Psalm 18 (17)
A liberator gives thanks to God. This psalm celebrates a victory. Enthusiasm, fervor, gratitude: God has shaken the universe to come to my help.
2 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
3 The Lord is my rock, my fortress,
my deliverer and my God.
He is the rock in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield, my powerful savior, my stronghold.
4 I call on the Lord, who is worthy of praise: he saves me from my enemies!
5 A deadly flood surrounded me,
devilish torrents rushed at me;
6 caught by the cords of the grave,
I was brought to the snares of death.
7 But I called upon the Lord in my distress,
I cried to my God for help; and from his temple he heard my voice,
my cry of grief reached his ears.
8 Then the earth reeled and rock ed;
the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled at his fury.
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
from his mouth a devouring fire
throw ing off live embers.
10 He bent the heavens and came down
with dark clouds under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew,
borne on the swift wings of the wind.
12 Veiled with darkness surrounding him,
he made misty rain clouds his tent.
13 Then from the brightness of his presence
hail and fiery embers broke forth.
14 From heaven the Lord thundered;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
15 Sending out a hail of arrows, he scattered them;
flashing forth bolts of lightning, he routed them.
16 The beds of the seas appeared,
the foundations of the world were laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at the blast of his breath.
17 Reaching down from above,
he drew me out of the deep waters.
18 Too strong for me were my enemies,
but he rescued me from my adversaries.
19 They launched their attack on an op portune day,
but the Lord was my support.
20 He has set me out in the open,
he saved me because he cares for me!
21 The Lord rewarded me for my justice,
according to my righteousness.
22 For I have been faithful to the Lord’s way
and have not departed from my God.
23 All his ordinances are before me,
I have always followed his statutes.
24 Before him I have done uprightly
and kept myself from iniquity.
25 The Lord treats me according to my merits,
according to the clean ness of my hands.
26 With the faithful you are faithful;
with the blameless you are blameless;
27 with the pure you are pure but with the crooked you are astute.
28 For you raise up the humble
and bring down the arrogant.
29 Lord, you give light to my lamp.
O my God, you brighten my darkness.
30 Yes, with you I charge the armed bands,
and by my God I leap over the wall.
31 This God – his way is perfect;
the word of the Lord can stand fire.
He is a shield for those who seek refuge in him.
32 There is no other God but Yahweh.
There is no other rock but our God.
33 He is the God who girds me with strength
and prepares my ways.
34 He makes my feet as swift as the deer’s;
he sets me securely on the heights.
35 He trains my hands for war
and my arms to bend the bronze-bow.
36 You give me your shield for protection,
your right hand upholds me,
and your help makes me great.
37 You enlarge the space before me,
my step will not falter.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them,
I do not turn back till I have destroyed them.
39 Thrusting them through,
I do not give them time to rise;
they fall under my feet.
40 You give me strength for the battle;
you subdue my adver saries beneath me;
41 you put my enemies to flight
and destroy those who hate me.
42 They cry for help, but no one comes.
They cry to the Lord; he does not answer them.
43 I pulverize them as dust before the wind;
like mud in the streets I trample them.
44 You delivered me from my peo ple’s quarrels
and made me head over the nations.
They came to serve me – people I have not known.
45 At the sound of my voice, they rose to obey,
foreigners fawned before me.
46 Staggering out of their fortresses,
they came to me cringing and trembling.
47 The Lord lives! Praised be my rock!
Exalted be my savior God –
48 the God who grants me vengeance
and subdues the peoples for me.
49 He delivers me from my foes;
he exalts me above my adversaries;
he rescues me from violent people.
50 For this I extol you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing praise to your name, saying:
51 “He has given victories to his king;
he has shown his love to his anointed ones,
to David, and to his descendants forever.”