Psalms 18 A Song of Praise to God for His Many Blessings

 Psalms 18

A Song of Praise to God for His Many Blessings

1 I will love you, O Lord, my strength, with all my heart.

2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my fortress, in whom I trust, my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

3 I will call upon the name of the Lord, who is worthy of praise; I shall be saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of wickedness made me afraid.

5 The cords of hell encompassed me, the snares of death overcame me.

6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, I cried out to my God; from his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him into his ears.

7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the mountains also moved and shook, because he was angry.

 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and fire came out of his mouth and consumed; coals were kindled from him.

9 He bowed the heavens and came down, and darkness was under his feet.

10 He rode upon a cherub and flew; he flew on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his hiding place; his pavilion was thick as waters and thick as clouds.

12 At the brightness of his presence the clouds were scattered, hail and coals of fire.

13 Then the Lord thundered in the heavens, the Most High uttered his voice; hail and coals of fire followed.

14 He sent out his arrows and scattered them; he sent out lightning bolts and shook them.

15 Then the channels of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare; at your rebuke, O 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.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.

18 They surprised me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my help.

19 He brought me out into a large place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; he repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.

21 Because I kept the ways of the Lord, and did not wickedly depart from my God.

22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not reject his statutes.

23 I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from my iniquity. 

24 Therefore the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. 

25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful, and with the blameless you will show yourself blameless.

 26 With the pure you will show yourself pure, and with the perverse you will show yourself unyielding. 

27 For you will save the afflicted people, and will bring down the haughty looks.

 28 For you will light my lamp; the Lord my God will illuminate my darkness. 

29 For with you I have walked through a troop; with my God I have leaped over a wall. 

30 The way of God is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; he is a shield to all who trust in him.

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

 32 It is God who girds me with strength, who makes my way perfect.

 33 He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me on my high places. 

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

 35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation; your right hand has held me up, and your gentleness has made me great.

 36 You have enlarged my steps, so that my ankles did not slip. 

37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not return until I had consumed them. 

38 I have thrust them through, so that they could not rise; they fell under my feet. 

39 For you have girded me with strength for battle; you have subdued under me those who rose up against me. 

40 You have also given me the necks of my enemies, that I might destroy those who hate me. 

41 They cried, but there was no one to save them; even to the Lord, but he did not answer them.

42 Then I crushed them like dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

43 You rescued me from the strivings of the people, and made me the head of the nations; a people I did not know will serve me.

44 They will obey me when they hear my voice; strangers will submit to me.

45 Strangers will fall and be afraid in their strongholds.

46 The Lord lives: and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation.

47 It is God who avenges me completely, who subdues the peoples under me;

48 He who rescues me from my enemies; - yes, you exalt me ​​above those who rise up against me, you rescue me from the violent man. 

49 Therefore I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing praises to your name.

50 He makes great victories for his king, and shows lovingkindness to his anointed, to David and his descendants forever.