• Psalm 18In Hebrew texts 18:1-50 is numbered 18:2-51.

  • 1 I love you, Lord, my strength.
  • 2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
  • 3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.
  • 4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
  • 5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
  • 6 In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.
  • 7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.
  • 8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.
  • 9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.
  • 10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.
  • 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.
  • 12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
  • 13 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.
  • 14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
  • 15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
  • 16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.
  • 17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.
  • 18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support.
  • 19 He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.
  • 20 The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
  • 21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I am not guilty of turning from my God.
  • 22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.
  • 23 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.
  • 24 The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
  • 25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
  • 26 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
  • 27 You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
  • 28 You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
  • 29 With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.
  • 30 As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
  • 31 For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?
  • 32 It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure.
  • 33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he causes me to stand on the heights.
  • 34 He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
  • 35 You make your saving help my shield, and your right hand sustains me; your help has made me great.
  • 36 You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.
  • 37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
  • 38 I crushed them so that they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet.
  • 39 You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me.
  • 40 You made my enemies turn their backs in flight, and I destroyed my foes.
  • 41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the Lord, but he did not answer.
  • 42 I beat them as fine as windblown dust; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
  • 43 You have delivered me from the attacks of the people; you have made me the head of nations. People I did not know now serve me,
  • 44 foreigners cower before me; as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
  • 45 They all lose heart; they come trembling from their strongholds.
  • 46 The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior!
  • 47 He is the God who avenges me, who subdues nations under me,
  • 48 who saves me from my enemies. You exalted me above my foes; from a violent man you rescued me.
  • 49 Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.
  • 50 He gives his king great victories; he shows unfailing love to his anointed, to David and to his descendants forever.