The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

18 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, fthe servant of the Lord, gwho addressed the words of this hsong to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1  I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2  The Lord is my irock and my jfortress and my deliverer,

my God, my irock, in kwhom I take refuge,

my lshield, and mthe horn of my salvation, my nstronghold.

3  I call upon the Lord, who is oworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

4  pThe cords of death encompassed me;

qthe torrents of destruction assailed me;1

5  pthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6  rIn my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his stemple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

7  Then the earth treeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

8  Smoke went up from his nostrils,2

and devouring ufire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9  He vbowed the heavens and wcame down;

xthick darkness was under his feet.

10  He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly on zthe wings of the wind.

11  He made darkness his covering, his acanopy around him,

thick clouds bdark with water.

12  Out of the brightness before him

chailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13  The Lord also dthundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his evoice,

hailstones and coals of fire.

14  And he sent out his farrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and grouted them.

15  Then hthe channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your irebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of jthe breath of your nostrils.

16  He ksent from on high, he took me;

he ldrew me out of mmany waters.

17  He rescued me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were ntoo mighty for me.

18  They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

19  He brought me out into oa broad place;

he rescued me, because he pdelighted in me.

20  The Lord dealt with me qaccording to my righteousness;

according to rthe cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

21  For I have skept the ways of the Lord,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22  For tall his rules3 were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

23  I was ublameless before him,

and I kept myself from my guilt.

24  So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25  With vthe merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

26  with the purified you show yourself pure;

and with wthe crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

27  For you save xa humble people,

but ythe haughty eyes you bring down.

28  For it is you who light my zlamp;

the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

29  For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can aleap over ba wall.

30  This God—his way is cperfect;4

the word of the Lord dproves true;

he is ea shield for all those who ftake refuge in him.

31  For gwho is God, but the Lord?

And who is ha rock, except our God?—

32  the God who iequipped me with strength

and made my way jblameless.

33  He made my feet like the feet of a kdeer

and set me secure on lthe heights.

34  He mtrains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35  You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand nsupported me,

and your ogentleness made me great.

36  You pgave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

37  I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

and did not turn back till they were consumed.

38  I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;

they fell under my feet.

39  For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made those who rise against me sink under me.

40  You made my enemies qturn their backs to me,5

and those who hated me I destroyed.

41  rThey cried for help, but there was none to save;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

42  I beat them fine as sdust before the wind;

I cast them out like tthe mire of the streets.

43  You delivered me from ustrife with the people;

you made me vthe head of the nations;

wpeople whom I had not known served me.

44  As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;

xforeigners ycame cringing to me.

45  xForeigners lost heart

and zcame trembling out of their fortresses.

46  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation—

47  the God who gave me vengeance

and asubdued peoples under me,

48  who rescued me from my enemies;

yes, you bexalted me above those who rose against me;

you delivered me from cthe man of violence.

49  dFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and esing to your name.

50  Great fsalvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his ganointed,

to hDavid and his offspring forever.

The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

19 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  iThe heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above1 proclaims his handiwork.

2  Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

3  There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

4  jTheir kvoice2 goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for lthe sun,

5  mwhich comes out like na bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

6  Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

7  oThe law of the Lord is perfect,3

previving the soul;

qthe testimony of the Lord is rsure,

smaking wise tthe simple;

8  uthe precepts of the Lord are right,

rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the Lord is vpure,

wenlightening the eyes;

9  the fear of the Lord is clean,

enduring forever;

the rules4 of the Lord are xtrue,

and righteous altogether.

10  More to be desired are they than ygold,

even much zfine gold;

asweeter also than honey

and drippings of bthe honeycomb.

11  Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

cin keeping them there is great reward.

12  dWho can discern his errors?

eDeclare me innocent from fhidden faults.

13  gKeep back your servant also from hpresumptuous sins;

let them not have idominion over me!

Then I shall be blameless,

and innocent of great transgression.

14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

be acceptable in your sight,

O Lord, my jrock and my kredeemer.

Trust in the Name of the Lord Our God

20 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  May the Lord lanswer you in the day of trouble!

May mthe name of the God of Jacob nprotect you!

2  May he send you help from othe sanctuary

and give you support from pZion!

3  May he qremember all your offerings

and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

4  May he rgrant you your heart’s desire

and fulfill all your plans!

5  May we shout for joy over syour salvation,

and in the name of our God set up our tbanners!

May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

6  Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;

he will answer him from his holy heaven

with uthe saving might of his right hand.

7  Some trust in vchariots and some in whorses,

xbut we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

8  They collapse and fall,

but we rise and stand upright.

9  O Lord, save ythe king!

May he answer us when we call.

The King Rejoices in the Lord’s Strength

21 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1  O Lord, in your zstrength the king rejoices,

and in your asalvation how greatly he exults!

2  You have bgiven him his heart’s desire

and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah

3  For you cmeet him with rich blessings;

you set da crown of efine gold upon his head.

4  He asked life of you; you fgave it to him,

glength of days forever and ever.

5  His hglory is great through your salvation;

isplendor and majesty you bestow on him.

6  For you make him most blessed forever;1

you make him glad with the jjoy of your presence.

7  For the king trusts in the Lord,

and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be kmoved.

8  Your hand will lfind out all your enemies;

your right hand will find out those who hate you.

9  You will make them as ma blazing oven

when you appear.

The Lord will swallow them up in his nwrath,

and ofire will consume them.

10  You pwill destroy their qdescendants from the earth,

and their offspring from among the children of man.

11  Though they plan evil against you,

though they rdevise mischief, they will not succeed.

12  For you will put them sto flight;

you will taim at their faces with your bows.

13  Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!

We will sing and praise your power.

Why Have You Forsaken Me?

22 To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.

1  uMy God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so vfar from saving me, from the words of my wgroaning?

2  O my God, I cry by xday, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

3  Yet you are yholy,

zenthroned on athe praises1 of Israel.

4  In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

5  To you they bcried and were rescued;

in you they ctrusted and were not put to shame.

6  But I am da worm and not a man,

escorned by mankind and fdespised by the people.

7  All who see me gmock me;

they make mouths at me; they hwag their heads;

8  i“He trusts in the Lord; let him jdeliver him;

let him rescue him, for he kdelights in him!”

9  Yet you are he who ltook me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.

10  On you was I cast from my birth,

and from mmy mother’s womb you have been my God.

11  Be not nfar from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is onone to help.

12  Many bulls encompass me;

pstrong bulls of qBashan surround me;

13  they ropen wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14  I am spoured out like water,

and all my bones are tout of joint;

my uheart is like vwax;

it is melted within my breast;

15  my strength is wdried …