Psalm 18

Psalm 18

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David The Servant of the Lord, Who Spoke to the Lord The Words of This Song on the Day that the Lord Delivered Him from the Hand of All His Enemies and from the Hand of Saul. And He Said:

¹I ^cwill love You, O Lord, my strength. ²The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

My God, my ¹strength, ^din whom I will trust;

My shield and the ²horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I will call upon the Lord, ^ewho is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

^4fThe pangs of death surrounded me,

And the floods of ³ungodliness made me afraid.

⁵The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord,

And cried out to my God;

He heard my voice from His temple,

And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

^7gThen the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,

Because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up from His nostrils,

And devouring fire from His mouth;

Coals were kindled by it.

^9hHe bowed the heavens also, and came down

With darkness under His feet.

¹⁰ⁱAnd He rode upon a cherub, and flew;

^jHe flew upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness His secret place;

^kHis canopy around Him was dark waters

And thick clouds of the skies.

^12lFrom the brightness before Him,

His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven,

And the Most High uttered ^mHis voice,

⁴Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴ⁿHe sent out His arrows and scattered ⁵the foe,

Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,

The foundations of the world were uncovered

At Your rebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

^16oHe sent from above, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy,

From those who hated me,

For they were too strong for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

But the Lord was my support.

^19pHe also brought me out into a broad place;

He delivered me because He delighted in me.

^20qThe Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

According to the cleanness of my hands

He has recompensed me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.

²²For all His judgments were before me,

And I did not put away His statutes from me.

²³I was also blameless ⁶before Him,

And I kept myself from my iniquity.

^24rTherefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

^25sWith the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;

With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You will show Yourself pure;

And ^twith the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

²⁷For You will save the humble people,

But will bring down ^uhaughty looks.

^28vFor You will light my lamp;

The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can ⁷run against a troop,

By my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰As for God, ^wHis way is perfect;

^xThe word of the Lord is ⁸proven;

He is a shield ^yto all who trust in Him.

^31zFor who is God, except the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?

³²It is God who ^aarms me with strength,

And makes my way perfect.

^33bHe makes my feet like the feet of deer,

And ^csets me on my high places.

^34dHe teaches my hands to make war,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;

Your right hand has held me up,

Your gentleness has made me great.

³⁶You enlarged my path under me,

^eSo my feet did not slip.

³⁷I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;

Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

³⁸I have wounded them,

So that they could not rise;

They have fallen under my feet.

³⁹For You have armed me with strength for the battle;

You have ⁹subdued under me those who rose up against me.

⁴⁰You have also given me the necks of my enemies,

So that I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried out, but there was none to save;

^fEven to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;

I ^gcast them out like dirt in the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;

^hYou have made me the head of the ¹nations;

ⁱA people I have not known shall serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear of me they obey me;

The foreigners ²submit to me.

^45jThe foreigners fade away,

And come frightened from their hideouts.

⁴⁶The Lord lives!

Blessed be my Rock!

Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

⁴⁷It is God who avenges me,

^kAnd subdues the peoples under me;

⁴⁸He delivers me from my enemies.

^lYou also lift me up above those who rise against me;

You have delivered me from the violent man.

^49mTherefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the ³Gentiles,

And sing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰ⁿGreat deliverance He gives to His king,

And shows mercy to His anointed,

To David and his ⁴descendants forevermore.