Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Samuel 22:51

"Great deliverance giveth he to his king, And showeth lovingkindness to his anointed, To David and to his seed, for evermore." — 2 Samuel 22:51 (ASV)

He is the tower of salvation. —This translation follows the margin of the Hebrew. The text is found in the ancient versions and in Psalms 18:50. Great deliverance giveth he. The difference in the original between the consonants of the two words is extremely slight.

This brief review of these two recensions of this magnificent hymn is instructive. It shows that Providence has dealt with the manuscripts of the Old Testament, much as with those of the New, securing them during the long succession of ages from all substantial error. However, this divine oversight did not so completely override ordinary human action as to prevent mere slips of the pen from sometimes creeping in. Consequently, care and diligence are required to ascertain precisely what was originally written. Sometimes, perhaps in the merest minutiae, the original form may thus be left uncertain.

The Psalm is a grand anthem of thanksgiving by David for the many mercies he had received—a full and confident expression of his trust in God under all circumstances, and of his well-assured hope in the fulfilment of the Divine promise of the perpetuity of his kingdom through the coming of Him in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed.