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.
I love thee, 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.
Jehovah is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I trust; My shield, my strong defence, 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 called upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And was delivered from my enemies.
4 Ropes of death encircled me, surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
The snares of death encompassed me; The floods of destruction filled me with dismay;
The snares of the underworld surrounded me, And the nets of death seized upon 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 the LORD, And cried unto my God; He heard my voice from his palace, 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 quaked and trembled; The foundations of the mountains rocked and were shaken, Because his wrath was kindled.
8 Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.
A smoke went up from his nostrils, And fire from his mouth devoured; Burning coals shot forth from him.
9 He parted the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
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 did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.
And he made darkness his covering; His pavilion round about him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.
At the brightness before him, his thick clouds passed away; Then came hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High sounded among the hailstones and burning coals.
The LORD also thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered his voice, Amid hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.
He sent forth his arrows, and scattered them; Continual 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.
Then the channels of the deep were seen, And the foundations of the earth were laid bare At thy rebuke, O LORD! 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 stretched forth his hand from above; he took me, And drew me out of deep 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; From my adversaries, who were too powerful for me.
18 They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
They fell upon me in the day of my calamity; But the LORD was my stay.
19 He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.
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.
The LORD hath rewarded me according to my righteous; 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 the LORD, 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 laws were in my sight; I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
I was upright before him, And kept myself from iniquity.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
Therefore hath the LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.
25 You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,
To the merciful thou showest thyself merciful; To the upright thou showest thyself upright;
26 You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.
To the pure thou showest thyself pure, And to the perverse thou showest thyself perverse.
27 You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.
For thou savest the afflicted people, But the haughty countenance thou bringest down.
28 You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!
Thou causest 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 through thee I have broken through troops; Through my God I have leaped over walls.
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.
The ways of God are just and true; His word is pure, tried in the fire; He is a shield to all who put their trust in him.
31 For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?
Who, then, is God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God?
32 God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
It is God that girded me with strength, And made my way plain.
33 He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
He made my feet like the hind's, And set me in my high places;
34 He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
He taught my hands to war, So that my arm bent the 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.
Thou gavest me the shield of thy protection; Thy right hand held me up, And thy goodness made me great.
36 You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
Thou didst make a wide path for my steps, So that my feet did not stumble.
37 I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And turned not back till I had destroyed them.
38 I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
I smote them, so that they could not 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.
Thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; Thou didst cast down my adversaries under me.
40 You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
Thou didst cause my enemies to turn their backs, So that I destroyed them that hated me.
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, but there was none to help; To Jehovah, but he answered them not.
42 I ground them into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.
I beat them small, like dust before the wind; I cast them out as the dirt 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 assaults of the nations; Thou hast made me the head of the kingdoms. Nations whom I knew not serve me;
44 As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe before me.
They who have only heard of me obey me; Yea, men of a strange land submit themselves to me;
45 They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
Men of a strange land fade away, like a leaf, And come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
Jehovah is the living God; blessed be my rock; Exalted be the God of my salvation!
47 God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,
It is God who hath given me vengeance, And subdued the nations under 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.
He delivered me from my enemies; Yea, thou hast lifted me up above my adversaries; Thou hast saved me from the violent man!
49 That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
Therefore I will give thanks to thee, O LORD! among the nations, And sing praises to thy name.
50 You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.
Great deliverance giveth he to his king, And showeth mercy to his anointed, —To David and to his posterity for ever.
