You can find this word in Genesis 1, when God created order out of Chaos, and in the Flood when God brought chaos into order. But now in II Sam 22: 5 - 18 the absolute power of God over elements is again forcefully reiterated. This is the frightening, and engulfing vortex from which David is rescued.
The point of this whole text, in contrast to surrounding Canaanite beliefs, is that our Jehovah is more powerful than all the chaos that can wipe us in a blink.
Tehom in Hebrew psychology is defined by the narrowing of space (II Sam 22: 5-6) and God's power is illustrated in a rescue that frees us to a spacious place (II Sam 22: 20). At some point or the other we have each been in life situations where we could have been completely wiped out. That this has not happened shows God's power over the Chaos enemy. And these are the defining moments where the righteous shall live by faith. It was this faith that guided David to great victories.
The next chapter, II Samuel 23, is about those 37 great warriors thru whom Israel's boundaries were expanded and protected. Could that much be accomplished by so little? But it did: Plain facts, overlooked, from mundane history.
Try, further, to understand this progression:
- Chapter 22: The Power of God
- Chapter 23: The Power of Few.
- Chapter 24: The Folly of Mega-numbers.
In spite of such blunt facts of scripture I still find people with the mega-mindset, asking me the dumb question -- "How many members are there in your church?" Nobody ever asked me the question, "How are the relationships in your church?" Nobody.
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