Big Idea: The Lord protects his chosen servants from those who oppose them and enables them to accomplish the tasks he has commissioned them to do.

Understanding the Text

This lengthy thanksgiving song, in which David praises the Lord for delivering him from death and for empowering him in battle, encapsulates the most important theological themes that emerge from the preceding narrative of David’s career. (For fuller discussion, see above: “Additional Insights: The Structure and Function of 2 Samuel 21–24.”)

Historical and Cultural Background

The theophanic depiction of the Lord as descending in the storm clouds, thundering from the sky, and hurling his lightning bolts (vv. 8–16) has numerous parallels in ancient Near Eastern literature. Identical or similar imagery can be found in te…