Psalms 18

Psalm 18

Royal Thanksgiving for Victory

To the leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2 # Ps 9.9; 11.1; 19.14; 40.17; 59.11; 75.10; 91.2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,

my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 # Num 10.9; Ps 48.1 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,

so I shall be saved from my enemies.

4 # Ps 116.3; 124.3, 4 The cords of death encompassed me;

the torrents of perdition assailed me;

5 # Ps 116.3; Prov 14.27 the cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6 # Ps 11.4; 34.15; 86.7 In my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

7 # Ps 68.7, 8; 114.4, 6 Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and reeled because he was angry.

8Smoke went up from his nostrils

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

9 # Ex 20.21; Ps 144.5 He bowed the heavens and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.

10 # Ps 80.1; 104.3 He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.

11 # Ps 97.2 He made darkness his covering around him,

his canopy thick clouds dark with water.

12 # Ps 104.2; 140.10 Out of the brightness before him

there broke through his clouds

hailstones and coals of fire.

13 # Ps 29.3; 104.7 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his voice.#18.13 Gk: Heb adds hailstones and coals of fire

14 # Ex 14.24; Judg 4.15; Ps 7.13; 144.6 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.

15 # Ex 15.8; Ps 76.6; 106.9 Then the channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your rebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 # Ps 144.7 He reached down from on high; he took me;

he drew me out of mighty waters.

17 # v 48 ; Ps 35.10He delivered me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.

18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

19 # Ps 31.8; 37.23; 118.5 He brought me out into a broad place;

he delivered me because he delighted in me.

20 # 1 Kings 8.32; Ps 7.8 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me.

21 # Ps 119.33 For I have kept the ways of the Lord

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 # Ps 119.30, 83 For all his ordinances were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

23I was blameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

24 # 1 Sam 26.23 Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 # Mt 5.7 With the loyal you show yourself loyal;

with the blameless you show yourself blameless;

26 # Job 25.5; Prov 3.34 with the pure you show yourself pure;

and with the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

27 # Ps 72.12; Prov 6.17 For you deliver a humble people,

but the haughty eyes you bring down.

28 # Job 18.6; 29.3 It is you who light my lamp;

the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.

29 # 2 Cor 12.9; Heb 11.34 By you I can outrun a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

30 # Deut 32.4; Ps 12.6; 17.7 This God—his way is perfect;

the promise of the Lord proves true;

he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

31 # Deut 32.31, 39; Ps 86.8–10; Isa 45.5 For who is God except the Lord?

And who is a rock besides our God?

32The God who has girded me with strength

and made my way safe.#18.32 Meaning of Heb uncertain

33 # Deut 32.13; Hab 3.19 He made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure on the heights.

34 # Job 20.24; Ps 144.1 He trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand has supported me;

your help#18.35 Or gentleness has made me great.

36You gave me a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet did not slip.

37 # Ps 37.20; 44.5 I pursued my enemies and overtook them

and did not turn back until they were consumed.

38 # Ps 36.12; 47.3; 110.6 I struck them down so that they were unable to rise;

they fell under my feet.

39 # vv 32, 47 For you girded me with strength for the battle;

you made my assailants sink under me.

40 # Ps 94.23 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,

and those who hated me I destroyed.

41 # Ps 50.22; Prov 1.28 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them;

they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

42 # Ps 83.13 I beat them fine, like dust before the wind;

I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43 # Ps 35.1; Isa 55.5 You delivered me from strife with the peoples;#18.43 Gk Tg: Heb people

you made me head of the nations;

people whom I had not known served me.

44As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me;

foreigners came cringing to me.

45 # Ps 37.2; Mic 7.17 Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling out of their strongholds.

46 # Ps 42.2; 51.14 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation,

47 # Ps 47.3; 94.1 the God who gave me vengeance

and subdued peoples under me,

48 # Ps 27.6; 140.1, 4 who delivered me from my enemies;

indeed, you exalted me above my adversaries;

you delivered me from the violent.

49 # Ps 108.1; Rom 15.9 For this I will extol you, O Lord, among the nations

and sing praises to your name.

50 # Ps 28.8; 89.4, 29; 144.10 Great triumphs he gives to his king

and shows steadfast love to his anointed,

to David and his descendants forever.

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Psalms 18: NRSVUE

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