PRAISE FOR GOD’S DELIVERANCE We were expecting to see this song-almost identical to Psalm 18-at the end of the talk about David’s conquest, and before the talk about his fall in sin, and its bitter consequences; as in it he mentions his righteousness, the cleanness of his hands, his keeping the ways of the Lord, and being blameless before him-namely, we expected it to come between the tenth and the eleventh psalms; and to have here instead, psalm 51 (50), concerning the repentance and confession.... But the divine inspiration, intended to confirm that life of praise, and feeling of conquest, remained for David, up till his last breath. Although he fell, yet with repentance and confession, he kept on singing the psalm of victory. In his interpretation of psalm 18-which is itself the present psalm of conquest St. Augustine says that this psalm concerns the Lord Christ Himself, who speaks in His Name, as well as on behalf of the Church, His body, being her head; The victory He enjoys is to her account. We can say now that it is the song of the Church, victorious by Christ the leader of her procession; seeing in God the secret of her salvation, her light, and her strength...; By Him, she draws the nations to faith, to partake of her joy of salvation. 1- The occasion of the song 1 2- The Lord is my Rock 2-4 3- The waves of death encompassed me 5-7 4- He bowed the heaven, and came down 8-16 5- The realization of deliverance 17-21 6- Walking blamelessly 22-25 7- Like what we do to others, so it will be done to us 26-28 8- God, the lamp of the soul 29 9- God, strength and power of the soul 30-43 10- Calling the Gentiles to salvation 44-56 1- The occasion of the song: With every victory , David felt the faithfulness of God, as though new every morning (Lamentations 3: 23); he realized the amazing power of God working in his weakness; granting him the holy life, and the victory over evil; and opened his heart to others with love ... That is why, he felt himself indebted to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise; as a natural action, emerging from a soul rejoicing within, and a body trembling with all its feelings, as though it is the guitar of the Spirit. It seems that the prophet David kept on singing this and other psalms of victory, with each of his victories; as it is said: “David spoke to the Lord the words of this song, on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. And he said ...” (2 Samuel 22: 1, 2) 2- The Lord is my rock: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; The God is my strength, in Him I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation; 149 My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence; I will call upon the Lord, ... so shall I be saved from my enemies” (2 Samuel 22: 2-4). If the ancient serpent-the devil-is the real enemy who wants to devour us; the serpent is not able to climb a smooth rock; The Lord Christ presents Himself as the Rock, by which we are lifted up, so that the serpent can not reach us; He is “the Rock” (1 Corinthians 10: 4), in whom we find refuge, and by whom we are saved from our enemies. If Saul-like the other enemies-had done his best to kill David; yet despite all his military possibilities and might, he could not harm him, but his persecution turned for David, into glory and edification ...; Thanks to God, the Rock, the Stronghold, and the Deliverer of David’s soul. The enemies besieged me; therefore You are my Fortress. St. Jerome1 “You are my Shield; and the Horn of my salvation” You are my Shield; I am not depending on myself, arrogant with my horn of pride; But I find You the true Horn; where the definite exaltation is; and to achieve this, You are my Savior. St. Augustine2 O, divine Leader, give me strength. You embrace my being with your perfect overall care; you always embrace me, as though you see nobody but me. You watch over me; as though you have forgotten all the other creation. You grant me your gifts; as though I am the only subject of your love.St. Augustine 3- The waves of death encompassed me: God-with His love for David-did not rid him of his adversaries; but, on the contrary, allowed afflictions to come over him, until death almost encompasses him; in order that God, the Grantor of life and resurrection, would transfigure in him; That is why he cries out, saying: “When the waves of death encompassed me; The flood of ungodliness made me afraid; The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me; In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God. He heard my voice from His temple; And my cry entered His ear” (2 Samuel 22: 5-7). David is greatly belittled before the bitter afflictions that befell him, and almost killed him; He counted himself as though, surrounded by waves that destroyed his energy; swept down by floods to a bottomless abyss; surrounded by mighty mountains that 1On Ps. 90 (91). 2On Ps. 18. 150 blocked all ways to salvation around him; and confronted by the snares of death ... Yet, he was not without help; as the Lord heard his voice from His temple, and inclined His ears to his cry, as though His personal friend! As St. Augustine looks into the inner conflict between the soul and the evil onethe devil-Here he sees, that death is not the separation of the soul from the body, but the death of the soul itself. That is why the soul cries out, to be heard by God Himself, and not by humans; by words and cries that reach Him from the depths of the soul, being a sanctuary and a temple of God. He hears the voice that comes out of my heart, where He Himself dwells! The cry that I utter, is not intended for the ears of men; but it is an internal cry, that I present before Him, to enter into His St. Augustine1 4- He bowed the heaven and came down: The opposition of Saul and the other enemies to David proved to be a splendid atmosphere, through which he got in touch with God’s exalted love; and got to know God more and more. Through affliction, God transfigures with His love in man’s life, to find in Him the compassionate Father, and Savior. Through the opposition of enemies, David saw --by the spirit of prophecy-the perdition that befell man by the envy of the devil; and how God, the Word Himself descended from heaven, to proclaim His fiery love toward men; something for which all the world: heaven and earth marveled. He says: “Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was angry” (2 Samuel 22: 8).What the sin has done with man’s life and nature, through the envy of the devil, aroused the wrath of God; Heaven trembled and earth shook, before His exalted love; as He “Bowed the heavens, and came down” (2 Samuel 22: 10). The apostle Paul says: “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3: 16). It is a mystery, beyond comprehension, that creation could not realize its significance: “With dark clouds under His feet” (2 Samuel 22: 10); Dark clouds mean obscurity and incomprehension. His love is a consuming fire; David sees ”devouring fire coming out of His mouth, and smoke from His nostril” (2 Samuel 22: 9); and St. John sees “His eyes like a flame of fire” (Revelation 1: 14) ... It is the exalted love that consumes and destroys the evil one; and puts the heart of man aflame with divine fire “that many waters cannot quench” (Song 8: 7); So He says: “I will be a wall of fire all around her” (Zechariah 2: 5). He is “The sun of righteousness” (Malachi 4: 2), who sends the ray of His fiery Holy Spirit on us, to set in us a flame of fire, like what happened in the day of the Pentecost (Acts 2: 3). His words on the cross were like thunder and lightening, that disturbed the Devil (Colossians 2: 14); and like arrows they killed him. Yet for us, they are themselves a source of life, and a cause for permanent praise. St. Augustine2 presents us with an allegoric interpretation for the text on our 1 Ibid. 2 Ibid. 151 hand, to see the earth that trembled and shook, as representing the sinners who became like earth that trembled and shook, when the Son of Man came to be glorified on the cross. We say that the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ-the Grantor of victory-shakes the whole being of our body, with all its feelings and emotions; yet not to destroy, but rather to sanctify it; and touches our inner souls, to renew its nature. That is what David the Psalmist meant by earth (the body) and heaven (the soul). What are the smoke going out of his nostrils, and the fire coming out of his mouth? St. Augustine says that it is the fire of love and the light of righteousness, of which the sinners are deprived, having lived for long in the cold and darkness; Then, comes the Savior to set their hearts aflame by the love of goodness, and to grant them an inner enlightenment, after having granted them the new life. “He bowed the heaven and came down” ... The righteous in humility, descended to the weakness of mankind. And “With dark clouds under His feet” ... The wicked who find pleasure in temporal things-in the darkness of their greed-do not recognize Him as they are like earth under His feet, like His feet stools. “He rode upon a cherub, and flew; and He was seen upon the wings of the wind” ... He was glorified beyond the fulfillment of knowledge (cherub); No one can reach Him except through love; as “Love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13: 10). He may seem incomprehensible; beyond the power and capability of the soul; yet it (the soul), by the wings of (the Spirit), will be lifted up from the earthly fears to the air of freedom.... “He sent out arrows and scattered them; lightening bolts and vanquished them” ... He sent His Evangelists, provided with the wings of power, His power, and not their own ... ; to become “the aroma of life to life; and the aroma of death to death” (2 Corinthians 2: 16). By them he made wonders (lightening) to vanquish them. St. Augustine1 In short, the psalm of deliverance, deals in essence, with the work of salvation of God: The Word of God bowed the heaven by His incarnation, to come down to us; shining as the sun of righteousness over those who sit in the darkness. Before Him, all what is temporal in us will tremble, to sanctify our inner heavens (soul) and our earth (body); scattering the darkness of ignorance that dwelt in us. He rode on clouds as though on charubs, and ascended to lift us to Him, and to get us to sit in the heavenly places. He sent His disciples and apostles like arrows, to pierce the hearts by their preaching; and to shine in them like lightening, the light of knowledge, to shake up every evil, and to set in them the kingdom of God. 5- The realization of deliverance: The prophet David proclaims in his psalm of deliverance, the goal of God’s descent from heaven-namely His incarnation; which is delivering man from affliction, and lifting him up to heaven, to the Father’s bosom: “He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. He 1 Ibid. 152 delivered me from my strong enemy ... He also brought me out into a broad place” (2 Samuel 22: 17-20). St. Augustine believes that, the Church of the Gentiles, speaks here of the work of God with her. God the heavenly Savior called it out of many waters; gathering it from among different peoples and nations, to become His glorious Church “not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but ... holy and without blemish” Ephesians 5: 27). He delivered it from its strong enemy; having been weak before faith; captivated by the bonds of world love. Now, the Savior brought it out into a broad place; brought it out of the narrowness of carnal life, to the broad place of the spiritual faith; It set forth to the freedom of the Spirit. If Moses was put by his mother in a narrow ark of bulrushes, daubed with asphalt and pitch; and laid in the reeds by the Nile bank; to be taken out by the daughter of Pharaoh to her broad palace; so the Church of the New Testament, was drawn out of many waters, from among the nations, delivered from the inner narrowness, to enjoy the broad heavenly life, by the work of the Holy Spirit, that dwelt in it through Baptism. 6- Walking blamelessly: We do not marvel to see David, known for his great humility, even before Saul his pursuer, calling himself ‘s dead dog,’ ‘a flea’ (1 Samuel 24: 21); to see him here speaking of his righteousness, cleanness of his hands, keeping the ways of the Lord, and of being blameless before Him The Holy Word of God came down to the world; carried us in Him, to become members of His holy body, to stand before the Father, as children, justified in the precious blood; as though blameless, carrying in us the perfection of Christ. This is salvation, and this is the message of the cross: to carry us to Christ, to hide in him, and be covered by His blood, justified and sanctified in and by Him. Who is He, who is righteous, with clean hands, who keep the ways of the Lord, who had not wickedly departed from the divine statutes and judgments, who is clean before God? Who is He, but the Son, who is the only One without iniquity ... David is here speaking with the Spirit of prophecy, on the tongue of the Savior! Now, His Church- His holy body-can utter these same words, as though hidden in Him. 7- Like what we do to others, so it will be done to us: If the Savior God is the secret of our righteousness and sanctification, we, by and in Him, will attain the new holy nature; We will become merciful, perfect, pure, and humble, to enter into a new relationship with God the Father saying to Him: “With the merciful, You will show Yourself merciful; With a blameless man, You will show Yourself blameless; With the pure, You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious, You will show Yourself shrewd. You will save the humble people; But Your eyes are on the haughty, that You may bring them down” (2 Samuel 22: 26-28). It is as though we are saying: By You, we became merciful to others, that you have mercy on us; and by You, we became blameless, that you will show Yourself blameless, etc. ... As to the evil one, as he is devious and haughty, God shows Himself to him as shrewd, to bring him from the pride of his glory, down to the abyss. St. Augustine believes that God, the holy in His nature, shows Himself holy to the saintly man, as He makes him holy; Namely, whoever seeks perfection, the perfect God 153 will grant him perfection; while the devious man, although God will not harm him, yet, “his own iniquities entrap him” (Proverbs 5: 22). 8- God, the lamp of the soul: “For you are my lamp, O Lord; the Lord shall enlighten my darkness” (2 Samuel 22: 29). St. Clement of Alexandria, and also the Scholar Origen say, that, because darkness came to the soul, and made it ignorant; so the Word-the Teacher-came to shine on it with the saving spiritual knowledge, to enlighten its inner depths. O, the unseen light; Grant me eyes that can behold you! O, the light that enlightens the soul, the glamorous Truth, the true enlightening Splendor, You who shines on every man coming to the world; You came to the world that did not love You. O, My God ... scatter the dense darkness that dwells in my soul; to behold You, as it comes to recognize You; to know You, as it comes to accept You; and to love You, as it comes to know You St. Augustine 9- God, the strength and power of the soul: “For by You, I can run against a troop; By my God, I can leap over a wall; ... He is a shield to all who trust in Him; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, and sets me on my high places; He teaches my hands to make war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze; He enlarge my path under me, so my feet did not slip; I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them” (2 Samuel 22: 30-39). If the enemy comes to oppose me like a strong army, You are my strength; you have become for me like a wall of fire to protect me; and like a shield to confront all the arrows of the enemy; have strengthened my feet to become as swift as a deer; have set me on high places, to keep any harm away from me; have strengthened my arms to fight against the devil; and enlarged my path under me, to pursue my enemy and to destroy him by the cross. Oh! Hasten to turn my soul into a dwelling place for You; and my heart where to settle down! Come ... I am sick with love. Being far from You is like death to me; ... Your remembrance revives my soul! Your fragrance restores my strength; Your mention alleviates my sufferings; ... Your appearance is fulfillment to me. St. Augustine 10- Calling the Gentiles to salvation: “You have also delivered me from the strivings of my people; You have kept me as the head as the head of nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me. The foreigners submit to me; As soon as they hear, they obey me. ... Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles; 154 And sing praises to Your name” (2 Samuel 22: 44-50). The Psalmist ends the song of salvation, by inviting the Gentiles to salvation. That was what brought joy to David’s heart; that his fight against the Devil, had not saved him alone, but also saved the Gentiles together with him; to bring to the Messiah, people he did not know; people who did not enjoy the law; who did not speak with the prophets, and did not come to know the divine promises ... Those people, of heathen origin, came to worship God; having heard about Him only through the word of preaching; but had not seen Him by their eyes, as the Jews did, from among whom the Savior came; before whom He made wonders without number; and talked to them mouth to mouth; Yet they opposed and denied Him, instead of believing in Him.
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