellowship possible. R2031:6[R2031:10]
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| 51 He is the tower of salvation for his king: and showeth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore. |
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