Psalms 18
1 For the end, [a Psalm] of David, the servant of the Lord; [the words] which he spoke to the Lord, [even] the words of this Song, in the day in which the Lord delivered him out the hand of all his enemies, and out the hand of Saul: and he said: I will love you, O Lord, my strength.
I love thee, O LORD, my strength!
2 The Lord is my firm support, and my refuge, and my deliverer; my God is my helper, I will hope in him; [he is] my defender, and the horn of my salvation, and my helper.
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 will call upon the Lord with praises, and I shall be saved from mine enemies.
I called upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And was delivered from my enemies.
4 The pangs of death compassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.
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 And when I was afflicted I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of this holy temple, and my cry shall enter before him, [even] into 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 Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God was angry with them.
Then the earth quaked and trembled; The foundations of the mountains rocked and were shaken, Because his wrath was kindled.
8 There went up a smoke in his wrath, and fire burst into a flame at his presence: coals were kindled at it.
A smoke went up from his nostrils, And fire from his mouth devoured; Burning coals shot forth from him.
9 And he bowed the heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.
He bowed the heavens, and came down; And darkness was under his feet;
10 And he mounted on cherubs and flew: he flew on the wings of winds.
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11 And he made darkness his secret place: round about him was his tabernacle, [even] dark water in the clouds of the air.
And he made darkness his covering; His pavilion round about him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.
At the brightness before him, his thick clouds passed away; Then came hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered from heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice.
The LORD also thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered his voice, Amid hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent forth [his] weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied lightnings, and routed them.
He sent forth his arrows, and scattered them; Continual lightnings, and discomfited them.
15 And the springs of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at your rebuke, O Lord, at the blasting of the breath of your wrath.
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 sent from on high and took me, he drew me to himself out of many waters.
He stretched forth his hand from above; he took me, And drew me out of deep waters.
17 He will deliver me from my mighty enemies, and from them that hate me; for they are stronger than I.
He delivered me from my strong enemy; From my adversaries, who were too powerful for me.
18 They prevented me in the day of mine affliction: but the Lord was my stay against [them].
They fell upon me in the day of my calamity; But the LORD was my stay.
19 And he brought me out into a wide place: he will deliver me, because he has pleasure in me.
He brought me forth into a large place; He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20 And the Lord will recompense me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of my hands will he recompense me.
The LORD hath rewarded me according to my righteous; According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
21 For I have kept the way of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD, And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all his judgments were before me, and his ordinances departed not from me.
For all his laws were in my sight; I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 And I shall be blameless with hem, and shall keep myself from mine iniquity.
I was upright before him, And kept myself from iniquity.
24 And the Lord shall recompense me according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
Therefore hath the LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.
25 With the holy you will be holy; and with the innocent man you will be innocent.
To the merciful thou showest thyself merciful; To the upright thou showest thyself upright;
26 And with the excellent [man] you will be excellent; and with the perverse you will show frowardness.
To the pure thou showest thyself pure, And to the perverse thou showest thyself perverse.
27 For you will save the lowly people, and will humble the eyes of the proud.
For thou savest the afflicted people, But the haughty countenance thou bringest down.
28 For you, O Lord, will light my lamp: my God, you will lighten my darkness.
Thou causest my lamp to shine; Jehovah, my God, enlighteneth my darkness.
29 For by you shall I be delivered from a troop; and by my God I will pass over a wall.
For through thee I have broken through troops; Through my God I have leaped over walls.
30 [As for] my God, his way is perfect: the oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is a protector of all them that hope in him.
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 but the Lord? and who is a God except our God?
Who, then, is God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God?
32 [It is] God that girds me with strength, and has made my way blameless:
It is God that girded me with strength, And made my way plain.
33 who strengthens my feet as hart's feet, and sets me upon high places.
He made my feet like the hind's, And set me in my high places;
34 He instructs my hands for war: and you have made my arms [as] a brazen bow.
He taught my hands to war, So that my arm bent the bow of brass.
35 And you have made me secure in my salvation: and your right hand has helped me, and your correction has upheld me to the end; yes, your correction itself shall instruct me.
Thou gavest me the shield of thy protection; Thy right hand held me up, And thy goodness made me great.
36 You has made room for my goings under me, and by footsteps did not fail.
Thou didst make a wide path for my steps, So that my feet did not stumble.
37 I will pursue mine enemies, and overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are consumed.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And turned not back till I had destroyed them.
38 I will dash them to pieces and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet.
I smote them, so that they could not rise; They fell under my feet.
39 For you have girded me with strength for war: you have beaten down under me all that rose up against me.
Thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; Thou didst cast down my adversaries under me.
40 And you has made mine enemies turn their backs before me; and you have destroyed them that hated me.
Thou didst cause my enemies to turn their backs, So that I destroyed them that hated me.
41 They cried, but there was no deliverer: [even] to the Lord, but he listened not to them.
They cried, but there was none to help; To Jehovah, but he answered them not.
42 I will grind them as the mud of the streets: and I will beat them small as dust before the wind.
I beat them small, like dust before the wind; I cast them out as the dirt of the streets.
43 Deliver me from the gain sayings of the people: you shall make me head of the Gentiles: a people whom I knew not served 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 at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me: the strange children lied to me.
They who have only heard of me obey me; Yea, men of a strange land submit themselves to me;
45 The strange children waxed old, and fell away from their paths through lameness.
Men of a strange land fade away, like a leaf, And come trembling from their strongholds.
46 The Lord lives; and blessed [be] my God; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
Jehovah is the living God; blessed be my rock; Exalted be the God of my salvation!
47 [It is] God that avenges me, and has subdued the nations under me;
It is God who hath given me vengeance, And subdued the nations under me;
48 my deliverer from angry enemies: you shall set me on high above them that rise up against me: you shall deliver me from the unrighteous man.
He delivered me from my enemies; Yea, thou hast lifted me up above my adversaries; Thou hast saved me from the violent man!
49 Therefore will I confess to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.
Therefore I will give thanks to thee, O LORD! among the nations, And sing praises to thy name.
50 [God] magnifies the deliverances of his king; and deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.
Great deliverance giveth he to his king, And showeth mercy to his anointed, —To David and to his posterity for ever.
