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.
For the chief musician. A psalm of David, the servant of Yahweh, when he sang to Yahweh the words of this song on the day that Yahweh rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He sang: I love you, Yahweh, 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.
Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, the one who brings me to safety; he is my God, my rock; I take refuge in him. He is my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my stronghold.
3 I call for help from the Lord who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.
I will call on Yahweh who is worthy to be praised, and I will be saved from my enemies.
4 Ropes of death encircled me, surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
The cords of death surrounded me, and the rushing waters of worthlessness overwhelmed me.
The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death trapped 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 to Yahweh; I called for help to my God. He heard my voice from his temple; my call for help went into his presence; it went 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 trembled; the foundations of the mountains also trembled and were shaken because God was angry.
8 Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.
Smoke went up from out of his nostrils, and blazing fire came out of his mouth. Coals were ignited by it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
He opened the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under his feet.
10 Riding on an angel he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
He rode on a cherub and flew; he glided on the wings of the wind.
11 He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.
He made darkness a tent around him, heavy rainclouds in the skies.
12 Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.
Hailstones and coals of fire fell from the lightning before him.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High sounded among the hailstones and burning coals.
Yahweh thundered in the heavens! The voice of the Most High shouted.
14 He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.
He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; many lightning bolts dispersed 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 water channels appeared; the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He pulled me out of the deep water.
He reached down from above; he took hold of me! He pulled me out of the surging water.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
He rescued me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
18 They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
They came against me on the day of my distress but Yahweh was my support!
19 He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.
He set me free in a wide open place; he saved me because he was pleased with me.
20 The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
Yahweh has rewarded me because of my righteousness; he has restored me because my hands were clean.
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 Yahweh and have not wickedly turned away from my God.
22 I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
For all his righteous decrees have been before me; as for his statutes, I have not turned away from them.
23 I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
I have also been innocent before him, and I have kept myself from sin.
24 The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
Therefore Yahweh has restored me because of my righteousness, because my hands were clean before his eyes.
25 You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,
To anyone who is faithful, you show yourself to be faithful; to a man who is blameless, you show yourself to be blameless.
26 You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.
To anyone who is pure, you show yourself pure; but you are clever toward anyone who is twisted.
27 You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.
For you save afflicted people, but you bring down those with proud, uplifted eyes!
28 You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!
For you give light to my lamp; Yahweh my God lights up 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 you I can run over a barricade; by my God I can leap 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 Yahweh is pure! He is a shield to everyone who takes refuge in him.
31 For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?
For who is God except Yahweh? Who is a rock except our God?
32 God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
It is God who puts strength on me like a belt, who places the blameless person on his path.
33 He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
He makes my feet swift like a deer and places me on the heights!
34 He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
He trains my hands for war and my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
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 shield of your salvation. Your right hand has supported me, and your favor has made me great.
36 You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
You have made a wide place for my feet beneath me so that my feet have not slipped.
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 caught them; I did not turn back until they were destroyed.
38 I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
I smashed them so that they were unable to rise; they have fallen under my feet.
39 You made me strong for battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel down before me.
For you put strength on me like a belt for battle; you put under me those who rise up against me.
40 You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
You gave me the back of my enemies' necks; I annihilated those who 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 called for help, but no one saved them; they called out to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
42 I ground them into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.
I beat them into fine pieces like dust before the wind; I threw them out like mud in the streets.
43 You rescued me from rebellious people; you made me ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
You rescued me from the disputes of people. You have made me the head over nations. People that I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe before me.
As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me; foreigners were forced to bow to me.
45 They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
The foreigners came trembling out of their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
Yahweh lives; may my rock be praised. May the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,
He is the God who executes vengeance for me, who subdues 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.
I am set free from my enemies! Indeed, you lifted me above the ones who rose against me! You rescued me from violent men.
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 you, Yahweh, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name!
50 You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.
God gives great victory to his king, and he shows his covenant loyalty to his anointed one, to David and to his descendants forever.
