Psalm 18

I love you, LORD! You are my strength.

A fortress is the LORD to me—

My rock and my deliverer;

For refuge to my God I flee.

He is my stronghold and my shield,

The LORD who saves me by his might.

I’ll call on him and give him praise.

I’m saved; he puts my foes to flight.

The cords of death entangled me;

Destruction hit me like a wave.

Encircled by the snares of death,

I faced the terrors of the grave.

In my distress I called on God;

I cried out to the LORD for aid.

He from his temple heard my voice;

He listened to the prayer I made.

The earth before God’s anger quaked;

The mountains’ deep foundations shook.

Consuming fire blazed from his mouth,

And from his nostrils came forth smoke.

The heavens parted, he came down;

Beneath his feet the dark clouds lay.

Upon the cherubim he flew;

On wings of wind he made his way.

He made the dark his canopy,

Dark rain clouds swirling in the sky.

From brightness of his presence came

Clouds, hail and lightning from on high.

The LORD Most High sent forth his voice;

His thunder from the heavens pealed.

His arrows scattered all his foes;

His lightning drove them from the field.

The valleys of the sea lay bare

And earth’s foundations deep and vast,

When your rebuke went forth, O LORD—

The power of your nostrils’ blast.

From heav’n he reached to grasp my hand

And lift me as the waters rose;

He saved me from my enemy,

From all my overpowering foes.

They threatened me in my distress,

But God stood by me in my plight.

He brought me out and set me free,

Because in me he took delight.

According to my righteousness

The LORD dealt with me faithfully;

Because my hands were clean from sin,

The LORD my God rewarded me.

For I have kept the ways of God;

From him I have not turned away.

I have not strayed from his decrees;

His statutes ever with me stay.

Before the LORD I’ve kept myself

From blame and all transgression free.

Since in his sight my hands were clean,

The LORD my God rewarded me.

With faithful people you keep faith,

And to the blameless you are good.

With pure men you yourself are pure,

But with the crooked you are shrewd.

You save the humble and the meek,

But bring the proud down from their height.

You, LORD, will keep my lamp aflame;

God turns my darkness into light.

With help from God I can advance

Against a troop and rout them all,

And with the aid my God will give

I can leap over any wall.

For perfect is the way of God;

No flaw is found within his word.

To all who put their trust in him

A shield and refuge is the LORD.

For who is God except the LORD?

Besides our God, who is the Rock?

He is the God who gives me strength,

And he perfects the path I walk.

He makes my feet like feet of deer;

Upon the heights he makes me stand.

My arms can bend a bow of bronze;

In skills of war he trains my hand.

Your right hand gives me victory;

You stoop down low to make me great.

So that my footsteps do not trip

You smooth the pathway for my feet.

I chased and overtook my foes;

I did not turn till they were slain.

I crushed them all beneath my feet;

They fell and could not rise again.

With strength you armed me for the fight;

My foes you humbled at my feet.

You made them turn their backs in flight;

And their destruction was complete.

They cried for help, but none could save;

They cried to God—no answer came.

I beat them fine as wind-borne dust;

Like wayside dirt I scattered them.

You set me over many lands;

You saved me from my enemy.

A people whom I did not know

Are in subjection now to me.

The moment that they hear my voice

They cringe before me and obey.

In fear they tremble and lose heart;

They leave their strongholds in dismay.

The LORD lives! Praise be to my Rock!

My Saviour God exalted be!

He has avenged me, and subdued

Rebellious peoples under me.

You saved me from my enemies,

Exalting me above my foes;

You rescued me from violent men

Who sought my kingdom to oppose.

Therefore among the nations, LORD,

Your praise in song I will proclaim;

Before the peoples of the world

I’ll sing the glory of your name.

You give your king great victories;

Your loving-kindness you will pour

On David, your anointed one,

And his descendants evermore.