Psa 18 | NASB1995 | STEP | 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, “ I love You, O Lord , my strength .”

Psalms 18

The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, ^{▼▼ 2 Sam 22:1-51}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, ^bmy strength.”
2 The Lord is ^cmy ^{▼▼ Or crag}rock and ^emy fortress and my ^fdeliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My ^gshield and the ^hhorn of my salvation, my ⁱstronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is ^jworthy to be praised,
And I am ^ksaved from my enemies.

4 The ^lcords of death encompassed me,
And the ^mtorrents of ^{▼▼ Or destruction; Heb Belial}ungodliness ^{▼▼ Or were assailing or terrifying}terrified me.
5 The ^pcords of ^{▼▼ I.e. the nether world}Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my ^rdistress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice ^sout of His temple,
And my ^tcry for help before Him came into His ears.

7 Then the ^uearth shook and quaked;
And the ^vfoundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up ^{▼▼ Or in His wrath}out of His nostrils,
And ^xfire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He ^ybowed the heavens also, and came down
With thick ^zdarkness under His feet.
10 He rode upon a ^aacherub and flew;
And He sped upon the ^abwings of the wind.
11 He made ^acdarkness His hiding place, ^adHis ^{▼▼ Or pavilion}canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the ^afbrightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and ^agcoals of fire.
13 The Lord also ^ahthundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He ^aisent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and ^{▼▼ Lit confused}routed them.
15 Then the ^akchannels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were ^{▼▼ Or uncovered}laid bare
At Your ^amrebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the ^anbreath of Your nostrils.

16 He ^aosent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of ^apmany waters.
17 He ^aqdelivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were ^artoo mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in ^asthe day of my calamity,
But ^atthe Lord was my stay.
19 He brought me forth also into a ^aubroad place;
He rescued me, because ^avHe delighted in me.

20 The Lord has ^awrewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the ^axcleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
21 For I have ^aykept the ways of the Lord,
And have ^aznot wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all ^baHis ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His ^bbstatutes from me.
23 I was also ^{▼▼ Lit complete; or having integrity; or perfect
,} ^bdblameless with Him,
And I ^bekept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has ^bfrecompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

25 With ^bgthe kind You show Yourself kind;
With the ^{▼▼ V 23, note 1}blameless ^biYou show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself ^bjpure,
And with the crooked ^bkYou show Yourself ^{▼▼ Lit twisted}astute.
27 For You ^bmsave an afflicted people,
But ^bnhaughty eyes You abase.
28 For You ^bolight my lamp;
The Lord my God ^bpillumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can ^{▼▼ Or crush a troop
,} ^brrun upon a troop;
And by my God I can ^bsleap over a wall.

30 As for God, His way is ^{▼▼ V 23, note 1
,} ^bublameless;
The ^bvword of the Lord is tried;
He is a ^bwshield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For ^bxwho is God, but the Lord?
And who is a ^byrock, except our God,
32 The God who ^bzgirds me with strength
And ^{▼▼ Or has made}makes my way ^{▼▼ Lit complete; or having integrity
,} ^ccblameless?
33 He ^cdmakes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And ^cesets me upon my high places.
34 He ^cftrains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can ^cgbend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me ^chthe shield of Your salvation,
And Your ^ciright hand upholds me;
And ^cjYour ^{▼▼ Or condescension}gentleness makes me great.
36 You ^clenlarge my steps under me,
And my ^{▼▼ Lit ankles
,} ^cnfeet have not slipped.

37 I ^copursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back ^cpuntil they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were ^cqnot able to rise;
They fell ^crunder my feet.
39 For You have ^csgirded me with strength for battle;
You have ^{▼▼ Lit caused to bow down
,} ^cusubdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You have also made my enemies ^cvturn their backs to me,
And I ^{▼▼ Or silenced
,} ^cxdestroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was ^cynone to save,
Even to the Lord, but ^czHe did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine as the ^dadust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the ^dbcontentions of the people;
You have placed me as ^dchead of the nations;
A ^ddpeople whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners ^{▼▼ Lit deceive me; i.e. give feigned obedience
,} ^dfsubmit to me.
45 Foreigners ^dgfade away,
And ^dhcome trembling out of their ^{▼▼ Lit fastnesses}fortresses.

46 The Lord ^djlives, and blessed be ^dkmy rock;
And exalted be ^dlthe God of my salvation,
47 The God who ^dmexecutes vengeance for me,
And ^dnsubdues peoples under me.
48 He ^dodelivers me from my enemies;
Surely You ^dplift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the ^dqviolent man.
49 Therefore I will ^drgive thanks to You among the nations, O Lord,
And I will ^dssing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great ^{▼▼ I.e. victories; lit salvations
,} ^dudeliverance to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to ^dvHis anointed,
To David and ^dwhis ^{▼▼ Lit seed}descendants forever.

Psalms 18

The Lord Praised for Giving Deliverance.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, ▼▼ 2 Sam 22:1-51who 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,

For the choir director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, ^{▼▼ 2 Sam 22:1-51}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,