Psalms 18
1 “To the chief musician, by the servant of the Lord, by David, who spoke unto the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the power of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul; And he said,” I ever love thee, O Lord, my strength.
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.
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
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.
3 Praised, I cried, be the Lord, and from my enemies was I saved.
I call for help from the Lord who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.
4 The bonds of death encompassed me, and the floods of destruction made me afraid.
Ropes of death encircled me, surging waters of destruction flooded over me;
The grave wound its ropes around me; death set snares for me. (Sheol h7585)
6 [When] in my distress I called upon the Lord, and unto my God I cried: he heard from his temple my voice, and my complaint came before him, even into his ears.
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.
7 Then shook and trembled the earth; and the foundations of the mountains were moved; and they were shaken, because he was wroth.
The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the mountains trembled, shaking because of his anger.
8 Smoke went up in his anger and consuming fire out of his mouth: coals flamed forth from him.
Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.
9 And he bent the heavens, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet:
He parted the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and flew along, and he flitted by upon the wings of the wind.
Riding on an angel he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding-place, round about him as his pavilion, dark waters, thick clouds of the skies.
He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.
12 From the brightness before him his thick clouds passed away, [with] hail-stones and coals of fire.
Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.
13 And the Lord thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered forth his voice, [with] hail-stones and coals of fire.
The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High sounded among the hailstones and burning coals.
14 And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.
He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.
15 And then were seen the channels of the waters, and there were laid open the foundations of the world, through thy rebuke, O Lord, through the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
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.
16 He stretched out from above [his hand], he took me; he drew me out from mighty waters.
He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He pulled me out of the deep water.
17 He delivered me from my enemy, the strong, and from those that hated me, when they were too mighty for me.
He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
18 They overcame me on the day of my calamity; but the Lord became my stay.
They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
19 And he brought me forth into a large space; he delivered me, because he had delight in me.
He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the purity of my hands did he recompense me.
The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For I have followed the Lord's ways; I have not sinned by turning away from my God.
22 For all his ordinances were before me, and his statutes had I not put away from me.
I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
23 I was also upright with him, and I guarded myself against my iniquity.
I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
24 Therefore did the Lord recompense me according to my righteousness, according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
25 With the kind thou wilt show thyself kind; with the upright man thou wilt show thyself upright;
You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,
26 With the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the perverse thou wilt wage a contest.
You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.
27 For thou wilt indeed save the afflicted people; but haughty eyes wilt thou bring down.
You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.
28 For thou wilt cause my light to shine: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!
29 For [aided] by thee I run through a troop; and [helped] by my God I leap over a wall.
With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.
30 As for God, —his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a shield to all those that trust in him.
God's way is absolutely right. What the Lord says is trustworthy. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.
31 For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock beside our God?
For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?
32 He is the God that girdeth me with strength, and rendereth my way unobstructed.
God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
33 He maketh my feet like those of the hinds, and upon my high-places he causeth me to stand.
He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
34 He teacheth my hands for the war, so that a brazen bow is bent by my arms.
He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
35 And thou gavest me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me: and thy meekness hath made me great.
You protect me with the shield of your salvation; you support me with your powerful right hand; your help has made me great.
36 Thou enlargest my steps under me, so that my joints do not slip.
You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
37 I pursue my enemies, and overtake them; and I return not again till I have made an end of them.
I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
38 I crush them that they are not able to rise: they fall under my feet.
I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.
39 For thou hast girded me with strength for the war: thou subduest my opponents under me.
You made me strong for battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel down before me.
40 And my enemies thou causest to turn their back to me; and those that hate me, —that I may destroy them.
You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
41 They cry, but there is none to help; unto the Lord, —but he answereth them not.
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.
42 And I beat them small as the dust before the wind: like the dirt in the streets do I cast them out.
I ground them into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.
43 Thou deliverest me from the contests of the people; thou appointest me to be the head of nations: a people that I know not shall serve me.
You rescued me from rebellious people; you made me ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
44 As soon as their ear heareth they shall be obedient to me: the children of the stranger shall utter flattery unto me.
As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe before me.
45 The children of the stranger shall fade away, and come forth trembling out of their close places.
They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
46 The Lord liveth, and blessed be my Rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation;
The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
47 The God that granteth me vengeance, and subdueth nations under me;
God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,
48 That delivereth me from my enemies: also above my opponents thou liftest me up; thou deliverest me from the man of violence.
he rescues me from those who hate me. You keep me safe from those who rebel against me, you save me from violent men.
49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee among the nations, O Lord, and unto thy name will I sing praises, —
That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
50 [To him] that maketh great the salvation of his king, and who sheweth kindness to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for ever.
You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.
