2 Samuel 22:17
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
Sermons
Christ a DelivererNewton Jones.2 Samuel 22:17
Progress from AboveA. T. Pierson, D. D.2 Samuel 22:17
Abundant Cause for ThanksgivingChristian Endeavour Times2 Samuel 22:1-51
David's Song of PraiseB. Dale 2 Samuel 22:1-51
Psalm SingingA. Whyte, D. D.2 Samuel 22:1-51
The Song of ThanksgivingW. G. Blaikie, D. D.2 Samuel 22:1-51
Rescue from Mighty FoesG. Wood 2 Samuel 22:17-20














In vers. 8-16 the psalmist depicts Jehovah as appearing in his glory for the deliverance of his servant. The picture may have been occasioned by a storm which, in one of his battles, had terrified his enemies and aided in their discomfiture (comp. Joshua 10:11; 1 Samuel 7:10). In the text he narrates the deliverance itself.

I. THE ENEMIES. Who were:

1. Malignant. "Hated me." There was not only opposition and contest, but personal hatred. Many of the Christian's foes have this quality in a high degree (John 17:14), notably their great leader and chief, Satan (equivalent to "adversary," 1 Peter 5:8).

2. Powerful. "My strong enemy... too strong for me." In physical strength, or military, or in numbers. David may have had in view such instances as those recorded in 2 Samuel 8:3-5 and 2 Samuel 21:15-17. The Christian's foes also are "powers" (Ephesians 6:12). Wherein consists the power of the enemies of the righteous?

(1) Their inherent vigour;

(2) their adaptation to our lower nature;

(3) their number.

3. Subtle. "They prevented me in the day of my calamity." They rushed upon him unexpectedly, when he was enfeebled by calamity, and poorly prepared for them. David may be thinking of the attack of the Syrians of Damascus, while he and his army were engaged with Hadadezer or exhausted by the contest with him (2 Samuel 8:5); or of the assault of the giant Ishbi-benob, while he was faint from fighting against the Philistines (2 Samuel 21:15, 16). Thus, also, the Christian's foes often surprise him when he is preoccupied or distressed by troubles. The day of calamity is a day of spiritual danger.

4. In a measure successful. So that he became as a man struggling for life in "great waters" (comp. vers. 5, 6). It seemed as if he must be swallowed up. Thus, also, the enemies of the Christian may do him much mischief, temporal and even spiritual; but there is a limit to their power. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chronicles 16:9).

II. THE DELIVERER. Jehovah, the Almighty, whose glorious interposition on behalf of his servant, in answer to his cry of distress, is described in the previous verses. They set forth:

1. His awful majesty.

2. His power over all the forces of nature.

3. The intensity of his interest in his troubled servants. How he rouses himself, as it were, for the rescue of those in whom he delights (ver. 20).

4. His anger against their enemies. (Vers. 8, 9.) With such a Friend, who can neither be surprised, evaded, or resisted, the righteous need not dread the might of any adversary, nor despair of deliverance from the direst troubles.

III. THE DELIVERANCE, God:

1. Supported him in his perils. "The Lord was my Stay."

2. He saved him from them. "He stretched forth his hand from on high; he laid hold of me; he drew me out of great waters; he delivered me," etc. God's hand can reach his servants in the lowest depths of trouble, and is strong to rescue them from the strongest of their foes.

3. He brought him into a condition of freedom and safety. "Into a large place," a broad, open space, where no "cords of Sheol," or "snares of death" (Ver. 6, Revised Version), would embarrass or endanger him; where he could move about with perfect freedom, and yet perfect security. Such help from on high is realized by God's people in this world; perfectly when the hand of their God lays hold of them and raises them from earth to heaven.

IV. THE PRAISE. (See homilies on vers. 2 4, 4, and 7.) The perfections and acts of Jehovah are of such a nature that to merely recite them is to praise him. We should acquaint ourselves as fully as possible with his excellences and works, that we may better praise him by declaring them; but our own experience of his power and goodness will give us the liveliest apprehension of them, and stimulate us to the most ardent praise. - G.W.

He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
All real progress is from God. There is no little truth in the observation of Mephistopheles "that the human mind merely advances spirally, and reverts to a spot close to its origin." Dr. R. D. Hitch-cock says: "In all human advancement, the motive power has not been a force in man, lifting him upward, or on the earthward side, driving him onward, but the movement has been along an inclined plane, due to an engine drawing from the top.

(A. T. Pierson, D. D.)

I have heard of the following story of a Chinaman who had become a disciple of the Lord Jesus. In explaining to others what Christ had done for him, he put it thus: "It seemed as if I was at the bottom of a pit in great distress crying for help. Buddha passed and said, 'If you crawl up, never get clown again.' Confucius then came to the pit's mouth, and said, 'I have a rope at home that will go two-thirds down the pit, if you can crawl up one-third,' but he left me; then the Lord Jesus, hearing my cry, came quickly to my rescue, put His hand down and helped me out of the pit; put my feet upon a rock, and established my goings; that is what Christ has done for me."

(Newton Jones.)

People
David, Saul
Places
Gath
Topics
Deep, Draweth, Drew, Forth, Hold, Pulling, Reached, Taketh, Waters
Outline
1. David's psalm of thanksgiving for God's deliverance and blessings

Dictionary of Bible Themes
2 Samuel 22:17

     4227   deep, the
     4293   water

2 Samuel 22:2-51

     8609   prayer, as praise and thanksgiving

2 Samuel 22:17-20

     6738   rescue

Library
David's Hymn of victory
'For Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that, rose up against me hast Thou subdued under me. 41. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. 42. They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the Lord, but He answered them not. 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. 44. Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, Thou hast
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Mosaic Cosmogony.
ON the revival of science in the 16th century, some of the earliest conclusions at which philosophers arrived were found to be at variance with popular and long-established belief. The Ptolemaic system of astronomy, which had then full possession of the minds of men, contemplated the whole visible universe from the earth as the immovable centre of things. Copernicus changed the point of view, and placing the beholder in the sun, at once reduced the earth to an inconspicuous globule, a merely subordinate
Frederick Temple—Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World

The First Commandment
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.' Exod 20: 3. Why is the commandment in the second person singular, Thou? Why does not God say, You shall have no other gods? Because the commandment concerns every one, and God would have each one take it as spoken to him by name. Though we are forward to take privileges to ourselves, yet we are apt to shift off duties from ourselves to others; therefore the commandment is in the second person, Thou and Thou, that every one may know that it is spoken to him,
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

In the Present Crusade against the Bible and the Faith of Christian Men...
IN the present crusade against the Bible and the Faith of Christian men, the task of destroying confidence in the first chapter of Genesis has been undertaken by Mr. C. W. Goodwin, M.A. He requires us to "regard it as the speculation of some Hebrew Descartes or Newton, promulgated in all good faith as the best and most probable account that could be then given of God's Universe." (p. 252.) Mr. Goodwin remarks with scorn, that "we are asked to believe that a vision of Creation was presented to him
John William Burgon—Inspiration and Interpretation

A Discourse of Mercifulness
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 These verses, like the stairs of Solomon's temple, cause our ascent to the holy of holies. We are now mounting up a step higher. Blessed are the merciful . . '. There was never more need to preach of mercifulness than in these unmerciful times wherein we live. It is reported in the life of Chrysostom that he preached much on this subject of mercifulness, and for his much pressing Christians to mercy, he was called of many, the alms-preacher,
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

The Ark among the Flags
'And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi. 2. And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months. 3. And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. 4. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. 5. And the daughter of Pharaoh came
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Prophetic Office
'The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet,' &c. Deut 18:85. Having spoken of the person of Christ, we are next to speak of the offices of Christ. These are Prophetic, Priestly, and Regal. 'The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet.' Enunciatur hic locus de Christo. It is spoken of Christ.' There are several names given to Christ as a Prophet. He is called the Counsellor' in Isa 9:9. In uno Christo Angelus foederis completur [The Messenger of the Covenant appears in Christ alone].
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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