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.
I love thee, 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.
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 on YHWH, the Praised One, And I am saved from my enemies.
I called upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And was delivered from my enemies.
4 Cords of death have surrounded me, And streams of the worthless make me afraid.
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 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, And cried unto my God; He heard my voice from his palace, And my cry came before him into 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 quaked and trembled; The foundations of the mountains rocked and were shaken, Because his wrath was kindled.
8 Smoke has gone up from His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumes, Coals have been kindled by it.
A smoke went up from his nostrils, And fire from his mouth devoured; Burning coals shot forth from him.
9 And He inclines the heavens, and comes down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.
He bowed the heavens, and came down; And darkness was under his feet;
10 And He rides on a cherub, and flies, And He flies on wings of wind.
And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; Yea, he did fly upon 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.
And he made darkness his covering; His pavilion round about him was dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the brightness before Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.
At the brightness before him, his thick clouds passed away; Then came 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 also thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered his voice, Amid hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And He sends His arrows and scatters them, And much lightning, and crushes them.
He sent forth his arrows, and scattered them; Continual lightnings, and discomfited 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.
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 sends from above—He takes me, He draws me out of many waters.
He stretched forth his hand from above; he took me, And 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 delivered me from my strong enemy; From my adversaries, who were too powerful for me.
18 They go before me in a day of my calamity And YHWH is for a support to me.
They fell upon me in the day of my calamity; But the LORD was my stay.
19 And He brings me forth to a large place, He draws me out, because He delighted in me.
He brought me forth into a large place; He delivered 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 hath rewarded me according to my righteous; According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
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 laws were in my sight; I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 And I am perfect with Him, And I keep myself from my iniquity.
I was upright 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.
Therefore hath the LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.
25 With the kind You show Yourself kind, With a perfect man You show Yourself perfect.
To the merciful thou showest thyself merciful; To the upright thou showest thyself upright;
26 With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the perverse You show Yourself a wrestler,
To the pure thou showest thyself pure, And to the perverse thou showest thyself perverse.
27 For You save a poor people, And cause the eyes of the high to fall.
For thou savest the afflicted people, But the haughty countenance thou bringest down.
28 For You light my lamp, My God YHWH enlightens my darkness.
Thou causest my lamp to shine; Jehovah, my God, enlighteneth my darkness.
29 For by You I run [against] a troop! And by my God I leap a wall.
For through thee I have broken through troops; Through my God I have leaped over walls.
30 God—perfect [is] His way, The saying of YHWH is tried, He [is] a shield to all those trusting 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 besides YHWH? And who [is] a rock except our God?
Who, then, is God, save Jehovah? And who is a rock, save our God?
32 God—who is girding me [with] strength, And He makes my way perfect.
It is God that girded me with strength, And made my way plain.
33 Making my feet like does, And on my high places causes me to stand.
He made my feet like the hind's, And set me in my high places;
34 Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of bronze was brought down by my arms.
He taught my hands to war, So that my arm bent the bow of brass.
35 And You give to me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand supports me, And Your lowliness makes me great.
Thou gavest me the shield of thy protection; Thy right hand held me up, And thy goodness made me great.
36 You enlarge my step under me, And my ankles have not slipped.
Thou didst make a wide path for my steps, So that my feet did not stumble.
37 I pursue my enemies, and overtake them, And do 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 strike them, and they are not able to rise, They fall under my feet,
I smote them, so that they could not rise; They fell under my feet.
39 And You gird me [with] strength for battle, You cause my withstanders to bow under me.
Thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; Thou didst cast down my adversaries under me.
40 As for my enemies—You have given to me the neck, As for those hating me—I cut them off.
Thou didst cause my enemies to turn their backs, So that I destroyed them that hated me.
41 They cry, and there is no savior, On YHWH, and He does not answer them.
They cried, but there was none to help; To Jehovah, but he answered them not.
42 And I beat them as dust before wind, I empty them out as mire of the streets.
I beat them small, like dust before the wind; I cast them out as the dirt of 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.
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 listen to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,
They who have only heard of me obey me; Yea, men of a strange land submit themselves to me;
45 Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places.
Men of a strange land fade away, like a leaf, And come trembling from their strongholds.
46 YHWH lives—and blessed [is] my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation.
Jehovah is the living God; blessed be my rock; Exalted be the God of my salvation!
47 God—who is giving vengeance to me, And He subdues peoples under me,
It is God who hath given me vengeance, And subdued the nations under me;
48 My deliverer from my enemies, You raise me above my withstanders, Deliver me from a man of violence.
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 I confess You among nations, O YHWH, And I sing praise to Your Name,
Therefore I will give thanks to thee, O LORD! among the nations, And sing praises to thy name.
50 Magnifying the salvation of His king, And doing kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed—for all time!
Great deliverance giveth he to his king, And showeth mercy to his anointed, —To David and to his posterity for ever.
