Psalm 18
Praise for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the power of Saul. He said:
1I love you, Lord, my strength.
2The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock where I seek refuge,
my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold.
3I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I was saved from my enemies.
4The ropes of death were wrapped around me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
5The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6I called to the Lord in my distress,
and I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
7Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they shook because he burned with anger.
8Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and consuming fire came from his mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.
9He bent the heavens and came down,
total darkness beneath his feet.
10He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his hiding place,
dark storm clouds his canopy around him.
12From the radiance of his presence,
his clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
13The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard.
14He shot his arrows and scattered them;
he hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
15The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed,
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
he pulled me out of deep water.
17He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19He brought me out to a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
20The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;
he repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.
21For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.
22Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me
and have not disregarded his statutes.
23I was blameless toward him
and kept myself from my iniquity.
24So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25With the faithful
you prove yourself faithful,
with the blameless
you prove yourself blameless,
26with the pure
you prove yourself pure,
but with the crooked
you prove yourself shrewd.
27For you rescue an oppressed people,
but you humble those with haughty eyes.
28Lord, you light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.
29With you I can attack a barricade,
and with my God I can leap over a wall.
30God — his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
31For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is a rock? Only our God.
32God — he clothes me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33He makes my feet like the feet of a deer
and sets me securely on the heights.
34He trains my hands for war;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand upholds me,
and your humility exalts me.
36You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps,
and my ankles do not give way.
37I pursue my enemies and overtake them;
I do not turn back until they are wiped out.
38I crush them, and they cannot get up;
they fall beneath my feet.
39You have clothed me with strength for battle;
you subdue my adversaries beneath me.
40You have made my enemies retreat before me;
I annihilate those who hate me.
41They cry for help, but there is no one to save them —
they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer them.
42I pulverize them like dust before the wind;
I trample them like mud in the streets.
43You have freed me from the feuds among the people;
you have appointed me the head of nations;
a people I had not known serve me.
44Foreigners submit to me cringing;
as soon as they hear they obey me.
45Foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their fortifications.
46The Lord lives — blessed be my rock!
The God of my salvation is exalted.
47God — he grants me vengeance
and subdues peoples under me.
48He frees me from my enemies.
You exalt me above my adversaries;
you rescue me from violent men.
49Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;
I will sing praises about your name.
50He gives great victories to his king;
he shows loyalty to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.