Psalm 18:1–49

¹I love you, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,

my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.^*

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

so I shall be saved from my enemies.^*

⁴The cords of death encompassed me;

the torrents of perdition assailed me;^*

⁵the cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.^*

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.^*

⁷Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and reeled because he was angry.^*

⁸Smoke went up from his nostrils

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

⁹He bowed the heavens and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.^*

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.^*

¹¹He made darkness his covering around him,

his canopy thick clouds dark with water.^*

¹²Out of the brightness before him

there broke through his clouds

hailstones and coals of fire.^*

¹³The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his voice.^q*

¹⁴And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.^*

¹⁵Then the channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your rebuke, O Lord,

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

¹⁶He reached down from on high; he took me;

he drew me out of mighty waters.^*

¹⁷He delivered me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.^*

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a broad place;

he delivered me because he delighted in me.^*

²⁰The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.^*

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord

and have not wickedly departed from my God.^*

²²For all his ordinances were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.^*

²³I was blameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

²⁴Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.^*

²⁵With the loyal you show yourself loyal;

with the blameless you show yourself blameless;^*

²⁶with the pure you show yourself pure;

and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.^*

²⁷For you deliver a humble people,

but the haughty eyes you bring down.^*

²⁸It is you who light my lamp;

the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.^*

²⁹By you I can outrun a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.^*

³⁰This God—his way is perfect;

the promise of the Lord proves true;

he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.^*

³¹For who is God except the Lord?

And who is a rock besides our God?^*

³²The God who has girded me with strength

and made my way safe.^r

³³He made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure on the heights.^*

³⁴He trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.^*

³⁵You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand has supported me;

your help^s has made me great.

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

and my feet did not slip.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them

and did not turn back until they were consumed.^*

³⁸I struck them down so that they were unable to rise;

they fell under my feet.^*

³⁹For you girded me with strength for the battle;

you made my assailants sink under me.^*

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs to me,

and those who hated me I destroyed.^*

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;

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

⁴²I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;

I cast them out like the mire of the streets.^*

⁴³You delivered me from strife with the peoples;^t

you made me head of the nations;

people whom I had not known served me.^*

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

foreigners came cringing to me.

⁴⁵Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling out of their strongholds.^*

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation,^*

⁴⁷the God who gave me vengeance

and subdued peoples under me,^*

⁴⁸who delivered me from my enemies;

indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries;

you delivered me from the violent.^*

⁴⁹For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations

and sing praises to your name.^*