Psalm 18:1–15

¹I love thee, O Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, and 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,

and I am 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 quaked, 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,

hailstones and coals of fire.

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 thy rebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.