Psalm 18
Vers 1
I love you, LORD; you are my strength and power
My fortress is the LORD, my rock and tower;
my strong deliverer to whom I flee,
my shield, my helper, who will rescue me;
my stronghold and the horn of my salvation.
To him I bring my praise and adoration.
I call upon the LORD; he hears my pleas,
and I am saved from all my enemies.
Vers 2
The cords of death were tightly coiled around me;
the torrents of destruction nearly drowned me.
I lay in death’s entangling cords ensnared;
the grave confronted me and I despaired.
I called on God, the LORD my God, to save me;
in my distress his mighty help he gave me.
He from his heavenly temple heard my cry;
it reached his ears: he answered from on high.
Vers 3
The earth then reeled, its pillars rocked and quavered;
the deep foundations of the mountains wavered.
They trembled when they saw God’s wrath awake;
his blazing anger made them heave and quake.
Smoke rose up from his nostrils, black and frightening,
and from his mouth flashed scorching fire and lightning.
He tore the heavens in his anger’s heat,
while clouds of darkness swirled around his feet.
Vers 4
On cherubim he rode, so bright and splendid;
on wings of wind he soared and he descended.
With darkness covered was his majesty;
clouds dark with water were his canopy.
Out of the brightness that advanced before him
hailstones and fire broke through the clouds that bore him.
His rolling thunder echoed through the sky,
the mighty roaring voice of God Most High.
Vers 5
As earth looked on in fearful awe and wonder,
great bolts of lightning split the skies asunder.
He shot his arrows, routed all his foes;
none dared the fury of his wrath oppose.
The ocean’s deep, the bedrock of creation,
you, LORD, laid bare, exposing earth’s foundation;
all trembled at your might and stood aghast
at your rebuke, your nostrils’ angry blast.
Vers 6
From heaven reaching down with his protection,
he pulled me from the waters of destruction.
He saved me from my fiercest enemy,
from those who hate me, foes too strong for me.
In my calamity the LORD was gracious
and brought me to a place serene and spacious.
He came to rescue me and set me free,
for he, the LORD, showed his delight in me.
Vers 7
When foes attacked me, I was safely guarded;
my righteousness the LORD my God rewarded.
According to the cleanness of my hands,
he granted me his gracious recompense.
I have not from his holy laws departed;
before him I was blameless and pure-hearted.
I have committed no iniquity;
with his rewards the LORD has favoured me.
Vers 8
To all those just and faithful in their dealings,
you, LORD, are just, your faithfulness revealing.
Those who are pure and innocent will see
your innocence and perfect purity.
The shrewd and crafty you outdo in cunning
as you expose the evil they are planning.
You save the humble, for you hear their cries,
but you bring low those who have haughty eyes.
Vers 9
The dark around me into brightness turning,
you light my lamp, O LORD, and keep it burning.
With you I face a troop and crush them all,
and with my God I scale the highest wall.
How perfect is his way, how all-excelling!
His word has proven flawless, never failing.
He is for those who in him refuge take
a mighty shield, a fortress none can shake.
Vers 10
Who but the LORD is God, so great in splendour?
Who is a rock but God, my strong defender?
He with his strength has armed and girded me;
my way he has prepared most perfectly.
With him as guide, I will not fall or stumble;
he makes my feet like deer’s feet, swift and nimble;
he lets me stand secure on mountain heights.
There I am safe, supported by his might.
Vers 11
O LORD, you for the day of battle train me,
and with your help you strengthen and sustain me.
My arms can even bend the strongest bow;
all who attack me I will overthrow.
You granted me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand upheld my place and station.
Your gentle care has made me strong and great.
I did not slip: my path is broad and straight.
Vers 12
I chased my enemies and overthrew them;
I did not stop until I could subdue them.
You gave me strength and armed me for the fight;
you made my foes all turn their backs in flight.
None heard their cries, their pleas for preservation;
I pounded them in their humiliation
fine as the windblown dust before my feet;
I cast them out like refuse of the street.
Vers 13
You saved me when beleaguered by the nations;
you made me ruler of their populations,
and foreign people, once to me unknown,
now honour me and cringe before my throne.
When they but heard of me, they all obeyed me,
for you with radiant glory have arrayed me.
They left their strongholds, overcome with fear;
all trembled as before me they drew near.
Vers 14
The LORD, he lives! Praised be my rock forever!
Exalted be my faithful God, my Saviour.
He gives me vengeance, justice he pursues;
he hostile nations under me subdues.
O LORD, you honoured me when foes disgraced me;
you far above my adversaries placed me.
You freed your servant from the tyrant’s might;
the fierce and lawless you have put to flight.
Vers 15
I will extol you, LORD, among the nations
for all your wondrous works of vindication.
Your perfect righteousness I will proclaim
by singing praises to your holy name.
Time after time God makes his king victorious,
grants his anointed triumphs great and glorious.
To David and his offspring he extends
the loving faithfulness that never ends.
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