Psalm 18

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

¹I love you, Lord, my strength.

²The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from my enemies.

⁴The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

⁵The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

⁷The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

⁹He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

¹⁰He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

¹²Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.

¹⁴He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

¹⁵The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

¹⁶He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²⁰The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

²²All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

²³I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

²⁴The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁵To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

²⁶to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

²⁷You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

²⁸You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

²⁹With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

³⁰As for God, his way is perfect:

The Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

³¹For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

³²It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

³³He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

³⁶You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁷I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

³⁸I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

³⁹You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

⁴²I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁴³You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

⁴⁴foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

⁴⁵They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

⁴⁷He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

⁴⁸who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

⁴⁹Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵⁰He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

to David and to his descendants forever.