2 Samuel — Chapter 22

And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. Lapide: this is Psalm 17 (18), set here in its historical context — composed after all David's victories. He refers the reader to his commentary on the Psalms where it is explained in full.

The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my saviour. Lapide notes this Eucharistic canticle opens with a long catalogue of divine names — \"rock, strength, salvation, refuge, shield, horn of salvation\" — showing the soul's total dependence on God and its joy in being delivered from all enemies.

In my distress I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple. Lapide: this verse is the model of confidence in prayer — God hears from His holy temple (heaven) and from the tabernacle (the Church). The prayer of the just in affliction is always heard.

With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the valiant thou wilt be valiant. Lapide: God conforms Himself to the dispositions of souls; the pure He reveals Himself pure to; the perverse He meets with severity. A principle of divine pedagogy: \"God deals with souls as they deal with Him.\"

Who giveth great salvation to his king, and sheweth mercy to David his anointed, and to his seed for ever. Lapide: the final verse of the canticle points directly to the eternal covenant — \"his seed for ever\" is ultimately Christ, of whom Solomon was only the proximate type. The \"anointed\" (christum) recalls the Messianic promise of chapter 7.