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.”

2 The 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.

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

And I am bsaved from my enemies.

4 The acords of death encompassed me,

And the btorrents of 1ungodliness 2terrified me.

5 The acords of 1Sheol surrounded me;

The snares of death confronted me.

6 In 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.

7 Then the aearth shook and quaked;

And the bfoundations of the mountains were trembling

And were shaken, because He was angry.

8 Smoke went up 1out of His nostrils,

And afire from His mouth devoured;

Coals were kindled by it.

9 He abowed the heavens also, and came down

With thick bdarkness under His feet.

10 He rode upon a acherub and flew;

And He sped upon the bwings of the wind.

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

Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 From the abrightness before Him passed His thick clouds,

Hailstones and bcoals of fire.

13 The Lord also athundered in the heavens,

And the Most High uttered His voice,

Hailstones and coals of fire.

14 He asent out His arrows, and scattered them,

And lightning flashes in abundance, and 1routed them.

15 Then 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.

16 He asent from on high, He took me;

He drew me out of bmany waters.

17 He adelivered me from my strong enemy,

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

18 They confronted me in athe day of my calamity,

But bthe Lord was my stay.

19 He brought me forth also into a abroad place;

He rescued me, because bHe delighted in me.

20 The Lord has arewarded me according to my righteousness;

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

21 For I have akept the ways of the Lord,

And have bnot wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all aHis ordinances were before me,

And I did not put away His bstatutes from me.

23 I was also 1ablameless with Him,

And I bkept myself from my iniquity.

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

According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

25 With athe kind You show Yourself kind;

With the 1blameless bYou show Yourself blameless;

26 With the pure You show Yourself apure,

And with the crooked bYou show Yourself 1astute.

27 For You asave an afflicted people,

But bhaughty eyes You abase.

28 For You alight my lamp;

The Lord my God billumines my darkness.

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

And by my God I can bleap over a wall.

30 As for God, His way is 1ablameless;

The bword of the Lord is tried;

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

31 For awho is God, but the Lord?

And who is a brock, except our God,

32 The God who agirds me with strength

And 1makes my way 2bblameless?

33 He amakes my feet like hinds’ feet,

And bsets me upon my high places.

34 He atrains my hands for battle,

So that my arms can bbend a bow of bronze.

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

And Your bright hand upholds me;

And cYour 1gentleness makes me great.

36 You aenlarge my steps under me,

And my 1bfeet have not slipped.

37 I apursued my enemies and overtook them,

And I did not turn back buntil they were consumed.

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

They fell bunder my feet.

39 For You have agirded me with strength for battle;

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

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

And I 1bdestroyed those who hated me.

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

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

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

I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

43 You 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.

44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;

Foreigners 1asubmit to me.

45 Foreigners afade away,

And bcome trembling out of their 1fortresses.

46 The Lord alives, and blessed be bmy rock;

And exalted be cthe God of my salvation,

47 The God who aexecutes vengeance for me,

And bsubdues peoples under me.

48 He adelivers me from my enemies;

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

You rescue me from the cviolent man.

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

And I will bsing praises to Your name.

50 He gives great 1adeliverance to His king,

And shows lovingkindness to bHis anointed,

To David and chis 2descendants forever.