Psalms 18
1 TO THE OVERSEER. BY A SERVANT OF YHWH, BY DAVID, WHO HAS SPOKEN TO YHWH THE WORDS OF THIS SONG IN THE DAY YHWH DELIVERED HIM FROM THE HAND OF ALL HIS ENEMIES, AND FROM THE HAND OF SAUL, AND HE SAYS: I love You, O YHWH, my strength.
For the choirmaster. Of David the servant of the LORD, who sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD had delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: I love You, O LORD, my strength.
2 YHWH [is] my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God [is] my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and the horn of my salvation, My high tower.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call on YHWH, the Praised One, And I am saved from my enemies.
I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 Cords of death have surrounded me, And streams of the worthless make me afraid.
The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me.
The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. (Sheol h7585)
6 In my adversity I call YHWH, And I cry to my God. He hears my voice from His temple, And My cry comes into His ears before Him.
In my distress I called upon the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry for His help reached His ears.
7 And the earth shakes and trembles, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake—because He has wrath.
Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
8 Smoke has gone up from His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumes, Coals have been kindled by it.
Smoke rose from His nostrils, and consuming fire came from His mouth; glowing coals blazed forth.
9 And He inclines the heavens, and comes down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.
He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
10 And He rides on a cherub, and flies, And He flies on wings of wind.
He mounted a cherub and flew; He soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He makes darkness His secret place, Around Him His dwelling place, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
He made darkness His hiding place, and storm clouds a canopy around Him.
12 From the brightness before Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.
From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced— hailstones and coals of fire.
13 And YHWH thunders in the heavens, And the Most High gives forth His voice, Hail and coals of fire.
The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded— hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And He sends His arrows and scatters them, And much lightning, and crushes them.
He shot His arrows and scattered the foes; He hurled lightning and routed them.
15 And the streams of waters are seen, And foundations of the earth are revealed, From Your rebuke, O YHWH, From the breath of the wind of Your anger.
The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sends from above—He takes me, He draws me out of many waters.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me; He drew me out of deep waters.
17 He delivers me from my strong enemy, And from those hating me, For they have been stronger than I.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from foes too mighty for me.
18 They go before me in a day of my calamity And YHWH is for a support to me.
They confronted me in my day of calamity, but the LORD was my support.
19 And He brings me forth to a large place, He draws me out, because He delighted in me.
He brought me out into the open; He rescued me because He delighted in me.
20 YHWH repays me According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He returns to me.
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.
21 For I have kept the ways of YHWH, And have not done wickedly against my God.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments [are] before me, And I do not turn His statutes from me.
For all His ordinances are before me; I have not disregarded His statutes.
23 And I am perfect with Him, And I keep myself from my iniquity.
And I have been blameless before Him and kept myself from iniquity.
24 And YHWH returns to me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, Before His eyes.
So the LORD has repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25 With the kind You show Yourself kind, With a perfect man You show Yourself perfect.
To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the perverse You show Yourself a wrestler,
to the pure You show Yourself pure, but to the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.
27 For You save a poor people, And cause the eyes of the high to fall.
For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.
28 For You light my lamp, My God YHWH enlightens my darkness.
For You, O LORD, light my lamp; my God lights up my darkness.
29 For by You I run [against] a troop! And by my God I leap a wall.
For in You I can charge an army, and with my God I can scale a wall.
30 God—perfect [is] His way, The saying of YHWH is tried, He [is] a shield to all those trusting in Him.
As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For who [is] God besides YHWH? And who [is] a rock except our God?
For who is God besides the LORD? And who is the Rock except our God?
32 God—who is girding me [with] strength, And He makes my way perfect.
It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way clear.
33 Making my feet like does, And on my high places causes me to stand.
He makes my feet like those of a deer and stations me upon the heights.
34 Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of bronze was brought down by my arms.
He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 And You give to me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand supports me, And Your lowliness makes me great.
You have given me Your shield of salvation; Your right hand upholds me, and Your gentleness exalts me.
36 You enlarge my step under me, And my ankles have not slipped.
You broaden the path beneath me so that my ankles do not give way.
37 I pursue my enemies, and overtake them, And do not turn back until they are consumed.
I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were consumed.
38 I strike them, and they are not able to rise, They fall under my feet,
I crushed them so they could not rise; they have fallen under my feet.
39 And You gird me [with] strength for battle, You cause my withstanders to bow under me.
You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.
40 As for my enemies—You have given to me the neck, As for those hating me—I cut them off.
You have made my enemies retreat before me; I put an end to those who hated me.
41 They cry, and there is no savior, On YHWH, and He does not answer them.
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but He did not answer.
42 And I beat them as dust before wind, I empty them out as mire of the streets.
I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
43 You deliver me From the strivings of the people, You place me for a head of nations, A people I have not known serve me.
You have delivered me from the strife of the people; You have made me the head of nations; a people I had not known shall serve me.
44 At the hearing of the ear they listen to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,
When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.
45 Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places.
Foreigners lose heart and come trembling from their strongholds.
46 YHWH lives—and blessed [is] my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation.
The LORD lives, and blessed be my Rock! And may the God of my salvation be exalted—
47 God—who is giving vengeance to me, And He subdues peoples under me,
the God who avenges me and subdues nations beneath me,
48 My deliverer from my enemies, You raise me above my withstanders, Deliver me from a man of violence.
who delivers me from my enemies. You exalt me above my foes; You rescue me from violent men.
49 Therefore I confess You among nations, O YHWH, And I sing praise to Your Name,
Therefore I will praise You, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name.
50 Magnifying the salvation of His king, And doing kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed—for all time!
Great salvation He brings to His king. He shows loving devotion to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
