Psalms 18

Psalm 18

The L ord Praised for Rescuing David.

²The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my savior, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

³I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.

⁴¶The ropes of death encompassed me, And the torrents of destruction terrified me.

⁵The ropes of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me.

⁶In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried to my God for help; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷¶Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

⁸Smoke went up out of His nostrils, And fire from His mouth was devouring; Coals burned from it.

⁹He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.

¹⁰He rode on a cherub and flew; And He sped on the wings of the wind.

¹¹He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, Darkness of waters, thick clouds.

¹²From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The Lord also thundered in the heavens, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁴He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, And lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.

¹⁵Then the channels of water appeared, And the foundations of the world were exposed By Your rebuke, Lord, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶¶He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters.

¹⁷He saved 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 disaster, But the Lord was my support.

¹⁹He also brought me out into an open place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

²⁰¶The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.

²¹For I have kept the ways of the Lord, And have not acted wickedly against my God.

²²For all His judgments were before me, And I did not put away His statutes from me.

²³I was also blameless with Him, And I kept myself from my wrongdoing.

²⁴Therefore the Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁵¶With the faithful You show Yourself faithful; With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;

²⁶With the pure You show Yourself pure, And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

²⁷For You save an afflicted people, But You humiliate haughty eyes.

²⁸For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness.

²⁹For by You I can run at a troop of warriors; And by my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰¶As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the Lord is refined; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

³¹For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God,

³²The God who encircles me with strength, And makes my way blameless?

³³He makes my feet like deer’s feet, And sets me up on my high places.

³⁴He trains my hands for battle, So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁵You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, And Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great.

³⁶You enlarge my steps under me, And my feet have not slipped.

³⁷¶I pursued my enemies and overtook them, And I did not turn back until they were consumed.

³⁸I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; They fell under my feet.

³⁹For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.

⁴⁰You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, And I destroyed those who hated me.

⁴¹They cried for help, but there was no one to save, They cried to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

⁴²Then I beat them fine like the dust before the wind; I emptied them out like the mud of the streets.

⁴³¶You have rescued me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; A people whom I have not known serve me.

⁴⁴As soon as they hear, they obey me; Foreigners pretend to obey me.

⁴⁵Foreigners lose heart, And come trembling out of their fortresses.

⁴⁶¶The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; And exalted be the God of my salvation,

⁴⁷The God who executes vengeance for me, And subdues peoples under me.

⁴⁸He rescues me from my enemies; You indeed lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from a violent man.

⁴⁹Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, Lord, And I will sing praises to Your name.

⁵⁰He gives great salvation to His king, And shows faithfulness to His anointed, To David and his descendants forever.

Psalms 18 (NASB)

Click verse numbers to view individual verses with commentary

View interlinear text with original Hebrew/Greek →

Psalms

Chapter 18

18 of 150