Psalm 18–19

PSALM 18

The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, ^†who spoke to the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

¹“I love You, O Lord, ^amy strength.”

²The Lord is ^amy ¹rock and ^bmy fortress and my ^cdeliverer,

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;

My ^dshield and the ^ehorn of my salvation, my ^fstronghold.

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

And I am ^bsaved from my enemies.

⁴The ^acords of death encompassed me,

And the ^btorrents of ¹ungodliness ²terrified me.

⁵The ^acords of ¹Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my ^adistress I called upon the Lord,

And cried to my God for help;

He heard my voice ^bout of His temple,

And my ^ccry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷Then the ^aearth shook and quaked;

And the ^bfoundations of the mountains were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up ¹out of His nostrils,

And ^afire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

⁹He ^abowed the heavens also, and came down

With thick ^bdarkness under His feet.

¹⁰He rode upon a ^acherub and flew;

And He sped upon the ^bwings of the wind.

¹¹He made ^adarkness His hiding place, ^bHis ¹canopy around Him,

Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

¹²From the ^abrightness before Him passed His thick clouds,

Hailstones and ^bcoals of fire.

¹³The Lord also ^athundered in the heavens,

And the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴He ^asent out His arrows, and scattered them,

And lightning flashes in abundance, and ¹routed them.

¹⁵Then the ^achannels of water appeared,

And the foundations of the world were ¹laid bare

At Your ^brebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the ^cbreath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶He ^asent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of ^bmany waters.

¹⁷He ^adelivered me from my strong enemy,

And from those who hated me, for they were ^btoo mighty for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in ^athe day of my calamity,

But ^bthe Lord was my stay.

¹⁹He brought me forth also into a ^abroad place;

He rescued me, because ^bHe delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord has ^arewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the ^bcleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.

²¹For I have ^akept the ways of the Lord,

And have ^bnot wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all ^aHis ordinances were before me,

And I did not put away His ^bstatutes from me.

²³I was also ^1ablameless with Him,

And I ^bkept myself from my iniquity.

²⁴Therefore the Lord has ^arecompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁵With ^athe kind You show Yourself kind;

With the ¹blameless ^bYou show Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You show Yourself ^apure,

And with the crooked ^bYou show Yourself ¹astute.

²⁷For You ^asave an afflicted people,

But ^bhaughty eyes You abase.

²⁸For You ^alight my lamp;

The Lord my God ^billumines my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can ^1arun upon a troop;

And by my God I can ^bleap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, His way is ^1ablameless;

The ^bword of the Lord is tried;

He is a ^cshield to all who take refuge in Him.

³¹For ^awho is God, but the Lord?

And who is a ^brock, except our God,

³²The God who ^agirds me with strength

And ¹makes my way ^2bblameless?

³³He ^amakes my feet like hinds’ feet,

And ^bsets me upon my high places.

³⁴He ^atrains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can ^bbend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me ^athe shield of Your salvation,

And Your ^bright hand upholds me;

And ^cYour ¹gentleness makes me great.

³⁶You ^aenlarge my steps under me,

And my ^1bfeet have not slipped.

³⁷I ^apursued my enemies and overtook them,

And I did not turn back ^buntil they were consumed.

³⁸I shattered them, so that they were ^anot able to rise;

They fell ^bunder my feet.

³⁹For You have ^agirded me with strength for battle;

You have ^1bsubdued under me those who rose up against me.

⁴⁰You have also made my enemies ^aturn their backs to me,

And I ^1bdestroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was ^anone to save,

Even to the Lord, but ^bHe did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them fine as the ^adust before the wind;

I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the ^acontentions of the people;

You have placed me as ^bhead of the nations;

A ^cpeople whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear, they obey me;

Foreigners ^1asubmit to me.

⁴⁵Foreigners ^afade away,

And ^bcome trembling out of their ¹fortresses.

⁴⁶The Lord ^alives, and blessed be ^bmy rock;

And exalted be ^cthe God of my salvation,

⁴⁷The God who ^aexecutes vengeance for me,

And ^bsubdues peoples under me.

⁴⁸He ^adelivers me from my enemies;

Surely You ^blift me above those who rise up against me;

You rescue me from the ^cviolent man.

⁴⁹Therefore I will ^agive thanks to You among the nations, O Lord,

And I will ^bsing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰He gives great ^1adeliverance to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to ^bHis anointed,

To David and ^chis ²descendants forever.

PSALM 19

The Works and the Word of God.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

¹The ^aheavens are telling of the glory of God;

And their ^bexpanse is declaring the work of His hands.

²Day to ^aday pours forth speech,

And ^bnight to night reveals knowledge.

³There is no speech, nor are there words;

Their voice is not heard.

⁴Their ^1aline has gone out through all the earth,

And their utterances to the end of the world.

In them He has ^bplaced a tent for the sun,

⁵Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber;

It rejoices as a strong man to run his course.

⁶Its ^arising is from ¹one end of the heavens,

And its circuit to the ²other end of them;

And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

^7aThe law of the Lord is ^1bperfect, ^crestoring the soul;

The testimony of the Lord is ^dsure, making ^ewise the simple.

⁸The precepts of the Lord are ^aright, ^brejoicing the heart;

The commandment of the Lord is ^cpure, ^denlightening the eyes.

⁹The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;

The judgments of the Lord are ^atrue; they are ^brighteous altogether.

¹⁰They are more desirable than ^agold, yes, than much fine gold;

^bSweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹Moreover, by them ^aYour servant is warned;

In keeping them there is great ^breward.

¹²Who can ^adiscern his errors? ^bAcquit me of ^chidden faults.

¹³Also keep back Your servant ^afrom presumptuous sins;

Let them not ^brule over me;

Then I will be ^1cblameless,

And I shall be acquitted of ^dgreat transgression.

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

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, ^bmy rock and my ^cRedeemer.