You have given me Your shield of salvation, and Your gentleness exalts me.
Parallel translations
- WEB You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your gentleness has made me great.
- KJV Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.
- NKJV “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your gentleness has made me great.
- NASB “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your help makes me great.
- NLT You have given me your shield of victory; your help has made me great.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God gives David the shield of his salvation, and his gentleness makes David great. Divine protection and condescending kindness lift David up.
Overview
David acknowledges that his protection and his very greatness are gifts of God's saving care and gracious humility toward him. Remarkably, it is God's gentleness, his stooping condescension, that exalts the king. This anticipates the gospel paradox that God's gracious humility, supremely in Christ, is what truly lifts us up.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Eph 6:16In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
- Ps 84:11For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
- Ps 115:14May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children.
- Ps 18:35You have given me Your shield of salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your gentleness exalts me.
- Gen 22:17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Gen 15:1After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
- Gen 12:2I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 22:36 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.