Psalms 18
18
PSALM 18
Common Meter: 8,6,8,6
To the chief Musician,
A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,
1Thee will I love, O Lord, my strength.
2My fortress is the Lord,
My rock, and he that doth to me
deliverance afford:
My God, my strength, whom I will trust,
a buckler unto me,
The horn of my salvation,
and my high tow'r, is he.
3Upon the Lord, who worthy is
of praises, will I cry;
And then shall I preserved be
safe from mine enemy.
4Floods of ill men affrighted me,
death's pangs about me went;
5Hell's sorrows me environed;
death's snares did me prevent.
6In my distress I call'd on God,
cry to my God did I;
He from his temple heard my voice,
to his ears came my cry.
7Th' earth, as affrighted, then did shake,
trembling upon it seiz'd:
The hills' foundations moved were,
because he was displeas'd.
8Up from his nostrils came a smoke,
and from his mouth there came
Devouring fire, and coals by it
were turned into flame.
9He also bowed down the heav'ns,
and thence he did descend;
And thickest clouds of darkness did
under his feet attend.
10And he upon a cherub rode,
and thereon he did fly;
Yea, on the swift wings of the wind
his flight was from on high.
11He darkness made his secret place:
about him, for his tent,
Dark waters were, and thickest clouds
of th' airy firmament.
12And at the brightness of that light,
which was before his eye,
His thick clouds pass'd away, hailstones
and coals of fire did fly.
13The Lord God also in the heav'ns
did thunder in his ire;
And there the Highest gave his voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14Yea, he his arrows sent abroad,
and them he scattered;
His lightnings also he shot out,
and them discomfited.
15The waters' channels then were seen,
the world's foundations vast
At thy rebuke discover'd were,
and at thy nostrils' blast.
16And from above the Lord sent down,
and took me from below;
From many waters he me drew,
which would me overflow.
17He me reliev'd from my strong foes,
and such as did me hate;
Because he saw that they for me
too strong were, and too great.
18They me prevented in the day
of my calamity;
But even then the Lord himself
a stay was unto me.
19He to a place where liberty
and room was hath me brought;
Because he took delight in me,
he my deliv'rance wrought.
20According to my righteousness
he did me recompense,
He me repaid according to
my hands' pure innocence.
21For I God's ways kept, from my God
did not turn wickedly.
22His judgments were before me, I
his laws put not from me.
23Sincere before him was my heart;
with him upright was I;
And watchfully I kept myself
from mine iniquity.
24After my righteousness the Lord
hath recompensed me,
After the cleanness of my hands
appearing in his eye.
25Thou gracious to the gracious art,
to upright men upright:
26Pure to the pure, froward thou kyth'st
unto the froward wight.
27For thou wilt the afflicted save
in grief that low do lie:
But wilt bring down the countenance
of them whose looks are high.
28The Lord will light my candle so,
that it shall shine full bright:
The Lord my God will also make
my darkness to be light.
29By thee through troops of men I break,
and them discomfit all;
And, by my God assisting me,
I overleap a wall.
30As for God, perfect is his way:
the Lord his word is try'd;
He is a buckler to all those
who do in him confide.
31Who but the Lord is God? but he
who is a rock and stay?
32'Tis God that girdeth me with strength,
and perfect makes my way.
33He made my feet swift as the hinds,
set me on my high places.
34Mine hands to war he taught, mine arms
brake bows of steel in pieces.
35The shield of thy salvation
thou didst on me bestow:
Thy right hand held me up, and great
thy kindness made me grow.
36And in my way my steps thou hast
enlarged under me,
That I go safely, and my feet
are kept from sliding free.
37Mine en'mies I pursued have,
and did them overtake;
Nor did I turn again till I
an end of them did make.
38I wounded them, they could not rise;
they at my feet did fall.
39Thou girdedst me with strength for war;
my foes thou brought'st down all:
40And thou hast giv'n to me the necks
of all mine enemies;
That I might them destroy and slay,
who did against me rise.
41They cried out, but there was none
that would or could them save;
Yea, they did cry unto the Lord,
but he no answer gave.
42Then did I beat them small as dust
before the wind that flies;
And I did cast them out like dirt
upon the street that lies.
43Thou mad'st me free from people's strife,
and heathen's head to be:
A people whom I have not known
shall service do to me.
44At hearing they shall me obey,
to me they shall submit.
45Strangers for fear shall fade away,
who in close places sit.
46God lives, bless'd be my Rock; the God
of my health praised be.
47God doth avenge me, and subdues
the people under me.
48He saves me from mine enemies;
yea, thou hast lifted me
Above my foes; and from the man
of vi'lence set me free.
49Therefore to thee will I give thanks
the heathen folk among;
And to thy name, O Lord, I will
sing praises in a song.
50He great deliv'rance gives his king:
he mercy doth extend
To David, his anointed one,
and his seed without end.
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Psalms 18
18
A King’s Thanksgiving for Victory
1For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord, who sang to the Lord the words of this song after the Lord had rescued him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2He said:#2 Sm 22:2–51.
I
I love you, Lord, my strength,
3Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, my saving horn,#My saving horn: my strong savior. The horn referred to is the weapon of a bull and the symbol of fertility, cf. 1 Sm 2:10; Ps 132:17; Lk 1:69. my stronghold!#Ps 3:4; 31:3–4; 42:10; Gn 49:24; Dt 32:4.
4Praised be the Lord, I exclaim!
I have been delivered from my enemies.
II
5The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
6The cords#Cords: hunting imagery, the cords of a snare. of Sheol encircled me;
the snares of death lay in wait for me.#Ps 88:8; 93:3–4; 116:3–4.
7In my distress I called out: Lord!
I cried out to my God.#Jon 2:3.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry to him reached his ears.
8#God appears in the storm, which in Palestine comes from the west. The introduction to the theophany (Ps 18:8–9) is probably a description of a violent, hot, and dry east-wind storm. In the fall transition period from the rainless summer to the rainy winter such storms regularly precede the rains, cf. Ex 14:21–22.The earth rocked and shook;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they shook as his wrath flared up.#Ps 97:3–4; 99:1; Jgs 5:4–5; Is 64:1; Heb 3:9–11.
9Smoke rose from his nostrils,
a devouring fire from his mouth;
it kindled coals into flame.
10He parted the heavens and came down,
a dark cloud under his feet.#Ps 104:3; 144:5; Is 63:19.
11Mounted on a cherub#Cherub: a winged creature, derived from myth, in the service of the deity (Gn 3:24; Ex 25:18–20; 37:6–9). Cherubim were the throne bearers of the deity (Ps 80:2; 99:1; 1 Kgs 6:23–28; 8:6–8). he flew,
borne along on the wings of the wind.
12He made darkness his cloak around him;
his canopy, water-darkened stormclouds.
13From the gleam before him, his clouds passed,
hail and coals of fire.#Ex 13:21; 19:16.
14The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice resound.#Ps 29; 77:19; Ex 19:19; Jb 37:3–4.
15He let fly his arrows#Arrows: lightning. and scattered them;
shot his lightning bolts and dispersed them.#Ps 144:6; Wis 5:21.
16Then the bed of the sea appeared;
the world’s foundations lay bare,#Ps 77:17; Zec 9:14.
At your rebuke, O Lord,
at the storming breath of your nostrils.
17He reached down from on high and seized me;
drew me out of the deep waters.#Ps 144:7.
18He rescued me from my mighty enemy,
from foes too powerful for me.
19They attacked me on my day of distress,
but the Lord was my support.
20He set me free in the open;
he rescued me because he loves me.
III
21The Lord acknowledged my righteousness,
rewarded my clean hands.#Ps 26; 1 Sm 26:23.
22For I kept the ways of the Lord;
I was not disloyal to my God.
23For his laws were all before me,
his decrees I did not cast aside.
24I was honest toward him;
I was on guard against sin.
25So the Lord rewarded my righteousness,
the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26Toward the faithful you are faithful;
to the honest man you are honest;#Ps 125:4.
27Toward the pure, you are pure;
but to the perverse you are devious.
28For humble people you save;
haughty eyes you bring low.#Jb 22:29; Prv 3:34.
29For you, Lord, give light to my lamp;
my God brightens my darkness.#Ps 27:1; 36:10; 43:3; 119:105; Jb 29:3; Mi 7:8.
30With you I can rush an armed band,
with my God to help I can leap a wall.
31God’s way is unerring;
the Lord’s promise is refined;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.#Ps 12:6; 77:13; Prv 30:5.
IV
32Truly, who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is the rock?#Is 44:8; 45:21.
33This God who girded me with might,
kept my way unerring,
34Who made my feet like a deer’s,
and set me on the heights,#Heb 3:19.
35Who trained my hands for war,
my arms to string a bow of bronze.#Bow of bronze: hyperbole for a bow difficult to bend and therefore capable of propelling an arrow with great force.#Ps 144:1.
V
36You have given me your saving shield;
your right hand has upheld me;
your favor made me great.
37You made room for my steps beneath me;
my ankles never twisted.#Ps 17:5.
38I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till I destroyed them.
39I decimated them; they could not rise;
they fell at my feet.
40You girded me with valor for war,
subjugated my opponents beneath me.
41You made my foes expose their necks to me;
those who hated me I silenced.
42They cried for help, but no one saved them;
cried to the Lord but received no answer.
43I ground them to dust before the wind;
I left them like mud in the streets.
44You rescued me from the strife of peoples;
you made me head over nations.
A people I had not known served me;
45as soon as they heard of me they obeyed.
Foreigners submitted before me;
46foreigners cringed;
they came cowering from their dungeons.#Mi 7:17.
VI
47The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock!#Ps 144:1.
Exalted be God, my savior!
48O God who granted me vengeance,
made peoples subject to me,#Ps 144:2.
49and saved me from my enemies,
Truly you have elevated me above my opponents,
from a man of lawlessness you have rescued me.
50Thus I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.#Ps 7:18; 30:5; 57:9; 135:3; 146:2; Rom 15:9.
51You have given great victories to your king,
and shown mercy to his anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.#Ps 89:28–37; 144:10; 1 Sm 2:10.
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