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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.
2 Samuel 22:3 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB God is my rock in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge. My savior, you save me from violence.
  • KJV 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.
  • BSB My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold, my refuge, and my Savior, You save me from violence.
  • NKJV The God of my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, My stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence.
  • NLT my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence.

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

David multiplies titles for God as his rock, shield, horn of salvation, and high tower who saves him from violence. Every defense and rescue he knows is found in the LORD.

Overview

The rich cluster of metaphors portrays God as both shelter and saving power, the "horn of salvation" picturing strong, victorious deliverance. David takes refuge in God alone against all threats. The very phrase "horn of salvation" is later applied to Christ (Luke 1:69), in whom this saving strength is fully revealed.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 40

  • Ps 9:9Yahweh will also be a high tower for the oppressed; a high tower in times of trouble.
  • Isa 12:2Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation.”
  • Prov 18:10Yahweh’s name is a strong tower: the righteous run to him, and are safe.
  • Ps 18:2Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
  • Prov 30:5“Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
  • Deut 33:29You are happy, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.”
  • Ps 46:11Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
  • Ps 115:9–11Israel, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield.
  • Gen 15:1After these things Yahweh’s word came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
  • Ps 144:2my loving kindness, my fortress, my high tower, my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge; who subdues my people under me.
  • Ps 14:6You frustrate the plan of the poor, because Yahweh is his refuge.
  • Heb 2:13Again, “I will put my trust in him.” Again, “Behold, here I am with the children whom God has given me.”
  • Luke 1:69and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David
  • Ps 59:16But I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower, a refuge in the day of my distress.
  • Ps 46:7Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
  • Ps 55:9Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
  • Isa 32:2A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the storm, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a large rock in a weary land.
  • Ps 140:4Yahweh, keep me from the hands of the wicked. Preserve me from the violent men who have determined to trip my feet.
  • Jer 16:19Yahweh, my strength, and my stronghold, and my refuge in the day of affliction, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth, and shall say, “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, vanity and things in which there is no profit.
  • Ps 86:14God, the proud have risen up against me. A company of violent men have sought after my soul, and they don’t hold regard for you before them.
  • Deut 32:37He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge;
  • Ps 28:7Yahweh is my strength and my shield. My heart has trusted in him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart greatly rejoices. With my song I will thank him.
  • Ps 84:9Behold, God our shield, look at the face of your anointed.
  • Ps 72:14He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence. Their blood will be precious in his sight.
  • Ps 61:3For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.
  • Ps 84:11For Yahweh God is a sun and a shield. Yahweh will give grace and glory. He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly.
  • 2 Sam 22:49who brings me away from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man.
  • Ps 27:5For in the day of trouble he will keep me secretly in his pavilion. In the covert of his tabernacle he will hide me. He will lift me up on a rock.
  • Ps 140:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. Deliver me, Yahweh, from the evil man. Preserve me from the violent man;
  • Ps 46:1For the Chief Musician. By the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
  • 2 Sam 22:51He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring, forever more.”
  • Ps 3:3But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me, my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
  • Ps 71:7I am a marvel to many, but you are my strong refuge.
  • Ps 5:12For you will bless the righteous. Yahweh, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.
  • Luke 1:71salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us;
  • Ps 140:11An evil speaker won’t be established in the earth. Evil will hunt the violent man to overthrow him.
  • 1 Sam 2:1Hannah prayed, and said: “My heart exults in Yahweh! My horn is exalted in Yahweh. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.
  • Ps 32:7You are my hiding place. You will preserve me from trouble. You will surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.
  • Luke 1:47My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,
  • Titus 3:6whom he poured out on us richly, through Jesus Christ our Savior;

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (4)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 Samuel videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 Samuel 22:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 2 SamuelMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 22:3 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.