The big picture
David's song makes the Book of 2 Samuel sound suddenly larger than the court, the battlefield, or the family crisis. He remembers danger as waves, snares, darkness, violent men, and enemies too strong for him, then answers every enclosure with a LORD who is rock, fortress, shield, tower, refuge, and savior. One cry sets earth and heaven trembling in the poem's imagery, and the same God who seems to bend the skies reaches down to draw David into a "large place." The song is intensely personal without making David self-sufficient. God lights his darkness, steadies his feet, teaches his hands, gives him strength, and makes victory possible. Even the hard military language remains framed by dependence. The difficult claims of righteousness stand beside the sins the book has already exposed, so they cannot be read as a claim of flawless life. The song ends by carrying mercy beyond completed battles to David's seed and the enduring promise attached to his house.
Central truth
The closing accounts show a kingdom preserved through wise intervention, costly reckonings, and loyal defenders, while David's song locates his deliverance and enduring hope in the Lord.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
2 Samuel 22:1: “And David spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of…”
Slow down at the turning point
2 Samuel 22:25: “Therefore the LORD hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight.”
Keep this word trail visible
LORD, delivered, enemies, feet, rock, high
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
2 Samuel 20:1-13
Another revolt and another murder
Begin with Sheba's cry, “We have no part in David” (20:1), which grows straight out of the quarrel of 19:43. Then read 20:3 with care: David shuts up the ten concubines for the rest of their lives. Explain that they are the women abused in 16:22, and that the text records their fate without comment. Then Amasa is slow (20:5), Abishai is sent, and Joab murders Amasa at Gibeon with a greeting and a kiss. Teach this first to show that the restored kingdom is still marked by violence and by people paying for others' sins.
2 Samuel 20:14-26
The wise woman of Abel
Read the siege in 20:15 and then the woman's call from the wall. Point out how she speaks: she makes Joab identify himself, insists he listen, reminds him of Abel's tradition of settling matters by counsel, and names the city a mother in Israel. Joab's answer, “Far be it, far be it from me”, shows she has shamed him. She negotiates, persuades her people, and the siege ends with one rebel's death instead of a city's. Read the officials of 20:23-26 briefly. Teach this step to show wisdom stopping wholesale violence.
2 Samuel 21:1-9
A broken oath and seven sons
Explain the background first: Israel swore to let the Gibeonites live in Joshua 9:15-19, and Saul broke that oath. Read the LORD's diagnosis in 21:1, then the Gibeonites' refusal of money and their demand. Read 21:7 and note that David keeps his own oath to Jonathan. Explain that 21:8 names Michal, while 1 Samuel 18:19 says Merab married Adriel; many manuscripts and translations read Merab. Then read 21:9 plainly. This is one of the hardest passages in the book; tell the class so, and let Deuteronomy 24:16 stand beside it unresolved.
2 Samuel 21:10-14
Rizpah on the rock
Slow down here. Rizpah, Saul's concubine, whom Abner and Ish-bosheth quarrelled over in 3:7, spreads sackcloth on the rock and guards the bodies through the whole dry season, keeping off birds and beasts. Explain that leaving bodies unburied was a deep disgrace (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). Her vigil moves David to gather the bones of Saul and Jonathan from Jabesh-gilead and bury the whole family together. Teach this step as the centre of chapter 21: a grieving mother's faithfulness that calls a king to finish what he had neglected.
2 Samuel 21:15-22
A king who needs rescuing
Read 21:15-17 with attention to the words “David waxed faint”. Ishbi-benob, with a spear of three hundred shekels, nearly kills him; Abishai saves him. His men protect the “light of Israel” by keeping him from battle. Then read the four short giant accounts. Explain 21:19: the King James adds “the brother of”, following 1 Chronicles 20:5, which names Lahmi. Teach this step to show the shift from the young David who faced Goliath alone to the old king who must be carried by others.
2 Samuel 22:1-20
The LORD is my rock
Read 22:1 as the song's setting: a lifetime of deliverance, including from Saul. Then read 22:2-4 and list the images: rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn, tower, refuge. Read 22:5-7 as distress and a cry, and 22:8-16 as the LORD coming down in storm and earthquake. Explain that the imagery is poetic, describing God's power to rescue. Then 22:17-20: “he drew me out of many waters”. Show the class that Psalm 18 is almost the same song. Teach this to give the book's closing chapters their centre: God the deliverer.
2 Samuel 22:21-51
Righteousness, mercy and an anointed king
Read 22:21-25 honestly and ask how David can claim clean hands after chapter 11. Explain that the song looks back on a lifetime, that it may first have been sung before chapter 11, and that 1 Kings 15:5 itself names the exception of Uriah. Then 22:26-28: God shows himself according to how people act, saving the afflicted. Read 22:29-37 and 22:47-51 as praise. End on 22:51: mercy “to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore”, which recalls the promise of chapter 7. Teach this last as the book's own summary of grace.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
“The famine shows that God punishes children for their fathers' sins.”
The text says the famine was “for Saul, and for his bloody house” (21:1), because an oath sworn in the LORD's name had been broken. The Gibeonites chose the remedy, and David consented. Deuteronomy 24:16 forbids putting children to death for their fathers, and readers have long wrestled with how this passage fits. Do not explain the difficulty away. Let the class see a broken oath with real consequences, and let the hard question remain open.
“The rain came because the seven men were killed.”
Read the order in 21:10-14. The executions happen at the beginning of harvest; Rizpah keeps her vigil; David hears of it and gathers the bones of Saul, Jonathan and the hanged men for burial in the family tomb. “And after that God was intreated for the land” (21:14). The text places the turning point after the burial, not straight after the deaths. Teach that Rizpah's faithfulness and the proper burial are part of how the account ends.
“David claims he was sinless, so he must have forgotten Bathsheba.”
The song's claims in 22:21-25 are about a life lived toward the LORD, and many hold that it was first sung earlier, as 22:1 suggests. The Book of 2 Samuel places it here, after chapters 11 and 12, so the reader cannot forget. 1 Kings 15:5 says David did right “save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite”. Hold both: a man truly devoted to the LORD, and a man who sinned grievously and was forgiven.
“Joab was a loyal general who did what was needed.”
Joab saved David more than once, and he served faithfully in battle. But he murdered Abner (3:27), killed Absalom against orders (18:14), and now murders Amasa with a kiss (20:9-10). David names his guilt in 1 Kings 2:5. Teach that loyalty to a cause does not justify killing rivals, and notice how the text shows the people stopping in horror at Amasa's body (20:12) until it is hidden.
Learning objectives
- Explain how the wise woman prevents Abel's destruction.
- Identify the continuing costs of royal violence.
- Distinguish the famine's named cause from the negotiated response.
- Describe Rizpah's vigil and its effect on David.
- Recognize David's dependence on fellow warriors.
- Interpret the deliverance song without declaring David sinless.
Teacher preparation
- Assign 20:1-22:51 beforehand; divide the material into rebellion, famine and burials, Philistine battles, and the song.
- Prepare Joshua 9:15-20 and Deuteronomy 24:16; name the tension between oath-breaking, corporate consequences, and individual responsibility.
- Distinguish Jonathan's son Mephibosheth in 21:7 from Rizpah's son in 21:8; retain the KJV's wording about Michal bringing up Adriel's sons.
- Explain 'prevented' in 22:6,19 as met or confronted, and 'buckler' in 22:31 as a shield.
- Select non-graphic readings of the killings; do not make Rizpah's grief, the concubines' confinement, or Amasa's death disposable transitions.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
State that the woman negotiates the siege's end in 20:16-22 and that 21:1 explicitly attributes the famine to Saul's killing of Gibeonites.
Scripture-supported
Read 21:2 with Joshua 9:15-20: Saul's campaign violates a sworn protection, not merely an informal relationship.
Strong inference
Infer that Rizpah's vigil moves the burial issue into royal attention from the report to David in 21:11 and his actions in 21:12-14.
Possible or traditional reading
Present David's righteousness in 22:21-25 as a claim about faithful conduct in relation to deliverance, not proof of lifelong sinlessness; compare 12:13.
Limit
Do not claim 21:1 commands the execution of seven descendants; the demand comes from the Gibeonites in 21:6 and David agrees.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. How does the wise woman distinguish Abel from the rebel sheltered there?
What a good answer contains
She separates the city from the man. She reminds Joab of Abel's reputation for counsel (20:18), then says, “I am one of them that are peaceable and faithful in Israel: thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel: why wilt thou swallow up the inheritance of the LORD?” (20:19). Joab answers that he wants one man only, “deliver him only, and I will depart from the city” (20:21). A good answer sees that her questions draw out a precise demand that saves the city. A weak answer misses that her words, not the battering ram, end the siege.
Show teacher guidance
Read 20:19-21: she names a peaceable city and the Lord's inheritance, then draws out Joab's specific demand. Do not celebrate indiscriminate destruction.
2. What costs remain visible before Joab reaches Abel?
What a good answer contains
Two. The ten concubines are shut up “unto the day of their death, living in widowhood” (20:3), women harmed in chapter 16 and now kept apart for life. And Joab murders Amasa, greeting him, “Art thou in health, my brother?”, taking his beard as if to kiss him and stabbing him (20:9-10). Amasa lies wallowing in blood until a cloth is thrown over him (20:12). A good answer names both costs. A weak answer moves straight to the pursuit of Sheba, as the soldiers did once the body was hidden.
Show teacher guidance
Name the concubines' confinement in 20:3 and Amasa's killing in 20:9-13. The restored regime is not a clean slate.
3. Which parts of the famine response are attributed to God, the Gibeonites, and David?
What a good answer contains
The diagnosis comes from the LORD: “It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites” (21:1). The request comes from the Gibeonites: they refuse silver and ask for seven of Saul's sons (21:4-6). The consent is David's: “I will give them” (21:6), sparing Mephibosheth for the oath with Jonathan (21:7). A good answer keeps these three apart and does not claim God commanded the executions, since the text does not say so. A weak answer merges them into one divine order.
Show teacher guidance
Separate the diagnosis in 21:1 from the request and consent in 21:3-9. Preserve that distinction when considering the difficult executions.
4. What does Rizpah do that the royal proceedings had not completed?
What a good answer contains
She keeps watch over the bodies of her sons and the others for weeks, on sackcloth on the rock, “from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven”, keeping off birds by day and beasts by night (21:10). When David hears, he gathers the bones of Saul and Jonathan and buries them with the hanged men in the family tomb (21:12-14). Only then, “after that God was intreated for the land” (21:14). A good answer puts Rizpah's grief and faithfulness at the centre. A weak answer remembers only the rain.
Show teacher guidance
Trace 21:10-14: she guards the exposed bodies, David hears, and proper burial follows. Keep her costly attention central, not merely the returning rain.
5. What changes when David grows faint against the Philistines?
What a good answer contains
David is no longer the young champion. He “waxed faint” (21:15), a giant almost kills him, and “Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him” (21:17). His men swear he will not go out to battle again, “that thou quench not the light of Israel” (21:17). Then four more giants fall at the hands of others, Sibbechai, Elhanan and Jonathan (21:18-21). A good answer sees that Israel's survival depends on many servants, not on one hero. A weak answer reads this as David's failure rather than as a king learning to be helped.
Show teacher guidance
Use 21:15-22: Abishai rescues him, the men restrict his fighting, and others defeat formidable opponents. Israel's preservation does not require David's invulnerability.
6. How does David's song describe the source and purpose of his deliverance?
What a good answer contains
The source is the LORD: “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer” (22:2), who heard “out of his temple” (22:7), came down, and “drew me out of many waters” (22:17), “because he delighted in me” (22:20). The claims of righteousness in 22:21-25 must be read beside chapter 11 and 12:13; 1 Kings 15:5 makes the same exception, “save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite”. The purpose is praise among the nations (22:50) and mercy “to his seed for evermore” (22:51). A good answer holds all three.
Show teacher guidance
Trace rock and rescue in 22:2-20, moral claims in 22:21-28, and enduring mercy in 22:51. Read the righteousness claims beside his recorded confession.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Evaluate a fictional leader who mistakes accepting necessary help for failure, using David's rescue in 21:15-17.
Relationships and community
Ask how a community can recognize people whose patient care, like Rizpah's, exposes neglected duties.
Wisdom before devastation
Use the woman's specific questions at Abel to design a nonviolent way of separating a disputed problem from an entire community.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
A kingdom fractures again
Read 20:1-13. Take question two.
The voice above the wall
Read 20:14-22. Take question one.
Oath, famine and Rizpah
Read 21:1-14, reading 21:9 plainly and then slowing at 21:10. Take questions three and four and confusions one and two.
The king needs rescuing
Read 21:15-17. Take question five.
The deliverance song
Read 22:1-7, 22:17-25 and 22:47-51. Take question six and confusion three.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together and give out the handout. Pray using the images of 22:2-3.
90 minutes
We have no part
Read 19:43 and 20:1-3. Ask what the quarrel led to. Take the concubines' fate seriously and briefly.
Amasa on the highway
Read 20:4-13. Take question two and confusion four.
A mother in Israel
Read 20:14-26. Take question one and note what the woman did with her words.
A broken oath
Read Joshua 9:15-19, then 21:1-9. Take question three and confusion one, with Deuteronomy 24:16 read alongside.
Rizpah
Read 21:10-14 and 3:7. Take question four and confusion two. Ask what her vigil demanded of her.
Giants and a faint king
Read 21:15-22. Take question five and explain 21:19 with 1 Chronicles 20:5.
The song
Read chapter 22 in parts, with Psalm 18 open beside it. Take question six and confusion three, with 1 Kings 15:5.
Response
Use the application on patient care that exposes neglected duties. Name someone like Rizpah the group could honour.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, point to the take-home line, and pray the opening lines of the song.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Skip the killings of chapters 20 and 21 for young children. Tell them about the wise woman who called from the city wall and saved her whole town by talking instead of fighting. Then tell them that when David was old and tired, his friend Abishai rescued him. Make a rock out of a cushion and read 22:2, “The LORD is my rock”, and let each child stand on it.
Youth
Ask young people about a time words stopped a fight, then read 20:16-22. Spend time on Rizpah, a mother who would not leave her sons, and ask what faithfulness looks like when nothing can be fixed. Read 21:15-17 and talk about accepting help. Be honest that 21:1-9 is hard and that you will not pretend otherwise. Read the song aloud together as a group.
Adults
Give real time to 21:1-14 and let the group voice its discomfort. Compare Joshua 9 and Deuteronomy 24:16 and do not force a resolution. Discuss Rizpah as an example of persistent care that moves the powerful to act. Read 22:21-25 beside 1 Kings 15:5, and talk about how a life can be both faithful and flawed. Notice the women of chapter 20, the concubines and the wise woman, and how differently they are treated.
One to one
Read 22:2-7 together and ask the person when they last called on God in distress. Let them answer before you read 22:17-20. If they are grieving a loss that cannot be fixed, read 21:10 and let Rizpah's faithfulness speak without explanation. If they feel too weak to carry what they once carried, read 21:15-17 and talk about who might be their Abishai.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
2 Samuel 20:1–22:51
The passage in brief
Sheba leads another revolt, and Joab murders Amasa before pursuing Sheba to the city of Abel. A wise woman on the wall saves her city by negotiating with Joab. A famine is traced to Saul's broken oath with the Gibeonites, seven of Saul's descendants are put to death, and Rizpah keeps watch over their bodies until David buries them with Saul and Jonathan. David grows faint in battle and is rescued. Then he sings a song of praise: the LORD is his rock and deliverer.
A verse to keep
And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
2 Samuel 22:2-3 · King James Version
Questions to take home
How did the wise woman in 20:16-22 save her city?
What did Rizpah do in 21:10, and what did it lead David to do?
List three pictures of God that David uses in 22:2-3.
This week
This week, when you feel weak or afraid, pray the words of 22:2 aloud and name God as your rock.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
