These verses are the opening of a poem sung by David as praise to God in the aftermath of his survival from the attacks of King Saul. This song of praise is repeated, almost identically, in Psalm 18.
In these verses we see a list of praises of God that seem somewhat repetitive. This is common in poetic passages in the Bible, especially those that praise God. Effusive praise often involves repeating the same ideas in a variety of ways. That said, a careful reading of these verses reveals that rather than merely effusively repeating, there is a subtle progression of ideas.
First, the passage includes two different words translated here as ārock.ā The first time ārockā appears, the Hebrew word is sela. This is not the same as the word selah, familiar to readers of Psalms as a common end to a section of a psalm. This sela is spelled differently. Sela, meaning ārockā is quite common in the Bible, appearing over 50 times. For example, when Moses drew water from the rock in the Sinai desert, the Hebrew word for ārockā is sela. The second time we see the word ārockā here, the Hebrew word is tzur. This word for ārockā appears over 70 times in the Bible.
Here in Samuel 22, both words are used as metaphors for God. So, if both words mean ārock,ā what is the difference between sela and tzur?
Tzur vs. Sela
In Exodus 4, on the way while traveling to Egypt, Mosesā wife Zipporah circumcised their son.
The Hebrew word for āsharp stoneā in this verse is tzur. Similarly, in the book of Joshua, as preparation for entering the land, God commanded Joshua to circumcise the men of Israel who had not been circumcised during the journey in the desert due to the danger of travel.
The Hebrew for āknivesā is charvot tzurim, literally, āswords (or blades) of stones.ā
From these two sources, we see that tzur refers to a very strong stone, strong enough to be used as a knife.
Sela, on the other hand, is commonly used to imply a hiding place. For example:
In all these verses, and many more, sela refers to a rock used for shelter or for a hiding place.
Protection and empowerment
With this distinction between tzur and sela in mind, we can now see a progression in our passage.
First David praises God for protecting him from harm. He refers to God as his sela, his āfortress,ā and his ādeliverer.ā There is no mention of Davidās enemies in this verse. He is thanking God for saving him by sheltering him from harm and nothing more. Then in the next verse, David refers to God as his tzur. Here, the implication is that of strength, even of triumph in battle.
We see this progression in our verse from another interesting word as well. In the second verse, David refers to God as a āstronghold.ā The word in Hebrew is misgav. The root of this word – SGV -means āstrength.ā A misgav is something that gives strength and support. The meaning here is that God empowers and gives strength to David to withstand his enemies.
To sum up, in these opening two verses of Davidās song, first he praises God for providing him shelter and cover from harm. Then he praises God for empowering and strengthening him to withstand the attacks of his enemies.
Meriting Godās salvation
Finally, in the third verse, David makes an important point about how he merited Godās salvation.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
The opening phrase of this verse in Hebrew is three words.
Mehulal praiseworthy
ekra I call
Adonai the Lord
In other words, the verse should be translated as follows:
I call the Lord praiseworthy; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
In other words, David is saying that he is saved by God in the merit of his praising God. By recognizing and calling out the fact that God is worthy of praise, by attributing all his strength to God, David opens himself up to be protected, saved, and empowered by God. It is important to note that David does say that he called upon the Lord, that he prayed to God to save him. He does not say that he cried out to God in distress. He praised Him. And by praising Him, David merited salvation.
By giving praise to God and recognizing His supreme sovereignty over our lives, we open ourselves up to His protection. God shelters us from harm and also empowers us to defeat our enemies.
The Hebrew Bible is a very big book – actually, 24 books, to be exact. Studying it can feel very overwhelming. Where do you start?
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