Psalms 18
1 For the music director. Of the servant of the LORD, David, who spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day the LORD rescued him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
2 He said: “I love you, LORD, my strength.”
3 The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield, the strength that saves me, my high refuge.
4 I call on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.
5 The cords of death wrapped around me; torrents of destruction terrified me.
6 The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the traps of death came upon me.
7 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried out to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry reached his ears.
8 The earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the mountains rocked and quaked, because he was furious.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils, and devouring fire came from his mouth; coals blazed because of him.
10 He bent the heavens and came down; dark clouds were beneath his feet.
11 He mounted a cherub and flew; he glided on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his hiding place; around him, his tent was dark waters and thick clouds.
13 From the brightness before him, the clouds passed by, with hail and fiery coals.
14 The LORD thundered in the heavens; the Most High made his voice ring out, with hail and fiery coals.
15 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemies; he sent many lightning bolts and threw them into panic.
16 Then the channels of the waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of wind from your nostrils.
17 From on high he reached out and took hold of me; he pulled me from deep waters.
18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, because they were stronger than I was.
19 They confronted me on the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.
20 He brought me out into a spacious place; he set me free, because he delighted in me.
21 The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness; he repaid me according to the purity of my hands.
22 For I kept the ways of the LORD and did not turn from my God to do evil.
23 All his judgments are before me, and I have not put his decrees away from me.
24 I was blameless with him and kept myself from my guilt.
25 The LORD repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the purity of my hands in his sight.
26 With the faithful you show yourself faithful; with the blameless man, blameless.
27 With the pure you show yourself pure; with the crooked, shrewd.
28 For you save a humble people, but you bring down proud eyes.
29 For you light my lamp; the LORD my God brightens my darkness.
30 With you I advance against a troop; with my God I leap over a wall.
31 God's way is blameless; the word of the LORD is tested by fire. He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God besides the LORD? And who is a rock except our God?
33 God is the one who girds me with strength and makes my way blameless.
34 He makes my feet like those of deer and sets me secure on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle, and my arms bend a bronze bow.
36 You gave me the shield of your salvation; your right hand sustains me, and your humility makes me great.
37 You make a wide path beneath my steps, and my ankles do not falter.
38 I pursue my enemies and catch them; I do not turn back until I have finished them off.
39 I crush them, and they cannot rise; they fall beneath my feet.
40 You girded me with strength for battle; you brought down beneath me those who rose against me.
41 You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroyed those who hated me.
42 They cried out for help, but no one came to save them; they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer.
43 I ground them like dust blown by the wind; I swept them away like mud in the streets.
44 You rescued me from the people's quarrels and made me head of the nations; a people I did not know serves me.
45 As soon as they hear of me, they obey me; foreigners pretend to submit to me.
46 Foreigners lose heart and come trembling out of their hiding places.
47 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be the God of my salvation.
48 God is the one who gives me vengeance and brings peoples under me.
49 He rescues me from my enemies. You lift me above those who rise against me; you rescue me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I praise you among the nations, LORD, and sing to your name.
51 He gives great victories to his king and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
Read and listen to this chapter in the Shalem app, free: narration, chapter video and reading progress. Get the app