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 Musician. [A Psalm] of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said, I will love thee, O Jehovah, 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.
Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, 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 call upon Jehovah, who is to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
4 Ropes of death encircled me, surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
The bands of death encompassed me, and torrents of Belial made me afraid.
The bands of Sheol surrounded me, the cords of death encountered 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 distress I called upon Jehovah, and I cried out to my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the mountains trembled, shaking because of his anger.
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because he was wroth.
8 Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals burned forth from it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
And he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
10 Riding on an angel he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
And he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind.
11 He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.
He made darkness his secret place, his tent round about him: darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.
From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed forth: hail and coals of fire.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High sounded among the hailstones and burning coals.
And Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire.
14 He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.
And he sent his arrows, and scattered [mine enemies]; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.
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.
And the beds of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at thy rebuke, Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16 He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He pulled me out of the deep water.
He reached forth from above, he took me, he drew 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 delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were mightier than I.
18 They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
They encountered me in the day of my calamity, but Jehovah was my stay.
19 He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.
And he brought me forth into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
Jehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
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 Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
For all his ordinances were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me;
23 I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
And I was upright with him, and kept myself from mine iniquity.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
And Jehovah hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,
With the gracious thou dost shew thyself gracious; with the upright man thou dost shew thyself upright;
26 You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.
With the pure thou dost shew thyself pure; and with the perverse thou dost shew thyself contrary.
27 You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.
For it is thou that savest the afflicted people; but the haughty eyes wilt thou bring down.
28 You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!
For it is thou that makest my lamp to shine: Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness.
29 With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.
For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped 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 perfect; the word of Jehovah is tried: he is a shield to all that trust in him.
31 For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?
For who is God save Jehovah? and who is a rock if not our God?
32 God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
The God who girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect,
33 He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
Who maketh my feet like hinds' [feet], and setteth me upon my high places;
34 He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
Who teacheth my hands to war, and mine arms bend a bow of brass;
35 You protect me with the shield of your salvation; you support me with your powerful right hand; your help has made me great.
And thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand held me up; and thy condescending gentleness hath made me great.
36 You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
Thou didst enlarge my steps under me, and mine ankles have not wavered.
37 I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
I pursued mine enemies, and overtook them; and I turned not again till they were consumed.
38 I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
I crushed them, and they were not able to rise: they fell under my feet.
39 You made me strong for battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel down before me.
And thou girdedst me with strength to battle; thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me.
40 You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, and those that hated me I destroyed.
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 cried, and there was none to save; — unto Jehovah, and he answered them not.
42 I ground them into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.
And I did beat them small as dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.
43 You rescued me from rebellious people; you made me ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; thou hast made me the head of the nations: a people I knew not doth serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe before me.
At the hearing of the ear, they obey me: strangers come cringing unto me.
45 They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
Strangers have faded away, and they come trembling forth from their close places.
46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
Jehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation,
47 God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,
The God who hath avenged me, and hath subjected the peoples to me;
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.
Who hath delivered me from mine enemies: yea, thou hast lifted me up above them that rose up against me; from the man of violence hast thou delivered me.
49 That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, and will sing psalms to thy name.
50 You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.
[It is he] who giveth great deliverances to his king, and sheweth loving-kindness to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
