God as a Rock

HaShem, my Rock!                                                                 by Israel365

He said: Hashem, my crag, my fastness, my deliverer!

II – Samuel 22:2

O Hashem, the rock wherein I take shelter: My shield, my mighty champion, my fortress and refuge! My savior, You who rescue me from violence!

II – Samuel 22:3

All praise! I called on Hashem, And I was delivered from my enemies.

II – Samuel 22:4

These verses are the opening of a poem sung by David as praise to God in the aftermath of his survival from the attacks of King Saul. This song of praise is repeated, almost identically, in Psalm 18.

He said: I adore you, Hashem, my strength,

Psalms 18:2

Hashem, my crag, my fortress, my rescuer, my God, my rock in whom I seek refuge, my shield, my mighty Champion, my haven.

Psalms 18:3

In these verses we see a list of praises of God that seem somewhat repetitive. This is common in poetic passages in the Bible, especially those that praise God. Effusive praise often involves repeating the same ideas in a variety of ways. That said, a careful reading of these verses reveals that rather than merely effusively repeating, there is a subtle progression of ideas.

First, the passage includes two different words translated here as “rock.” The first time “rock” appears, the Hebrew word is sela. This is not the same as the word selah, familiar to readers of Psalms as a common end to a section of a psalm. This sela is spelled differently. Sela, meaning “rock” is quite common in the Bible, appearing over 50 times. For example, when Moses drew water from the rock in the Sinai desert, the Hebrew word for “rock” is sela. The second time we see the word “rock” here, the Hebrew word is tzur. This word for “rock” appears over 70 times in the Bible.

Here in Samuel 22, both words are used as metaphors for God. So, if both words mean “rock,” what is the difference between sela and tzur?

Tzur vs. Sela

In Exodus 4, on the way while traveling to Egypt, Moses’ wife Zipporah circumcised their son. 

At a night encampment on the way, Hashem encountered him and sought to kill him.

Exodus 4:24

The Hebrew word for “sharp stone” in this verse is tzur.  Similarly, in the book of Joshua, as preparation for entering the land, God commanded Joshua to circumcise the men of Israel who had not been circumcised during the journey in the desert due to the danger of travel.

At that time Hashem said to Yehoshua, “Make flint knives and proceed with a second circumcision of the Israelites.”

Joshua 5:2

The Hebrew for “knives” is charvot tzurim, literally, “swords (or blades) of stones.” 

From these two sources, we see that tzur refers to a very strong stone, strong enough to be used as a knife. 

Sela, on the other hand, is commonly used to imply a hiding place. For example:

Every one of them shall be Like a refuge from gales, A shelter from rainstorms; Like brooks of water in a desert, Like the shade of a massive rock In a languishing land.

Isaiah 32:2

“Take the loincloth which you bought, which is about your loins, and go at once to Perath and cover it up there in a cleft of the rock.”

Jeremiah 13:4

The high mountains are for wild goats; the crags are a refuge for rock-badgers.

Psalms 104:18

In all these verses, and many more, sela refers to a rock used for shelter or for a hiding place. 

Protection and empowerment

With this distinction between tzur and sela in mind, we can now see a progression in our passage. 

First David praises God for protecting him from harm. He refers to God as his sela, his “fortress,” and his “deliverer.” There is no mention of David’s enemies in this verse. He is thanking God for saving him by sheltering him from harm and nothing more. Then in the next verse, David refers to God as his tzur. Here, the implication is that of strength, even of triumph in battle. 

We see this progression in our verse from another interesting word as well. In the second verse, David refers to God as a “stronghold.” The word in Hebrew is misgav. The root of this word – SGV -means “strength.” A misgav is something that gives strength and support. The meaning here is that God empowers and gives strength to David to withstand his enemies.

To sum up, in these opening two verses of David’s song, first he praises God for providing him shelter and cover from harm. Then he praises God for empowering and strengthening him to withstand the attacks of his enemies.

Meriting God’s salvation

Finally, in the third verse, David makes an important point about how he merited God’s salvation.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.

The opening phrase of this verse in Hebrew is three words.

Mehulal praiseworthy - ekra I call Adonai the Lord

In other words, the verse should be translated as follows:

 I call the Lord praiseworthy; so shall I be saved from my enemies.

In other words, David is saying that he is saved by God in the merit of his praising God. By recognizing and calling out the fact that God is worthy of praise, by attributing all his strength to God, David opens himself up to be protected, saved, and empowered by God. It is important to note that David does say that he called upon the Lord, that he prayed to God to save him. He does not say that he cried out to God in distress. He praised Him. And by praising Him, David merited salvation.

By giving praise to God and recognizing His supreme sovereignty over our lives, we open ourselves up to His protection. God shelters us from harm and also empowers us to defeat our enemies.______________________________________