65 The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 26–30 draw attention to God’s characteristic actions. Based on his experience, the psalmist generalizes about God’s just dealings with people (vv. 26–28) and about the way in which God typically empowers him on the battlefield (vv. 29–30). The Hitpael stem is used in vv. 26–27 in a reflexive resultative (or causative) sense. God makes himself loyal, etc. in the sense that he conducts or reveals himself as such. On this use of the Hitpael stem, see §54.e.
66 Or “to a faithful follower.” A חָסִיד (khasid, “faithful follower”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 16:10; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
67 Or “innocent.”
68 Heb “a warrior of innocence.” The parallel text in Ps 18:25 reads, probably correctly, גֶּבֶר (gever, “man”) instead of גִּבּוֹר (gibor, “warrior”).
69 Or “blameless.”
70 The translation follows two medieval Hebrew in reading תִּתְפַּתָּל (titpattal, from the root פתל, “to twist”) rather than the תִּתַּפָּל (tittappal, from the root תפל, “to be tasteless,” “behave silly”; cf. “unsavoury”). See as well the parallel passage in Ps 18:26. The verb פָתַל (patal) is used in only three other texts. In Gen 30:8 it means literally “to wrestle,” or “to twist.” In Job 5:13 it refers to devious individuals, and in Prov 8:8 to deceptive words. Cf. , “astute”; “shrewd”; “perverse”; , “hostile.”
71 The adjective עִקֵּשׁ (’iqqesh) has the basic nuance “twisted; crooked,” and by extension refers to someone or something that is morally perverse. It appears frequently in Proverbs, where it is used of evil people (22:5), speech (8:8; 19:1), thoughts (11:20; 17:20) and life styles (2:15; 28:6). A righteous king opposes such people (Ps 101:4). Verses 26–27 affirm God’s justice. He responds to people in accordance with their moral character. His response mirrors their actions. The faithful and blameless find God to be loyal and reliable in his dealings with them. But deceivers discover he is able and willing to use deceit to destroy them. For a more extensive discussion of the theme of divine deception in the OT, see R. B. Chisholm, “Does God Deceive?” 155 (1998): .
72 Or perhaps “humble” (so , , ; note the contrast with those who are proud).
73 Heb “but your eyes are upon the proud, you bring low.” Ps 18:27 reads “but proud eyes you bring low.”
74 Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.
75 Many medieval Hebrew , some , and the support reading תָּאִיר (ta’ir, “you cause to shine”) before the words “my lamp.” See Ps 18:28. The metaphor, which likens the Lord to a lamp or light, pictures him as the psalmist’s source of life. For other examples of “lamp” used in this way, see Job 18:6; 21:17; Prov 13:9; 20:20; 24:20. For other examples of “light” as a symbol for life, see Job 3:20; 33:30; Ps 56:13.
76 The Lucianic Greek recension and understand this verb to be second person rather than third person as in the . But this is probably the result of reading the preceding word “Lord” as a vocative under the influence of the vocative in the first part of the verse.
77 Heb “my darkness.”
78 Or “for.” The translation assumes that כִּי (ki) is asseverative here.
79 Heb “by you.”
80 Heb “I will run.” The imperfect verbal forms in v. 30 indicate the subject’s potential or capacity to perform an action. Though one might expect a preposition to follow the verb here, this need not be the case with the verb רוּץ (ruts; see 1 Sam 17:22). Some emend the Qal to a Hiphil form of the verb and translate, “I put to flight [literally, “cause to run”] an army.”
81 More specifically, the noun refers to a raiding party or to a contingent of troops (see II גְדוּד). The picture of a divinely empowered warrior charging against an army in almost superhuman fashion appears elsewhere in ancient Near Eastern literature. See R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” (Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983), 228.
82 Heb “by my God.”
83 David uses hyperbole to emphasize his God-given military superiority.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“With the merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

with the purified you deal purely,

and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

You save a humble people,

but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

For you are my lamp, O Lord,

and my God lightens my darkness.

For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

You save the humble,

but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.

You, Lord, are my lamp;

the Lord turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

With the faithful

you prove yourself faithful,

with the blameless

you prove yourself blameless,

with the pure

you prove yourself pure,

but with the crooked

you prove yourself shrewd.

You rescue an oppressed people,

but your eyes are set against the proud—

you humble them.

Lord, you are my lamp;

the Lord illuminates my darkness.

With you I can attack a barricade,

and with my God I can leap over a wall.

NLTNew Living Translation

“To the faithful you show yourself faithful;

to those with integrity you show integrity.

To the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

You rescue the humble,

but your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them.

O Lord, you are my lamp.

The Lord lights up my darkness.

In your strength I can crush an army;

with my God I can scale any wall.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

With the loyal, you act as loyal,

and with the blameless, you show yourself blameless.

With the pure, you show yourself pure,

but with the crooked, you appear as a fool.

Humble people you will deliver,

but your eyes are on the haughty, whom you bring down.

For you, O Yahweh are my lamp,

and Yahweh lightens my darkness.

For by you I can run a raid;

by my God I can leap over a wall.

KJV 1900King James Version

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful,

And with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright.

With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure;

And with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury.

And the afflicted people thou wilt save:

But thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down.

For thou art my lamp, O Lord:

And the Lord will lighten my darkness.

For by thee I have run through a troop:

By my God have I leaped over a wall.

Public Domain