2nd Samuel 22:1-23:7: Oracle of King David; messianic parallels of David and Solomon

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This passage (2nd Sam. 22:1-23:7) is very similar to Psalm 18, and it’s the only psalm of David quoted in 2nd Samuel. 

Why is this psalm duplicated in this section? It seems misplaced at first, but the first sentence gives a clue (2nd Sam. 22:1).

This chapter is about Saul. Saul was not David’s enemy, but David was Saul’s enemy. That is why David did not kill Saul, even when he had the chance to do so. As far as David was concerned, Saul was his father in law and God’s anointed king. David actually killed those who gloated about killing Saul. 

Although there are many similarities between this text and Psalm 18, there are actually 75 mostly minor differences between the two. Most of the differences are of what you might call “direct association.” This text is written as David directly talking to God, while Psalm 18 is written as the reader talking to God with David’s words. 

Psalm 18 is probably an edited version of 2nd Samuel 22 text to be used as a praise song to encourage those who have overcome some difficulty in life. This text in 2nd Samuel 22 is more autobiographical and unique to David’s heart. 

David calls this text “my words,” which in the Hebrew is דִּבְרֵי divrei (Strong’s lexicon No. H1697). This is not solely an autobiographical text; it is also a prophetic text. This was written at the end of his life: after Saul, after the Philistines, after the giants and even after his own sons who had conspired against him. 

David’s life was a Messianic teaching tool. Just as David was freed from his enemies when he died, Messiah was freed from His enemy at His death, because Satan no longer had any control or influence over them. We, too, were set free from Satan with Yeshua’s death (Romans 3), but we are also freed from our enemies at the time of our own death when we no longer are affected by Satan’s influence in any way.

There are some allusions to the exodus from Egypt in this text but that is not what David is talking about.

In 2nd Samuel 1–21 David, the warrior king, the “bloody man” is shown as a precursor to Messiah’s first coming. We see the suffering king who ultimately dies.

After 2nd Samuel 22, David’s life is no longer a parallel to the Messiah’s. From this point on, Solomon is the Messianic figure. Solomon’s life was a life of wisdom and peace, ruling over his subjects and even bringing foreigners under his kingship without war. 

However, when Messiah came to Earth as the son of the virgin Miriam (Mary). Yeshua was not a “bloody man.” He told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world and He had no army. Yeshua was a rabbi, a wise, peaceful teacher, like Solomon.

When Messiah comes the second time, He is to be the conquering bloody man. It seems that God is mingling Messiah’s two comings in the lives of these two ancestors of Messiah and even switching the order.

It’s because David and Solomon are both charismatic individuals who point to one person. The Messiah’s life and death are too important and too big to be embodied in just one individual.

Some sages saw these two messianic roles and referred to a suffering, peaceful Mashiach ben Yosef (Messiah son of Joseph) and a conquering, ruling, glorious Mashiach ben David (Messiah son of David). People in Yerushalayim at the time of Yeshua’s death at Passover called Him “son of David” when He triumphantly entered the city on a donkey (Matt. 21:9).

In David’s life, we see that few people really had fear of the Lord. David was one of the few people who had fear of the Lord. The people feared David’s sword and the sword of his strong men more than then they feared God. 

When Solomon was king, he never was tested as a warrior. He never had to earn respect through battle. He was able to gain the fear and respect of the people through his wisdom, which was granted directly from God. 

We expect the Messiah to be more wise and peaceful than Solomon and more bloody and warrior-like than David. 

David points out that he is not the righteous ruler that he wanted to be, but God has promised that the righteous ruler who will ultimately overcome the godless will be a man in his family line. Messiah Yeshua is the descendant of David Who will ultimately remove all the godless people from the Earth. 

Reader: Jeff Quackenbush. Speaker: Daniel Agee. Summary: Tammy Quackenbush.