Psalm 18:title–15

PRAISE FOR DELIVERANCE

For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the power of Saul.^s He said:

¹I love you, Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock,

my fortress, and my deliverer,^t

my God, my rock where I seek refuge,

my shield^u and the horn of my salvation,^v

my stronghold.

³I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,^w

and I was saved from my enemies.^x

⁴The ropes of death were wrapped around me;

the torrents of destruction terrified me.^y

⁵The ropes of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.^z

⁶I called to the Lord in my distress,

and I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,^aa

and my cry to him reached his ears.^ab

⁷Then the earth shook and quaked;

the foundations of the mountains trembled;^ac

they shook because he burned with anger.

⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils,

and consuming fire came from his mouth;

coals were set ablaze by it.^Had

⁹He bent the heavens and came down,^ae

total darkness beneath his feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew,

soaring on the wings of the wind.^af

¹¹He made darkness his hiding place,

dark storm clouds his canopy around him.^ag

¹²From the radiance of his presence,^ah

his clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.

¹³The Lord thundered from^A heaven;

the Most High made his voice heard.^Bai

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered them;

he hurled^C lightning bolts and routed them.^aj

¹⁵The depths of the sea became visible,

the foundations of the world were exposed,

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.^a