18:1 "I love You, O LORD, my strength." |
18:2 The LORD resembles my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. |
18:3 I call upon the LORD, who I find worthy to praise, And God saves me from my enemies. |
18:4 The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness terrified me. |
18:5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. |
18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears. |
18:7 Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because He became angry. |
18:8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; Coals received kindling by it. |
18:9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet. |
18:10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; and He sped upon the wings of the wind. |
18:11 He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. |
18:12 From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, hailstones and coals of fire. |
18:13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire. |
18:14 He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, and lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them. |
18:15 Then the channels of water appeared, and the Lord laid bare foundations of the world. At Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. |
18:16 He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. |
18:17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me, for they proved too mighty for me. |
18:18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD served as my stay. |
18:19 He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me. |
18:20 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me. |
18:21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God. |
18:22 For all His ordinances I kept before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me. |
18:23 I maintained blamelessness before Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. |
18:24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes. |
18:25 With the kind You show Yourself kind; With the blameless You show Yourself blameless; |
18:26 With the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself astute. |
18:27 For You save an afflicted people, But haughty eyes You abase. |
18:28 For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness. |
18:29 For by You I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall. |
18:30 As for God, His way proves blameless; The word of the LORD we have tried; He resembles a shield to all who take refuge in Him. |
18:31 For who do we call God, but the LORD? And who resembles a rock, except our God, |
18:32 The God who girds me with strength And makes my way blameless? |
18:33 He makes my feet like hinds' feet, And sets me upon my high places. |
18:34 He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. |
18:35 You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great. |
18:36 You enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped. |
18:37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and I did not turn back until we had consumed them. |
18:38 I shattered them, so that they could not rise; They fell under my feet. |
18:39 For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me. |
18:40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroyed those who hated me. |
18:41 They cried for help, but no one came to my defense, Even to the LORD, but He did not answer them. |
18:42 Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets. |
18:43 You have delivered me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me. |
18:44 As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners submit to me. |
18:45 Foreigners fade away, And come trembling out of their fortresses. |
18:46 The LORD lives, and I bless my rock; And I exalt the God of my salvation, |
18:47 The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me. |
18:48 He delivers me from my enemies; Surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man. |
18:49 Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O LORD, and I will sing praises to Your name. |
18:50 He gives great deliverance to His king, and shows lovingkindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever. |