Matthew Henry on 2 Samuel 22:2–end
Let us observe, in this song of praise,
I. How David adores God, and gives him the glory of his infinite perfections. There is none like him, nor any to be compared with him (Sa2 22:32): Who is God, save the Lord? All others that are adored as deities are counterfeits and pretenders. None is to be relied on but he. Who is a rock, save our God? They are dead, but the Lord liveth, Sa2 22:47. They disappoint their worshippers when they most need them. But as for God his way is perfect, Sa2 22:31. Men begin in kindness, but end not - promise, but perform not; but God will finish his work, and his word is tried, and what we may trust.
II. How he triumphs in the interest he has in this God, and hi…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on 2 Samuel 22:11
He rode upon a cherub, and did fly - he was seen upon the things of the wind - In the original of this sublime passage, sense and sound are astonishingly well connected. I shall insert the Hebrew, represent it in English letters for the sake of the unlearned reader, and have only to observe, he must read from the right to the left.
רוח כנפי על וירא ויעף כרוב על וירכב ruach canphey al vaiyera vaiyaoph kerub al vayirkab wind the of wings the upon seen was he and; fly did and cherub upon rode he
The clap of the wing, the agitation and rush through the air are expressed here in a very extraordinary manner.
Other beauties of this kind will be noted in the exposition of the Psalm alluded to abov…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on 2 Samuel 22:12
And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters,
and thick clouds of the skies. See Gill on Psalm 18:11.
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Samuel 22:11-12
11 He rode upon a cherub and flew hither,
And appeared upon the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness round about Him as pavilions,
Water-gathering, thick clouds.
13 Out of the splendour before Him
Burned red-hot coals of fire.
These three verses are a further expansion of Sa2 22:19, and Sa2 22:11 of Sa2 22:10. The cherub is not a personified earthly creature, for cherubim are angels around the throne of God (see at Gen 3:22). The poetical figure "riding upon the cherub" is borrowed from the fact that God was enthroned between the two cherubim upon the lid of the ark of the covenant, and above their outspread wings (Exo 25:20-21). As the idea of His "dwelling between the cherubim" (Sa2 6:2;…
