Psalm 18

¹I love you, O Lord my strength, *O Lord my stronghold, my crag, and my haven.

²My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, *my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my refuge; you are worthy of praise.

³I will call upon the Lord, *and so shall I be saved from my enemies.

⁴The breakers of death rolled over me, *and the torrents of oblivion made me afraid.

⁵The cords of hell entangled me, *and the snares of death were set for me.

⁶I called upon the Lord in my distress *and cried out to my God for help.

⁷He heard my voice from his heavenly dwelling; *my cry of anguish came to his ears.

⁸The earth reeled and rocked; *the roots of the mountains shook; they reeled because of his anger.

⁹Smoke rose from his nostrils and a consuming fire out of his mouth; *hot burning coals blazed forth from him.

¹⁰He parted the heavens and came down *with a storm cloud under his feet.

¹¹He mounted on cherubim and flew; *he swooped on the wings of the wind.

¹²He wrapped darkness about him; *he made dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion.

¹³From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds, *burst hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴The Lord thundered out of heaven; *the Most High uttered his voice.

¹⁵He loosed his arrows and scattered them; *he hurled thunderbolts and routed them.

¹⁶The beds of the seas were uncovered, and the foundations of the world laid bare, *at your battle cry, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

¹⁷He reached down from on high and grasped me; *he drew me out of great waters.

¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemies and from those who hated me; *for they were too mighty for me.

¹⁹They confronted me in the day of my disaster; *but the Lord was my support.

²⁰He brought me out into an open place; *he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²¹The Lord rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; *because my hands were clean he rewarded me;

²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord *and have not offended against my God;

²³For all his judgments are before my eyes, *and his decrees I have not put away from me;

²⁴For I have been blameless with him *and have kept myself from iniquity;

²⁵Therefore the Lord rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, *because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁶With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; *with the forthright you show yourself forthright.

²⁷With the pure you show yourself pure, *but with the crooked you are wily.

²⁸You will save a lowly people, *but you will humble the haughty eyes.

²⁹You, O Lord, are my lamp; *my God, you make my darkness bright.

³⁰With you I will break down an enclosure; *with the help of my God I will scale any wall.

³¹As for God, his ways are perfect; the words of the Lord are tried in the fire; *he is a shield to all who trust in him.

³²For who is God, but the Lord? *who is the Rock, except our God?

³³It is God who girds me about with strength *and makes my way secure.

³⁴He makes me sure-footed like a deer *and lets me stand firm on the heights.

³⁵He trains my hands for battle *and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.

³⁶You have given me your shield of victory; *your right hand also sustains me; your loving care makes me great.

³⁷You lengthen my stride beneath me, *and my ankles do not give way.

³⁸I pursue my enemies and overtake them; *I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.

³⁹I strike them down, and they cannot rise; *they fall defeated at my feet.

⁴⁰You have girded me with strength for the battle; *you have cast down my adversaries beneath me; you have put my enemies to flight.

⁴¹I destroy those who hate me; they cry out, but there is none to help them; *they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer.

⁴²I beat them small like dust before the wind; *I trample them like mud in the streets.

⁴³You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; *you put me at the head of the nations.

⁴⁴A people I have not known shall serve me; no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; *strangers will cringe before me.

⁴⁵The foreign peoples will lose heart; *they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Blessed is my Rock! *Exalted is the God of my salvation!

⁴⁷He is the God who gave me victory *and cast down the peoples beneath me.

⁴⁸You rescued me from the fury of my enemies; you exalted me above those who rose against me; *you saved me from my deadly foe.

⁴⁹Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O Lord, *and sing praises to your Name.

⁵⁰He multiplies the victories of his king; *he shows loving-kindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever.