Journal

Please use one of the prompts below to get your journaling started.

• Explore your fears and what’s behind them.
• Write about a relational conflict you are experiencing.
• List out all that you are grateful for.
• Recall a significant reaction, conversation or event.

Bible Text: 2 Samuel 22:1-25 (ESV)

¹ And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ² He said,

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my   

    deliverer,

³   my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

    my shield, and the horn of my salvation,

    my stronghold and my refuge,

    my savior; you save me from violence.

⁴ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

    and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵ “For the waves of death encompassed me,

    the torrents of destruction assailed me;

⁶ the cords of Sheol entangled me;

    the snares of death confronted me.

⁷ “In my distress I called upon the Lord;

    to my God I called.

  From his temple he heard my voice,

    and my cry came to his ears.

⁸ “Then the earth reeled and rocked;

    the foundations of the heavens trembled

    and quaked, because he was angry.

⁹ Smoke went up from his nostrils,

    and devouring fire from his mouth;

    glowing coals flamed forth from him.

¹⁰ He bowed the heavens and came down;

    thick darkness was under his feet.

¹¹ He rode on a cherub and flew;

    he was seen on the wings of the wind.

¹² He made darkness around him his canopy,

    thick clouds, a gathering of water.

¹³ Out of the brightness before him

    coals of fire flamed forth.

¹⁴ The Lord thundered from heaven,

    and the Most High uttered his voice.

¹⁵ And he sent out arrows and scattered them;

    lightning, and routed them.

¹⁶ Then the channels of the sea were seen;

    the foundations of the world were laid bare,

at the rebuke of the Lord,

    at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷ “He sent from on high, he took me;

    he drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸ He rescued me from my strong enemy,

    from those who hated me,

    for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

    but the Lord was my support.

²⁰ He brought me out into a broad place;

    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

²¹ “The Lord dealt with me according to my

    righteousness;

    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

²² For I have kept the ways of the Lord

    and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²³ For all his rules were before me,

    and from his statutes I did not turn aside.

²⁴ I was blameless before him,

    and I kept myself from guilt.

²⁵ And the Lord has rewarded me according to my

    righteousness,

according to my cleanness in his sight.

Reflection Questions

2 Samuel 22:1-7

•       Think about the number and intensity of the actual situations that must have given rise to the varied expressions in vv. 5-6.  What relationship is there between the wide range of David’s difficulties and the extensive range of David’s description of what God has been to him?

•       Have I forfeited such fellowship with God by avoiding difficulties?

2 Samuel 22:8-20

• Reflection on the following words: “He sent from on high” (v.17), “he drew me out” (v. 17), “He rescued me” (v. 18), “the Lord was my support” (v. 19), and “he delighted in me” (v. 20).  How do these words describe what God has done (and is doing) in my life?

---

Prayer