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.
To the music director. A psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who sang the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord saved him from all his enemies, and from Saul. He sang: I love you, Lord. You are 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 Savior. He is my God, my rock who protects me. He shields me from harm, his power protects me, he keeps me safe.
3 Praising, I will call upon the Lord. And I will be saved from my enemies.
I call for help from the Lord who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.
4 The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me.
Ropes of death encircled me, surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
The grave wound its ropes around me; death set snares for 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 despair I called on the Lord—I cried out to my God for help. He heard my voice from his Temple—my cry for 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.
The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the mountains trembled, shaking because of his anger.
8 A smoke ascended by his wrath, and a fire flared up from his face: coals were kindled by it.
Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.
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.
Riding on an angel he flew, swooping 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 hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.
12 At the brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by, with hail and coals of fire.
Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.
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 sounded among the hailstones and burning coals.
14 And he sent forth his arrows and scattered them. He multiplied lightnings, and he set them in disarray.
He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.
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.
You roared, Lord, and by the wind from the breath of your nostrils the valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth were uncovered.
16 He sent from on high, and he accepted me. And he took me up, out of many waters.
He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He pulled me out of the deep water.
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 enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
18 They intercepted me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my protector.
They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
19 And he led me out, into a wide place. He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me.
He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.
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 rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
21 For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, and I have not behaved impiously before my God.
For I have followed the Lord's ways; I have not sinned by turning away from my God.
22 For all his judgments are in my sight, and his justice, I have not pushed away from me.
I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
23 And I will be immaculate together with him, and I will keep myself from my iniquity.
I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
24 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
25 With the holy, you will be holy, and with the innocent, you will be innocent,
You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,
26 and with the elect, you will be elect, and with the perverse, you will be perverse.
You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.
27 For you will save the humble people, but you will bring down the eyes of the arrogant.
You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.
28 For you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. My God, enlighten my darkness.
You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!
29 For in you, I will be delivered from temptation; and with my God, I will climb over a wall.
With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress 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.
God's way is absolutely right. What the Lord says is trustworthy. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
31 For who is God, except the Lord? And who is God, except our God?
For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?
32 It is God who has wrapped me with virtue and made my way immaculate.
God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
33 It is he who has perfected my feet, like the feet of deer, and who stations me upon the heights.
He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
34 It is he who trains my hands for battle. And you have set my arms like a bow of brass.
He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
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 protect me with the shield of your salvation; you support me with your powerful right hand; your help has made me great.
36 You have expanded my footsteps under me, and my tracks have not been weakened.
You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
37 I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them. And I will not turn back until they have failed.
I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
38 I will break them, and they will not be able to stand. They will fall under my feet.
I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at 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 made me strong for battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel down before me.
40 And you have given the back of my enemies to me, and you have destroyed those who hated me.
You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
41 They cried out, but there was none to save them, to the Lord, but he did not heed them.
They cried out for help, but no one came to rescue them. They even called out to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
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 into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.
43 You will rescue me from the contradictions of the people. You will set me at the head of the Gentiles.
You rescued me from rebellious people; you made me ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
44 A people I did not know has served me. As soon as their ears heard, they were obedient to me.
As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe 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.
They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, and may the God of my salvation be exalted:
The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
47 O God, who vindicates me and who subdues the people under me, my liberator from my enraged enemies.
God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,
48 And you will exalt me above those who rise up against me. From the iniquitous man, you will rescue me.
he rescues me from those who hate me. You keep me safe from those who rebel against me, you save 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:
That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
50 magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring, even for all time.
You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.
