2 Samuel 22

¹And David spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. ²He said,

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,

³my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold and my refuge,

my savior; thou savest me from violence.

⁴I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵“For the waves of death encompassed me,

the torrents of perdition assailed me;

⁶the cords of Sheol entangled me,

the snares of death confronted me.

⁷“In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I called.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry came to his ears.

⁸“Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations of the heavens trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

⁹Smoke went up from his nostrils,

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

¹⁰He bowed the heavens, and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.

¹¹He rode on a cherub, and flew;

he was seen upon the wings of the wind.

¹²He made darkness around him

his canopy, thick clouds, a gathering of water.

¹³Out of the brightness before him

coals of fire flamed forth.

¹⁴The Lord thundered from heaven,

and the Most High uttered his voice.

¹⁵And he sent out arrows, and scattered them;

lightning, and routed them.

¹⁶Then the channels of the sea were seen,

the foundations of the world were laid bare,

at the rebuke of the Lord,

at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

¹⁷“He reached from on high, he took me,

he drew me out of many waters.

¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me;

for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁹They came upon me in the day of my calamity;

but the Lord was my stay.

²⁰He brought me forth into a broad place;

he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²¹“The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.

²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²³For all his ordinances were before me,

and from his statutes I did not turn aside.

²⁴I was blameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

²⁵Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

according to my cleanness in his sight.

²⁶“With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal;

with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless;

²⁷with the pure thou dost show thyself pure,

and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse.

²⁸Thou dost deliver a humble people,

but thy eyes are upon the haughty to bring them down.

²⁹Yea, thou art my lamp, O Lord,

and my God lightens my darkness.

³⁰Yea, by thee I can crush a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

³¹This God—his way is perfect;

the promise of the Lord proves true;

he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

³²“For who is God, but the Lord?

And who is a rock, except our God?

³³This God is my strong refuge,

and has made my way safe.

³⁴He made my feet like hinds’ feet,

and set me secure on the heights.

³⁵He trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation,

and thy help made me great.

³⁷Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip;

³⁸I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

and did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁹I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;

they fell under my feet.

⁴⁰For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle;

thou didst make my assailants sink under me.

⁴¹Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me,

those who hated me, and I destroyed them.

⁴²They looked, but there was none to save;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

⁴³I beat them fine as the dust of the earth,

I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets.

⁴⁴“Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples;

thou didst keep me as the head of the nations;

people whom I had not known served me.

⁴⁵Foreigners came cringing to me;

as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.

⁴⁶Foreigners lost heart,

and came trembling out of their fastnesses.

⁴⁷“The Lord lives; and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,

⁴⁸the God who gave me vengeance

and brought down peoples under me,

⁴⁹who brought me out from my enemies;

thou didst exalt me above my adversaries,

thou didst deliver me from men of violence.

⁵⁰“For this I will extol thee, O Lord, among the nations,

and sing praises to thy name.

⁵¹Great triumphs he gives to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David, and his descendants for ever.”