I have memorized Psalm 18, so I recognized right away that 2 Samuel 22 is Psalm 18.

I feel like we could do a lot of lessons on this psalm. It contains some classics like, “I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised and so shall I be saved from my enemies.” And “He makes my feet like hind’s (deer) feet and sets me upon my high places.”

In this song, David tells the story of how God gets angry when His child is in distress and calls to Him. He bows the heavens and comes down scattering His child’s enemies with lightening and hailstones.

He displays His great power with His child’s enemies. He displays His delight and gentleness with His child.

David says he was saved because God had delighted in Him. David says God’s gentleness made Him great. That line is intriguing to me. God’s gentleness made David great. I wondered what that meant?

I looked up the Hebrew word for gentleness. The first word Strong’s gives for a definition is condescension. That made me think of Jesus coming down to us. Even in this song, God bows the heavens to come down and defend David. He comes down to help His people. He’s involved. He doesn’t watch from a distance.

The Hebrew word translated gentleness is only ever translated with two other words: humility and meekness. We are made great because of God’s humility.

What a humbling thought. We are honored and exalted, seated in the heavenly places because Jesus left His seat to humble Himself to become a helpless baby of a poor family.

Now Jesus is again seated at the right hand of the Father because His work is finished. And so, He will raise us to rule with Him.

Lord, may we honor you with humility that exalts both you and other believers. May we never think of exalting ourselves but only the name of Jesus.