Psalms 18
1 To the Overseer. — By a servant of Jehovah, by David, who hath spoken to Jehovah the words of this song in the day Jehovah delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul, and he saith: — I love Thee, O Jehovah, 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 Jehovah [is] my rock, and my bulwark, And my deliverer, My God [is] my rock, I trust in Him: My shield, and a horn of my salvation, 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 The 'Praised One' I call Jehovah, And from my enemies I am saved.
I call for help from the Lord who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.
4 Compassed me have cords of death, And streams of the worthless make 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 In mine adversity I call Jehovah, And unto my God I cry. He heareth from His temple my voice, And My cry before Him cometh 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 And shake and tremble doth the earth, And foundations of hills are troubled, And they shake — because He hath wrath.
The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the mountains trembled, shaking because of his anger.
8 Gone up hath smoke by His nostrils, And fire from His mouth consumeth, Coals have been kindled by it.
Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.
9 And He inclineth the heavens, and cometh down, And thick darkness [is] under His feet.
He parted the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.
10 And He rideth on a cherub, and doth fly, And He flieth on wings of wind.
Riding on an angel he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.
11 He maketh darkness His secret place, Round about Him His tabernacle, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.
12 From the brightness over-against Him His thick clouds have passed on, Hail and coals of fire.
Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.
13 And thunder in the heavens doth Jehovah, And the Most High giveth forth His voice, Hail 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 sendeth His arrows and scattereth them, And much lightning, and crusheth them.
He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.
15 And seen are the streams of waters, And revealed are foundations of the earth. From Thy rebuke, O Jehovah, From the breath of the spirit of Thine anger.
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 sendeth from above — He taketh me, He draweth me out of many waters.
He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He pulled me out of the deep water.
17 He delivereth me from my strong enemy, And from those hating me, For they have been stronger than I.
He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.
18 They go before me in a day of my calamity And Jehovah is for a support to me.
They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.
19 And He bringeth me forth to a large place, He draweth me out, because He delighted in me.
He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.
20 Jehovah doth recompense me According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, He doth return to 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 Jehovah, And have not done wickedly against my God.
For I have followed the Lord's ways; I have not sinned by turning away from my God.
22 For all His judgments [are] before me, And His statutes I turn not from me.
I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.
23 And I am perfect with him, And I keep myself from mine iniquity.
I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.
24 And Jehovah doth return to me, According to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands, Over-against his eyes.
The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.
25 With the kind Thou showest Thyself kind, With a perfect man showest Thyself perfect.
You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,
26 With the pure Thou showest Thyself pure, And with the perverse showest Thyself a wrestler,
You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.
27 For Thou a poor people savest, And the eyes of the high causest to fall.
You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.
28 For Thou — Thou lightest my lamp, Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness.
You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!
29 For by Thee I run — a troop! And by my God I leap a wall.
With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.
30 God! perfect [is] His way, The saying of Jehovah is tried, A shield [is] He to all those trusting 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 besides Jehovah? And who [is] a rock save our God?
For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?
32 God! who is girding me [with] strength, And He maketh perfect my way.
God makes me strong and keeps me safe.
33 Making my feet like hinds, And on my high places causeth me to stand.
He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.
34 Teaching my hands for battle, And a bow of brass was brought down by my arms.
He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.
35 And Thou givest to me the shield of Thy salvation, And Thy right hand doth support me, And Thy lowliness maketh 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 step under me, And mine ankles have not slidden.
You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.
37 I pursue mine enemies, and overtake them, And turn back not till they are consumed.
I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.
38 I smite them, and 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 And Thou girdest me [with] strength for battle, Causest my withstanders to bow under me.
You made me strong for battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel down before me.
40 As to mine enemies — Thou hast given to me the neck, As to those hating me — I cut them off.
You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.
41 They cry, and there is no saviour, On Jehovah, and He doth not answer them.
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 as dust before wind, As mire of the streets I empty them out.
I ground them into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.
43 Thou dost deliver me From the strivings of the people, Thou placest me for a head of nations, A people I have not known do serve me.
You rescued me from rebellious people; you made me ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.
44 At the hearing of the ear they hearken to me, Sons of a stranger feign obedience to me,
As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe before me.
45 Sons of a stranger fade away, And are slain out of their close places.
They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.
46 Jehovah liveth — and blessed [is] my rock, And exalted is the God of my salvation.
The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!
47 God — who is giving vengeance to me, And He subdueth peoples under me,
God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,
48 My deliverer from mine enemies, Above my withstanders Thou raisest me, From a man of violence dost deliver me.
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 I confess Thee among nations, O Jehovah, And to Thy name I sing praise,
That's why I will praise you among the nations, Lord; I will sing praises about who you are.
50 Magnifying the salvation of His king, And doing kindness to His anointed, To David, and to his seed — unto the age!
You have saved the king so often, showing your trustworthy love to David, your anointed, and to his descendants forever.
