Psalms 18

The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.

For the music 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 on the day that the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

1 “I love You, Lord, ^bmy strength.”
2 The Lord is ^cmy rock and ^dmy fortress and my ^esavior,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My ^fshield and the ^ghorn of my salvation, my ^hstronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is ⁱworthy to be praised,
And I am ^jsaved from my enemies.

4 The ^kropes of death encompassed me,
And the ^ltorrents of ▼

▼Or ungodliness; Heb Belial

destruction ▼

▼Or were assailing; or terrifying

terrified me.
5 The ^oropes of ▼

▼I.e., the netherworld

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

7 Then the ^tearth shook and quaked;
And the ^ufoundations 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 ^wfire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
9 He also ^xbowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick ^ydarkness under His feet.
10 He rode on a ^zcherub and flew;
And He sped on the ^aawings of the wind.
11 He made ^abdarkness His hiding place, ^acHis ▼

▼Or pavilion

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

▼Lit confused

routed them.
15 Then the ^ajchannels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your ^akrebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the ^albreath of Your nostrils.

16 He ^amsent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of ^anmany waters.
17 He ^aosaved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were ^aptoo mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in ^aqthe day of my disaster,
But ^arthe Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me out into an ^asopen place;
He rescued me, because ^atHe delighted in me.

20 The Lord has ^aurewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the ^avcleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21 For I have ^awkept the ways of the Lord,
And have ^axnot acted wickedly against my God.
22 For all ^ayHis judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His ^azstatutes from me.
23 I was also ▼

▼Lit complete; or having integrity; or perfect

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

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

▼See note v 23

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

▼Lit twisted

astute.
27 For You ^bksave an afflicted people,
But You humiliate ^blhaughty eyes.
28 For You ^bmlight my lamp;
The Lord my God ^bnillumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can ^borun at a ▼

▼Or wall

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

30 As for God, His way is ▼

▼Or perfect

, ^bsblameless;
The ^btword of the Lord is refined;
He is a ^bushield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For ^bvwho is God, but the Lord?
And who is a ^bwrock, except our God,
32 The God who ^bxencircles me with strength,
And ▼

▼Or has made

makes my way ▼

▼Lit complete; or having integrity

, ^cablameless?
33 He ^cbmakes my feet like deer’s feet,
And ^ccsets me up on my high places.
34 He ^cdtrains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can ^cebend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me ^cfthe shield of Your salvation,
And Your ^cgright hand upholds me;
And ^chYour ▼

▼Or condescension

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

▼Lit ankles

, ^clfeet have not slipped.

37 I ^cmpursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back ^cnuntil they were consumed.
38 I shattered them, so that they were ^conot able to rise;
They fell ^cpunder my feet.
39 For You have ^cqencircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced those who rose up against me ^crto bow down under me.
40 You have also made my enemies ^csturn their backs to me,
And I ▼

▼Or silenced

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

43 You have rescued me from the ^cycontentions of the people;
You have placed me as ^czhead of the nations;
A ^dapeople whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners ^dbpretend to obey me.
45 Foreigners ^dclose heart,
And ^ddcome trembling out of their ▼

▼Or prisons

fortresses.

46 The Lord ^dflives, and blessed be ^dgmy rock;
And exalted be ^dhthe God of my salvation,
47 The God who ^diexecutes vengeance for me,
And ^djsubdues peoples under me.
48 He ^dkrescues me from my enemies;
You indeed ^dllift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from a ^dmviolent man.
49 Therefore I will ^dngive thanks to You among the nations, Lord,
And I will ^dosing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great ▼

▼I.e., victories; lit salvations

, ^dqsalvation to His king,
And shows faithfulness to ^drHis anointed,
To David and ^dshis ▼

▼Lit seed

descendants forever.