THE BOOK OF PSALMS

 

Psalm 18

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of Saul and all his enemies. And he said:

1 ¶ I will love you, O LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.

3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: thus I will be saved from my enemies.

4 The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

5 The sorrows of the grave were all around me: the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: he heard my voice from his temple, and my cry came before him, to his very ears.

7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills also moved and were shaken, because he was angry.

8 Smoke went up out of his nostrils, and from his mouth came a consuming fire: coals were kindled by it.

9 He parted the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

10 And he rode upon a cherub, and flew: yea, he flew upon the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his secret place; all around him dark waters and thick clouds of the sky were his pavilion.

12 Out of the brightness before him, hail stones and coals of fire broke forth through his thick clouds.

13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; there was hail and coals of fire.

14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he shot his lightning flashes, and threw them into panic.

15 Then the depths of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He reached from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me: for they were too strong for me.

18 They confronted me on the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my support.

19 He brought me out into a place where I was free; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20 ¶ The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; he has recompensed me according to the cleanness of my hands.

21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly turned away from my God.

22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not lay aside his rules.

23 I was also blameless before him, and I kept myself from doing wrong.

24 Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful; with an upright man you will show yourself upright;

26 With the pure you will show yourself pure; and with the perverse you will show yourself contrary.

27 For you will save the afflicted people; but will humble those who look proud.

28 For you will light my lamp: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

29 ¶ For with you I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tested: he is a shield to all those who trust in him.

31 For who is God except the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?

32 It is God who girds me with strength, and makes my way perfect.

33 He makes my feet like those of a deer, and gives me a sure footing on the heights.

34 He teaches my hands to fight, so that a bow of steel is bent by my arms.

35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation: your right hand supports me, and your kindness has made me great.

36 You have made a wide path for me to walk on, so that my feet did not slip.

37 I have pursued my enemies, and overtaken them: and did not turn back until they were consumed.

38 I have wounded them so that they were not able to rise: they fell under my feet.

39 For you have girded me with strength for the battle: you have subdued under me those that rose up against me.

40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies; so that I might destroy those who hate me.

41 They cried, but there was no one to save them: they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.

42 Then I pulverized them as dust before the wind: I trampled them as dirt in the streets.

43 You have delivered me from strife with the people; and you have made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known will serve me.

44 As soon as they hear of me, they will obey me: the foreigners will submit themselves to me.

45 The foreigners wilt like leaves, and come trembling out of their fortifications.

46 The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47 It is God who avenges me, and subdues the people under me.

48 He delivers me from my enemies: yea, you lift me up above those that rise up against me: you have delivered me from the violent man.

49 Therefore will I give thanks to you, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises to your name.

50 You give his king great victories; and show mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.