Psalm 18; 2 Samuel 22

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Psalm 18

The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, fthe servant of the Lord, gwho addressed the words of this hsong 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:

I love you, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my irock and my jfortress and my deliverer,

my God, my irock, in kwhom I take refuge,

my lshield, and mthe horn of my salvation, my nstronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is oworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

pThe cords of death encompassed me;

qthe torrents of destruction assailed me;1

pthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

rIn my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I cried for help.

From his stemple he heard my voice,

and my cry to him reached his ears.

Then the earth treeled and rocked;

the foundations also of the mountains trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils,2

and devouring ufire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He vbowed the heavens and wcame down;

xthick darkness was under his feet.

10  He rode on a cherub and flew;

he came swiftly on zthe wings of the wind.

11  He made darkness his covering, his acanopy around him,

thick clouds bdark with water.

12  Out of the brightness before him

chailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

13  The Lord also dthundered in the heavens,

and the Most High uttered his evoice,

hailstones and coals of fire.

14  And he sent out his farrows and scattered them;

he flashed forth lightnings and grouted them.

15  Then hthe channels of the sea were seen,

and the foundations of the world were laid bare

at your irebuke, O Lord,

at the blast of jthe breath of your nostrils.

16  He ksent from on high, he took me;

he ldrew me out of mmany waters.

17  He rescued me from my strong enemy

and from those who hated me,

for they were ntoo mighty for me.

18  They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

19  He brought me out into oa broad place;

he rescued me, because he pdelighted in me.

20  The Lord dealt with me qaccording to my righteousness;

according to rthe cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

21  For I have skept the ways of the Lord,

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22  For tall his rules3 were before me,

and his statutes I did not put away from me.

23  I was ublameless before him,

and I kept myself from my guilt.

24  So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25  With vthe merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;

26  with the purified you show yourself pure;

and with wthe crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

27  For you save xa humble people,

but ythe haughty eyes you bring down.

28  For it is you who light my zlamp;

the Lord my God lightens my darkness.

29  For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can aleap over ba wall.

30  This Godhis way is cperfect;4

the word of the Lord dproves true;

he is ea shield for all those who ftake refuge in him.

31  For gwho is God, but the Lord?

And who is ha rock, except our God?

32  the God who iequipped me with strength

and made my way jblameless.

33  He made my feet like the feet of a kdeer

and set me secure on lthe heights.

34  He mtrains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35  You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your right hand nsupported me,

and your ogentleness made me great.

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

and my feet did not slip.

37  I pursued my enemies and overtook them,

and did not turn back till they were consumed.

38  I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;

they fell under my feet.

39  For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made those who rise against me sink under me.

40  You made my enemies qturn their backs to me,5

and those who hated me I destroyed.

41  rThey cried for help, but there was none to save;

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

42  I beat them fine as sdust before the wind;

I cast them out like tthe mire of the streets.

43  You delivered me from ustrife with the people;

you made me vthe head of the nations;

wpeople whom I had not known served me.

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

xforeigners ycame cringing to me.

45  xForeigners lost heart

and zcame trembling out of their fortresses.

46  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be the God of my salvation

47  the God who gave me vengeance

and asubdued peoples under me,

48  who rescued me from my enemies;

yes, you bexalted me above those who rose against me;

you delivered me from cthe man of violence.

49  dFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and esing to your name.

50  Great fsalvation he brings to his king,

and shows steadfast love to his ganointed,

to hDavid and his offspring forever.


2 Samuel 22

David’s Song of Deliverance

And David spoke zto the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. aHe said,

bThe Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

cmy1 God, my rock, din whom I take refuge,

emy shield, and fthe horn of my salvation,

gmy stronghold and hmy refuge,

my savior; you save me from violence.

I call upon the Lord, who is iworthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

jFor the waves of death encompassed me,

the torrents of destruction assailed me;2

kthe cords of Sheol entangled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

lIn my distress I called upon the Lord;

to my God I called.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry mcame to his ears.

Then nthe earth reeled and rocked;

othe foundations of the heavens trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils,3

and devouring fire from his mouth;

pglowing coals flamed forth from him.

10  qHe bowed the heavens and rcame down;

sthick darkness was under his feet.

11  He rode on a cherub and flew;

he was seen on tthe wings of the wind.

12  He made sdarkness around him uhis canopy,

thick clouds, a gathering of water.

13  Out of the brightness before him

vcoals of fire flamed forth.

14  wThe Lord thundered from heaven,

and the Most High uttered his voice.

15  And he sent out xarrows and scattered them;

lightning, and routed them.

16  Then the channels of the sea were seen;

the foundations of the world were laid bare,

at the rebuke of the Lord,

at the yblast of the breath of his nostrils.

17  zHe sent from on high, he took me;

he drew me out of many waters.

18  He rescued me from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.

19  They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the Lord was my support.

20  aHe brought me out into a broad place;

he rescued me, because bhe delighted in me.

21  The Lord cdealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the dcleanness of my hands he rewarded me.

22  eFor I have kept the ways of the Lord

and have not wickedly departed from my God.

23  fFor all his rules were before me,

and from his statutes I did not turn aside.

24  I was gblameless before him,

and I kept myself from guilt.

25  dAnd the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to my cleanness in his sight.

26  hWith the merciful you show yourself merciful;

with the gblameless man you show yourself blameless;

27  with the purified you deal purely,

and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.

28  iYou save a humble people,

jbut your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.

29  kFor you are my lamp, O Lord,

and my God lightens my darkness.

30  For by you I can run against a troop,

and by my God I can leap over a wall.

31  This Godlhis way is perfect;

the mword of the Lord proves true;

he is na shield for all those who take refuge in him.

32  For who is God, but the Lord?

oAnd who is a rock, except our God?

33  This God is my pstrong refuge

and has made my4 way blameless.5

34  qHe made my feet like the feet of a deer

and set me secure ron the heights.

35  sHe trains my hands for war,

so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36  You have given me the shield of your salvation,

and your gentleness made me great.

37  tYou gave a wide place for my steps under me,

and my feet6 did not slip;

38  I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

and did not turn back until they were consumed.

39  I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;

they fell uunder my feet.

40  For you equipped me with strength for the battle;

you made vthose who rise against me sink under me.

41  You wmade my enemies turn their backs to me,7

those who hated me, and I destroyed them.

42  They looked, but there was none to save;

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

43  I beat them fine yas the dust of the earth;

I crushed them and stamped them down zlike the mire of the streets.

44  You delivered me from strife with my people;8

you kept me as the head of athe nations;

bpeople whom I had not known served me.

45  Foreigners came cringing to me;

as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.

46  Foreigners lost heart

and came trembling9 cout of their fortresses.

47  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,

and exalted be dmy God, ethe rock of my salvation,

48  the God who gave me vengeance

and fbrought down peoples under me,

49  who brought me out from my enemies;

you exalted me above vthose who rose against me;

you delivered me from gmen of violence.

50  hFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,

and sing praises to your name.

51  iGreat salvation he brings10 to his king,

and shows steadfast love to jhis anointed,

to David and his offspring kforever.