Psalms 18
1 Unto the end. For David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this canticle to the Lord, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said: I will love you, O Lord my strength.
For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my liberator. My God is my helper, and I hope in him: my protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 Praising, I will call upon the Lord. And I will be saved from my enemies.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. (Sheol h7585)
6 In my tribulation, I called upon the Lord, and I cried out to my God. And he listened to my voice from his holy temple. And my cry in his presence entered into his ears.
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
7 The earth was shaken, and it trembled. The foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and they were shaken, because he was angry with them.
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
8 A smoke ascended by his wrath, and a fire flared up from his face: coals were kindled by it.
Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.
9 He bent the heavens, and they descended. And darkness was under his feet.
He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
10 And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew: he flew upon the feathers of the winds.
He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
11 And he set darkness as his hiding place, with his tabernacle all around him: dark waters in the clouds of the air.
He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
12 At the brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by, with hail and coals of fire.
From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced— hailstones and coals of fire.
13 And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire.
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded— hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent forth his arrows and scattered them. He multiplied lightnings, and he set them in disarray.
He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.
15 Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were revealed, by your rebuke, O Lord, by the inspiration of the Spirit of your wrath.
The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from on high, and he accepted me. And he took me up, out of many waters.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my strongest enemies, and from those who hated me. For they had been too strong for me.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from foes too mighty for me.
18 They intercepted me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my protector.
They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.
19 And he led me out, into a wide place. He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me.
He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
20 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice, and he will repay me according to the purity of my hands.
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.
21 For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, and I have not behaved impiously before my God.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his judgments are in my sight, and his justice, I have not pushed away from me.
For all His ordinances are before me; I have not disregarded His statutes.
23 And I will be immaculate together with him, and I will keep myself from my iniquity.
And I have been blameless before Him and kept myself from iniquity.
24 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25 With the holy, you will be holy, and with the innocent, you will be innocent,
To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
26 and with the elect, you will be elect, and with the perverse, you will be perverse.
to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
27 For you will save the humble people, but you will bring down the eyes of the arrogant.
For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.
28 For you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. My God, enlighten my darkness.
For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.
29 For in you, I will be delivered from temptation; and with my God, I will climb over a wall.
For in You I can charge an army, and with my God I can scale a wall.
30 As for my God, his way is undefiled. The eloquence of the Lord has been examined by fire. He is the protector of all who hope in him.
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God, except the Lord? And who is God, except our God?
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who has wrapped me with virtue and made my way immaculate.
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear.
33 It is he who has perfected my feet, like the feet of deer, and who stations me upon the heights.
He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.
34 It is he who trains my hands for battle. And you have set my arms like a bow of brass.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 And you have given me the protection of your salvation. And your right hand sustains me. And your discipline has corrected me unto the end. And your discipline itself will teach me.
You have given me Your shield of salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your gentleness exalts me.
36 You have expanded my footsteps under me, and my tracks have not been weakened.
You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.
37 I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them. And I will not turn back until they have failed.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.
38 I will break them, and they will not be able to stand. They will fall under my feet.
I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.
39 And you have wrapped me with virtue for the battle. And those rising up against me, you have subdued under me.
You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.
40 And you have given the back of my enemies to me, and you have destroyed those who hated me.
You have made my enemies retreat before me; I put an end to those who hated me.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save them, to the Lord, but he did not heed them.
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but He did not answer.
42 And I will crush them into dust before the face of the wind, so that I will obliterate them like the mud in the streets.
I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
43 You will rescue me from the contradictions of the people. You will set me at the head of the Gentiles.
You have delivered me from the strife of the people; You have made me the head of nations; a people I had not known shall serve me.
44 A people I did not know has served me. As soon as their ears heard, they were obedient to me.
When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.
45 The sons of foreigners have been deceitful to me, the sons of foreigners have grown weak with time, and they have wavered from their paths.
Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, and may the God of my salvation be exalted:
The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! And may the God of my salvation be exalted—
47 O God, who vindicates me and who subdues the people under me, my liberator from my enraged enemies.
the God who avenges me and subdues nations beneath me,
48 And you will exalt me above those who rise up against me. From the iniquitous man, you will rescue me.
who delivers me from my enemies. You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.
49 Because of this, O Lord, I will confess to you among the nations, and I will compose a psalm to your name:
Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name.
50 magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring, even for all time.
Great salvation He brings to His king. He shows loving devotion to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
