Old Testament · Psalms

Psalms 18

The LORD Is My Rock

(2 Samuel 22:1–51)

1To the choirmaster. Of the servant of the LORD, of David, who spoke to the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the palm of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul;

2And he said: I love you, O LORD, my strength.
3The LORD is 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 (Yeshuah), my high tower.
4Praised, I call the LORD, and from my enemies I am saved^a.
5The cords of death compassed me, and the torrents of Belial terrified me.
6The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.
7In my distress I call the LORD, and to my God I cry; he hears my voice from his temple, and my cry before him comes into his ears.
8Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and were shaken, because he was angry.
9Smoke went up in his nostrils, and fire from his mouth devoured; coals burned from him.
10And he bowed the heavens and came down; and thick darkness was under his feet.
11And he rode upon a cherub and flew; and he swooped upon the wings of the wind^b.
12He made darkness his hiding place, around him his pavilion — darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
13From the brightness before him his clouds passed — hail and coals of fire.
14And the LORD thundered in the heavens, and the Most High^c gave his voice — hail and coals of fire.
15And he sent his arrows and scattered them; and lightnings he shot, and discomfited them.
16And the channels of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were uncovered, at your rebuke, O LORD, at the breath^d of the wind of your nostrils.
17He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
18He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me, for they were mightier than me.
19They confronted me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was a support to me.
20And he brought me out to a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
21The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he repaid me.
22For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23For all his judgments^e are before me, and his statutes^f I do not put away from me.
24And I was blameless with him, and I kept myself from my iniquity.
25And the LORD repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.
26With the faithful you show yourself faithful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
27With the pure you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.
28For you save an afflicted people; but haughty eyes you bring low.
29For you light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.
30For by you I run against a troop, and by my God I leap over a wall.
31As for God, his way is blameless; the word of the LORD is refined; he is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
32For who is God except the LORD? And who is a rock besides our God?
33The God who girds me with strength, and makes my way blameless;
34Who makes my feet like the hinds, and sets me upon my high places;
35Who trains my hands for war, and my arms bend a bow of bronze.
36And you have given me the shield of your salvation (Yeshuah), and your right hand supports me, and your gentleness makes me great.
37You enlarge my steps under me, and my ankles have not slipped.
38I pursue my enemies and overtake them; and I do not turn back until they are consumed.
39I smite them through, and they cannot rise; they fall under my feet.
40And you girded me with strength for war; you made those who rose against me bow down under me.
41And my enemies — you gave me their backs, and those who hated me I cut off.
42They cried, but there was no savior; to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
43And I beat them small as dust^g before the face of the wind; as the mire of the streets I cast them out.
44You deliver me from the strivings of the people; you make me the head of nations; a people I have not known serve me^h.
45At the hearing of the ear they obey me; the sons of the foreigner cringe before me.
46The sons of the foreigner fade away, and come trembling out of their strongholds.
47The LORD livesⁱ, and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation (Yeshuah).
48The God who gives me vengeance, and subdues peoples under me;
49My deliverer from my enemies; yes, above those who rise against me you lift me up; from the man^j of violence you deliver me.
50Therefore I give thanks to you among the nations, O LORD, and to your name I sing praises.
51Making great the salvations (Yeshuah) of his king, and showing kindness to his anointed, to David and to his seed, forever.