2 Samuel 22:1

¹Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the LORD,^[+] and said, “I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.

¹Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,

¹In that day you will say, “I will give thanks to you, the LORD;^[+] for though you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you comfort me. ²Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD,^[+] the LORD,^[+] is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.” ³Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation. ⁴In that day you will say, “Give thanks to the LORD! Call on his name! Declare his doings among the peoples! Proclaim that his name is exalted! ⁵Sing to the LORD, for he has done excellent things! Let this be known in all the earth! ⁶Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion, for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”

⁹After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could count, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰They cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

¹¹All the angels were standing around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before his throne, and worshiped God, ¹²saying, “Amen! Blessing, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might, be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

¹³One of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are arrayed in the white robes, who are they, and where did they come from?”

¹⁴I told him, “My lord, you know.” He said to me, “These are those who came out of the great suffering.^[+] They washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood.

¹⁵Therefore they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple. He who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. ¹⁶They will never be hungry or thirsty any more. The sun won’t beat on them, nor any heat; ¹⁷for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them and leads them to springs of life-giving waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

¹⁸And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.

¹Praise the LORD, my soul! All that is within me, praise his holy name! ²Praise the LORD, my soul, and don’t forget all his benefits, ³who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, ⁵who satisfies your desire with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. ⁶The LORD executes righteous acts, and justice for all who are oppressed.

^1[+] I love the LORD,^[+] because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy. ²Because he has turned his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live. ³The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol^[+] a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow. ⁴Then I called on the LORD’s name: “LORD, I beg you, deliver my soul.” ⁵The LORD is gracious and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful. ⁶The LORD preserves the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me. ⁷Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you. ⁸For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. ⁹I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. ¹⁰I believed, therefore I said, “I was greatly afflicted.” ¹¹I said in my haste, “All people are liars.” ¹²What will I give to the LORD for all his benefits toward me? ¹³I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the LORD’s name. ¹⁴I will pay my vows to the LORD, yes, in the presence of all his people. ¹⁵Precious in the LORD’s sight is the death of his saints. ¹⁶LORD, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant girl. You have freed me from my chains. ¹⁷I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call on the LORD’s name. ¹⁸I will pay my vows to the LORD, yes, in the presence of all his people, ¹⁹in the courts of the LORD’s house, in the middle of you, Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

¹I love you, LORD, my strength. ²The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower. ³I call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; and I am saved from my enemies. ⁴The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid. ⁵The cords of Sheol^[+] were around me. The snares of death came on me. ⁶In my distress I called on the LORD, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears. ⁷Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry. ⁸Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it. ⁹He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet. ¹⁰He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind. ¹¹He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. ¹²At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire. ¹³The LORD also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire. ¹⁴He sent out his arrows, and scattered them. He routed them with great lightning bolts. ¹⁵Then the channels of waters appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils. ¹⁶He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters. ¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. ¹⁸They came on me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. ¹⁹He brought me out also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me. ²⁰The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me. ²¹For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. ²²For all his ordinances were before me. I didn’t put away his statutes from me. ²³I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity. ²⁴Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight. ²⁵With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect. ²⁶With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd. ²⁷For you will save the afflicted people, but the arrogant eyes you will bring down. ²⁸For you will light my lamp, LORD. My God will light up my darkness. ²⁹For by you, I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall. ³⁰As for God, his way is perfect. The LORD’s word is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him. ³¹For who is God, except the LORD? Who is a rock, besides our God, ³²the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect? ³³He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and sets me on my high places. ³⁴He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze. ³⁵You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand sustains me. Your gentleness has made me great. ³⁶You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped. ³⁷I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. I won’t turn away until they are consumed. ³⁸I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. They shall fall under my feet. ³⁹For you have armed me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. ⁴⁰You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me. ⁴¹They cried, but there was no one to save; even to the LORD, but he didn’t answer them. ⁴²Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets. ⁴³You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me. ⁴⁴As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me. ⁴⁵The foreigners shall fade away, and shall come trembling out of their strongholds. ⁴⁶The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation, ⁴⁷even the God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me. ⁴⁸He rescues me from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man. ⁴⁹Therefore I will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations, and will sing praises to your name. ⁵⁰He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring,^[+] more.

¹⁴David stayed in the wilderness in the strongholds, and remained in the hill country in the wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God didn’t deliver him into his hand.