Psalms 18:2-48

²The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Savior. He is my God, my rock who protects me. He shields me from harm, his power protects me, he keeps me safe.

³I call for help from the Lord who should be praised, and he saves me from those who hate me.

⁴Ropes of death encircled me, surging waters of destruction flooded over me;

⁵The grave wound its ropes around me; death set snares for me.

⁶In my despair I called on the Lord—I cried out to my God for help. He heard my voice from his Temple—my cry for help reached his ears.

⁷The earth shook to and fro; the foundations of the mountains trembled, shaking because of his anger.

⁸Smoke came out of his nostrils, and fire came from his mouth; burning coals blazed before him.

⁹He parted the heavens and came down, with dark clouds beneath his feet.

¹⁰Riding on an angel he flew, swooping on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He hid himself in darkness, covering himself with black thunderclouds.

¹²Hailstones and burning coals flew out from his brightness, passing through his thick clouds.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High sounded among the hailstones and burning coals.

¹⁴He fired his arrows, scattering his enemies; he routed them with his lightning bolts.

¹⁵You roared, Lord, and by the wind from the breath of your nostrils the valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth were uncovered.

¹⁶He reached down his hand from above and grabbed hold of me. He pulled me out of the deep water.

¹⁷He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and who were much stronger than me.

¹⁸They came at me at my worst possible moment, but the Lord supported me.

¹⁹He set me free, he rescued me because he's my friend.

²⁰The Lord rewarded me because I do what's right; he repaid me because I am innocent.

²¹For I have followed the Lord's ways; I have not sinned by turning away from my God.

²²I have kept all his laws in mind; I have not ignored his commandments.

²³I am blameless in his sight; I keep myself from sinning.

²⁴The Lord rewarded me for doing what's right. I am innocent in his sight.

²⁵You show trust to those who trust; you show integrity to those with integrity,

²⁶You show yourself pure to those who are pure, but you show yourself smart to those who are crafty.

²⁷You save the humble, but you bring down the proud.

²⁸You light my lamp! Lord, my God, you light up my darkness!

²⁹With you, I can charge down a troop of soldiers; with you, my God, I can climb a fortress wall.

³⁰God's way is absolutely right. What the Lord says is trustworthy. He is a shield to all who come to him for protection.

³¹For who is God except the Lord? Who is the rock, except our God?

³²God makes me strong and keeps me safe.

³³He makes me surefooted like the deer, able to walk the heights in safety.

³⁴He teaches me how to fight in battle; he gives me the strength to draw a bronze bow.

³⁵You protect me with the shield of your salvation; you support me with your powerful right hand; your help has made me great.

³⁶You gave me space in which to walk, and prevented my feet from slipping.

³⁷I chased my enemies, and caught up with them. I did not turn around until I had destroyed them.

³⁸I struck them down—they couldn't get up. They fell at my feet.

³⁹You made me strong for battle; you made those who rose up against me kneel down before me.

⁴⁰You made my enemies run away; I destroyed all my enemies.

⁴¹They cried out for help, but no one came to rescue them. They even called out to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

⁴²I ground them into dust, like dust in the wind. I threw them out like mud in the street.

⁴³You rescued me from rebellious people; you made me ruler over nations—people I didn't know now serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear of me, they obey; foreigners cringe before me.

⁴⁵They lose heart, and come trembling in surrender from their strongholds.

⁴⁶The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock! May the God who saves me be praised!

⁴⁷God avenges me, he subdues peoples under me,

⁴⁸he rescues me from those who hate me. You keep me safe from those who rebel against me, you save me from violent men.