That time God gave King David FOUR superpowers – 2 Samuel 22, Part 4

Did you know that God gave King David super powers?

This week we’re studying 2 Samuel 22, and in the verses we’re looking at today, David is focused on super power.

As we observe 2 Samuel 22, our guide is Old Testament scholar David Dorsey. Dorsey notes that 2 Samuel 22 (repeated as Psalm 18) has evidence of a chiastic structure (see post here for what that kind of matching parallel writing is all about). In the previous post, we observed the first matches, Points A and A’.

Now we come to the super power sections. Dorsey suggests that Point B is verses 5 through 20. In these verses, David is remembering when he was near death multiple times in his life.  Whether he was facing Goliath, or Saul was chasing him, or he was in battle, David often found himself at death’s door.  What did he do in those moments?  In verse 7 he remembers how he cried out to God, and God heard him.

Then in verses 8–17 David writes an amazing description of God.  When God is angry, the earth shakes.  Smoke flares from God’s nostrils and fire and hot coals from his mouth.  He parts the heaven and rides down to earth on angels surrounded by storm clouds. When he shows up, God shoots lighting arrows at David’s enemies, and he blows a powerful wind blast laying everything bare.  God is more super than all superheroes. 

Then in verse 18, we read about God rescuing David.  In verse 19, God is David’s support, and in verse 20, God brings David to a spacious place, which means a place of safety. 

This is incredibly fantastic imagery.  God is mighty! 

Now let’s scan down to the matching verses and see if we can find evidence for a match.  If it is a match, we should see the same themes.  God the superhero.  Crying out to God, God’s rescuing David from his enemies, God as David’s support, and God bringing David to a spacious place.

The matching verses begin in verse 33.  Scan down through verses 33 to 46.

In the previous section, God came with massive superhero power.  In this matching section, David says that now God empowers David.  In verse 33, God arms David with strength.  In verse 34, he makes David fast and a good climber.  In verse 35, he trains David with the bow.  How about that?  God makes David strong as Superman, speedy as the Flash, a climber like Spiderman, and as deadly with a bow as Green Arrow.  Four superheroes all wrapped up in one!  No surprise that in the next few verses, David describes his over his victory enemies, because of God’s empowerment.  So it’s a match of superhero theme.

But what about the other themes?  Crying out to God, God’s rescuing David from his enemies, God as David’s support, and God bringing David to a spacious place.

Let’s keep looking for them.  Do you see anything about crying out to God?  Look at verse 42.  David is so empowered by God that now David is chasing his enemies, and we get a surprise.  It is David’s enemies who now cry out to God, but God does not answer them. 

Next, in this matching passage does David talk about God rescuing him?  Look at verse 44.  “You delivered me.”  It’s another match.

Does David describe God as his support?  No.  Hmm.  Like we discovered in the previous post, is this perhaps a difference between 2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18. Yes, it is.  In Psalm 18, verse 35 we read “your right hand sustains me.” Same Hebrew word.  Support, Sustain. It’s a match.

What about God bringing David to a spacious space?  Look at verse 37, “you broaden the path beneath me”. In both verse 20 and verse 37, the same Hebrew word is used to describe a spacious space that God is rescuing David to. 

Again, these sections are a match.  I’ve been using superhero language, but superhero language don’t do these section justice.   God is so much more than a superhero.  Superhero language actually limits God, and David’s point is that God is not limited in the least.  When God empowers David, God is not turning David into a superhero or some demi-god.  In this section, David is simply praising God, giving God the credit for victory over his enemies.  David is correctly saying, “If you look over the years of my life and you see all those victories, and how I became king, you need to know that God did this.  Do not praise me.  Praise God.  Give God the credit, because he is the true victor.”

So we have found matching points A and A’ (in the previous post) and above in this post B and B’.  What about the rest of 2 Samuel 22 / Psalm 18. Check back tomorrow as we discover David’s central point.

Photo by Muhd Asyraaf on Unsplash