Psalms 18:2-50

2 The Lord is ^amy rock and ^bmy fortress and my ^csavior,
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 ^gworthy to be praised,
And I am ^hsaved from my enemies.

4 The ⁱropes of death encompassed me,
And the ^jtorrents of ▼

▼Or ungodliness; Heb Belial

destruction ▼

▼Or were assailing; or terrifying

terrified me.
5 The ^mropes of ▼

▼I.e., the netherworld

Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my ^odistress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice ^pfrom His temple,
And my ^qcry for help before Him came into His ears.

7 Then the ^rearth shook and quaked;
And the ^sfoundations 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 ^ufire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
9 He also ^vbowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick ^wdarkness under His feet.
10 He rode on a ^xcherub and flew;
And He sped on the ^ywings of the wind.
11 He made ^zdarkness His hiding place, ^aaHis ▼

▼Or pavilion

canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds.
12 From the ^acbrightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and ^adcoals of fire.
13 The Lord also ^aethundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He ^afsent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and ▼

▼Lit confused

routed them.
15 Then the ^ahchannels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your ^airebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the ^ajbreath of Your nostrils.

16 He ^aksent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of ^almany waters.
17 He ^amsaved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were ^antoo mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in ^aothe day of my disaster,
But ^apthe Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into an ^aqopen place;
He rescued me, because ^arHe delighted in me.

20 The Lord has ^asrewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the ^atcleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21 For I have ^aukept the ways of the Lord,
And have ^avnot acted wickedly against my God.
22 For all ^awHis judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His ^axstatutes from me.
23 I was also ▼

▼Lit complete; or having integrity; or perfect

, ^azblameless with Him,
And I ^bakept myself from my wrongdoing.
24 Therefore the Lord has ^bbrepaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

25 With ^bcthe faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the ▼

▼See note v 23

blameless ^beYou prove Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself ^bfpure,
And with the crooked ^bgYou show Yourself ▼

▼Lit twisted

astute.
27 For You ^bisave an afflicted people,
But You humiliate ^bjhaughty eyes.
28 For You ^bklight my lamp;
The Lord my God ^blillumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can ^bmrun at a ▼

▼Or wall

troop of warriors;
And by my God I can ^boleap over a wall.

30 As for God, His way is ▼

▼Or perfect

, ^bqblameless;
The ^brword of the Lord is refined;
He is a ^bsshield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For ^btwho is God, but the Lord?
And who is a ^burock, except our God,
32 The God who ^bvencircles me with strength,
And ▼

▼Or has made

makes my way ▼

▼Lit complete; or having integrity

, ^byblameless?
33 He ^bzmakes my feet like deer’s feet,
And ^casets me up on my high places.
34 He ^cbtrains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can ^ccbend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me ^cdthe shield of Your salvation,
And Your ^ceright hand upholds me;
And ^cfYour ▼

▼Or condescension

gentleness makes me great.
36 You ^chenlarge my steps under me,
And my ▼

▼Lit ankles

, ^cjfeet have not slipped.

37 I ^ckpursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back ^cluntil they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were ^cmnot able to rise;
They fell ^cnunder my feet.
39 For You have ^coencircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced those who rose up against me ^cpto bow down under me.
40 You have also made my enemies ^cqturn their backs to me,
And I ▼

▼Or silenced

, ^csdestroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was ^ctno one to save,
They cried to the Lord, but ^cuHe did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine like the ^cvdust before the wind;
I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.

43 You have rescued me from the ^cwcontentions of the people;
You have placed me as ^cxhead of the nations;
A ^cypeople whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners ^czpretend to obey me.
45 Foreigners ^dalose heart,
And ^dbcome trembling out of their ▼

▼Or prisons

fortresses.

46 The Lord ^ddlives, and blessed be ^demy rock;
And exalted be ^dfthe God of my salvation,
47 The God who ^dgexecutes vengeance for me,
And ^dhsubdues peoples under me.
48 He ^direscues me from my enemies;
You indeed ^djlift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from a ^dkviolent man.
49 Therefore I will ^dlgive thanks to You among the nations, Lord,
And I will ^dmsing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great ▼

▼I.e., victories; lit salvations

, ^dosalvation to His king,
And shows faithfulness to ^dpHis anointed,
To David and ^dqhis ▼

▼Lit seed

descendants forever.