Psalms 18
1 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.
To the chief music-maker. Of the servant of the Lord, of David, who said the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord made him free from the hand of all his haters, and from the hand of Saul; and he said, I will give you my love, O Lord, my strength.
2 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.
The Lord is my Rock, my walled town, and my saviour; my God, my Rock, in him will I put my faith; my breastplate, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I call for help from the Lord who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.
I will send up my cry to the Lord, who is to be praised; so will I be made safe from those who are against me.
4 Ropes of death encircled me, surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
The cords of death were round me, and the seas of evil put me in fear.
The cords of hell were round me: the nets of death came on me. (Sheol h7585)
6 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.
In my trouble my voice went up to the Lord, and my cry to my God: my voice came to his hearing in his holy Temple, and my prayer came before him, even into his ears.
7 The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the mountains trembled, shaking because of his anger.
Then trouble and shock came on the earth; and the bases of the mountains were moved and shaking, because he was angry.
8 Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.
There went up a smoke from his nose, and a fire of destruction from his mouth: flames were lighted by it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
The heavens were bent, so that he might come down; and it was dark under his feet.
10 Riding on an angel he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
And he went in flight through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind.
11 He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.
He made the dark his secret place; his tent round him was the dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.
Before his shining light his dark clouds went past, raining ice and fire.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High sounded among the hailstones and burning coals.
The Lord made thunder in the heavens, and the voice of the Highest was sounding out: a rain of ice and fire.
14 He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.
He sent out his arrows, driving them in all directions; by his flames of fire they were troubled.
15 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.
Then the deep beds of the waters were seen, and the bases of the world were uncovered, because of your words of wrath, O Lord, because of the breath from your mouth.
16 He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He pulled me out of the deep water.
He sent from on high, he took me, pulling me out of great waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
He made me free from my strong hater, and from those who were against me, because they were stronger than I.
18 They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
They came on me in the day of my trouble; but the Lord was my support.
19 He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.
He took me out into a wide place; he was my saviour because he had delight in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
The Lord gives me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean before him.
21 For I have followed the Lord's ways; I have not sinned by turning away from my God.
For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not been turned away in sin from my God.
22 I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
For all his decisions were before me, and I did not put away his laws from me.
23 I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
And I was upright before him, and I kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
Because of this the Lord has given me the reward of my righteousness, because my hands are clean in his eyes.
25 You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,
On him who has mercy you will have mercy; to the upright you will be upright;
26 You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.
He who is holy will see that you are holy; but to the man whose way is not straight you will be a hard judge.
27 You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.
For you are the saviour of those who are in trouble; but eyes full of pride will be made low.
28 You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!
You, O Lord, will be my light; by you, my God, the dark will be made bright for me.
29 With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.
By your help I have made a way through the wall which was shutting me in; by the help of my God I have gone over a wall.
30 God's way is absolutely right. What the Lord says is trustworthy. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
As for God, his way is completely good; the word of the Lord is tested; he is a breastplate for all those who put their faith in him.
31 For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?
For who is God but the Lord? or who is a Rock but our God?
32 God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
God puts a strong band about me, guiding me in a straight way.
33 He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
He makes my feet like roes' feet, and puts me on high places.
34 He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
He makes my hands expert in war, so that a bow of brass is bent by my arms.
35 You protect me with the shield of your salvation; you support me with your powerful right hand; your help has made me great.
You have given me the breastplate of your salvation: your right hand has been my support, and your mercy has made me great.
36 You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
You have made my steps wide under me, so that my feet are kept from slipping.
37 I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
I go after my haters and overtake them; not turning back till they are all overcome.
38 I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
I will give them wounds, so that they are not able to get up: they are stretched under my feet.
39 You made me strong for battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel down before me.
For I have been armed by you with strength for the fight: you have made low under me those who come out against me.
40 You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
By you their backs are turned in flight, so that my haters are cut off.
41 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.
They were crying out, but there was no one to come to their help: even to the Lord, but he gave them no answer.
42 I ground them into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.
Then they were crushed as small as dust before the wind; they were drained out like the waste of the streets.
43 You rescued me from rebellious people; you made me ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
You have made me free from the fightings of the people; you have made me the head of the nations: a people of whom I had no knowledge will be my servants.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe before me.
From the time when my name comes to their ears they will be ruled by me: men of other countries will, with false hearts, put themselves under my authority.
45 They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
They will be wasting away, they will come out of their secret places shaking with fear.
46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
The Lord is living; praise be to my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be honoured.
47 God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,
It is God who sends punishment on my haters, and puts peoples under my rule.
48 he rescues me from those who hate me. You keep me safe from those who rebel against me, you save me from violent men.
He makes me free from my haters; I am lifted up over those who come up against me: you have made me free from the violent man.
49 That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
Because of this I will give you praise, O Lord, among the nations, and will make a song of praise to your name.
50 You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.
Great salvation does he give to his king; he has mercy on the king of his selection, David, and on his seed for ever.
