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This general truth is applied in 2Sa 22:28 to the congregation of God, in the contrast which it presents of humble and haughty, and is expounded from the conduct of God, as displayed in the history of Israel, towards these two classes of men, into which the nation was divided. In the psalm, therefore, we find אתּה כּי, for which the simple ו is substituted here, because the verse does not contain any actual reason for what goes before. עני עם, afflicted people, is used to denote the pious and depressed in the nation; רמים, the high, i.e., the haughty, or godless rich and mighty in the nation. תּשׁפּיל is to be taken as a relative: whom Thou humblest (see Ewald, §332, b.; and for the thought, Isa 2:11). In the psalm the unusual mode of expression in the second clause is changed into the more common phrase, “Thou bringest down high, i.e., proud looks” (cf. Pro 6:17; Pro 21:4; Pro 30:13; Psa 131:1, etc.). 2Sa 22:29 commences the description of the help which David had already received from God in his conflict with the enemies of Israel, and which he would still receive. 29  For Thou art my lamp, O Jehovah!
And Jehovah maketh my darkness bright. 30  For through Thee I run troops,
And through my God I leap walls. 31  God - innocent is His way.
The word of Jehovah is refined,
A shield is He to all who trust in Him.
The explanatory כּי, with which the new description of the divine mercy commences, refers to the thought implied in 2Sa 22:28, that David belonged to the “afflicted people,” whom the Lord always helps. As the Lord delivered him out of the danger of death, because He took pleasure in him, so He also gave him power over all his enemies. For He was his lamp, i.e., He had lifted him out of a condition of depression and contempt into one of glory and honour (see at 2Sa 21:17), and would still further enlighten his darkness, i.e., “would cause the light of His salvation to shine upon him and his tribe in all the darkness of their distress” (Hengstenberg). In the psalm the verse reads thus: “For Thou lightest (makest bright) my lamp (or candle), Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness;” the bold figure “Jehovah the lamp of David” being more literally explained. The figure is analogous to the one in Psa 27:1,