Psalms 18
18
God the Sovereign Savior
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David #Ps. 36:titlethe servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of #2 Sam. 22this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
1I #Ps. 144:1will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, #Heb. 2:13in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3I will call upon the Lord, #Ps. 76:4; Rev. 5:12who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.
4#Ps. 116:3The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.
7#Acts 4:31Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
8Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
9#Ps. 144:5He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.
10#Ps. 80:1; 99:1And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
#(Ps. 104:3)He flew upon the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness His secret place;
#Ps. 97:2His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.
12#Ps. 97:3; 140:10; Hab. 3:11From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.
13The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered #(Ps. 29:3–9; 104:7)His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14#Josh. 10:10; Ps. 144:6; Is. 30:30; Hab. 3:11He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.
15Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16#Ps. 144:7He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.
18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.
19#Ps. 4:1; 31:8; 118:5He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
20#1 Sam. 24:19; (Job 33:26); Ps. 7:8The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
21For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
22For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
23I was also blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
24#1 Sam. 26:23; Ps. 18:20Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.
25#(1 Kin. 8:32; Ps. 62:12); Matt. 5:7With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And #(Lev. 26:23–28); Prov. 3:34with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
27For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down #(Ps. 101:5); Prov. 6:17haughty looks.
28#1 Kin. 15:4; Job 18:6; (Ps. 119:105)For You will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29For by You I can run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.
30As for God, #(Deut. 32:4); Rev. 15:3His way is perfect;
#Ps. 12:6; 119:140; (Prov. 30:5)The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield #(Ps. 17:7)to all who trust in Him.
31#(Deut. 32:31, 39; 1 Sam. 2:2; Ps. 86:8–10; Is. 45:5)For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
32It is God who #(Ps. 91:2)arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.
33#2 Sam. 2:18; Hab. 3:19He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And #Deut. 32:13; 33:29sets me on my high places.
34#Ps. 144:1He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.
36You enlarged my path under me,
#Ps. 66:9; Prov. 4:12So my feet did not slip.
37I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
38I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.
39For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
41They cried out, but there was none to save;
#Job 27:9; Prov. 1:28; Is. 1:15; Ezek. 8:18; Zech. 7:13Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I #Zech. 10:5cast them out like dirt in the streets.
43You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;
#2 Sam. 8; Ps. 89:27You have made me the head of the nations;
#Is. 52:15A people I have not known shall serve me.
44As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners submit to me.
45#Mic. 7:17The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.
46The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47It is God who avenges me,
#Ps. 47:3And subdues the peoples under me;
48He delivers me from my enemies.
#Ps. 27:6; 59:1You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49#2 Sam. 22:50; Rom. 15:9Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.
50#2 Sam. 7:12; Ps. 21:1; 144:10Great deliverance He gives to His king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forevermore.
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Psalms 18: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Psalm 18
18
The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, #Ps. 36, title; 89:3, 20; [2 Sam. 3:18; 7:5] the servant of the Lord, #See 2 Sam. 22 who addressed the words of this #Ex. 15:1; Deut. 31:30song 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:
1I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2The Lord is my #ver. 31, 46; Ps. 19:14; 31:3 rock and my #Ps. 91:2; 144:2 fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my #ver. 31, 46; Ps. 19:14; 31:3 rock, in #[Heb. 2:13] whom I take refuge,
my #ver. 30; Gen. 15:1 shield, and #Ps. 112:9; Luke 1:69 the horn of my salvation, my #See Ps. 9:9stronghold.
3I call upon the Lord, who is #Ps. 48:1; 96:4; 113:3; 145:3worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 #
Ps. 116:3; [Ps. 119:61] The cords of death encompassed me;
# See Ps. 32:6 the torrents of destruction assailed me;#18:4 Or terrified me
5 # [See ver. 4 above] the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 #
Ps. 66:14; 102:2; 120:1; [Jonah 2:2] In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his #See Ps. 11:4temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
7Then the earth #[Judg. 5:4; Acts 4:31; 16:26]reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8Smoke went up from his nostrils,#18:8 Or in his wrath
and devouring #See Ps. 21:9fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9He #Ps. 144:5 bowed the heavens and #Isa. 64:1 came down;
# See Ex. 20:21 thick darkness was under his feet.
10He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on #Ps. 104:3the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his covering, his #Job 36:29; [Ps. 97:2] canopy around him,
thick clouds #[Ps. 29:3]dark with water.
12Out of the brightness before him
# [Ps. 148:8; Josh. 10:11] hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13The Lord also #1 Sam. 2:10; 7:10; See Job 37:4 thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his #Isa. 30:30; See Ps. 29:3-9voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14And he sent out his #Ps. 7:13; 64:7; 77:17; 144:6; Deut. 32:23, 42; Hab. 3:11 arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and #Ex. 14:24; Josh. 10:10routed them.
15Then #Ps. 42:1; Joel 1:20 (Heb.); [Job 36:30] the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your #Ps. 106:9; Nah. 1:4 rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of #[Ex. 15:8]the breath of your nostrils.
16He #[Ps. 144:7] sent from on high, he took me;
he #[Ex. 2:10] drew me out of #See Ps. 32:6; Job 22:11many waters.
17He rescued me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were #Ps. 142:6too mighty for me.
18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19He brought me out into #Ps. 31:8; 118:5; [ver. 36] a broad place;
he rescued me, because he #Ps. 22:8; 2 Sam. 15:26delighted in me.
20The Lord dealt with me #Ps. 7:8; 1 Sam. 24:19; 26:23; 1 Kgs. 8:32 according to my righteousness;
according to #See Job 22:30the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21For I have #[Gen. 18:19; Prov. 8:32]kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22For #Ps. 119:30, 102all his rules#18:22 Or just decrees were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23I was #Gen. 17:1; [1 Kgs. 14:8]blameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
24So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25With #Matt. 5:7the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26with the purified you show yourself pure;
and with #Ps. 81:12; Lev. 26:23, 24; Prov. 3:34; Acts 7:42; Rom. 1:28the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27For you save #[Ex. 3:7] a humble people,
but #See Ps. 101:5the haughty eyes you bring down.
28For it is you who light my #Ps. 132:17; 1 Kgs. 11:36; 15:4; 2 Kgs. 8:19; [2 Sam. 21:17]; See Job 18:5, 6lamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
29For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can #[Isa. 35:6] leap over #See 2 Sam. 5:6-9a wall.
30This God—his way is #Deut. 32:4; Dan. 4:37; Matt. 5:48; [Rev. 15:3] perfect;#18:30 Or blameless
the word of the Lord #See Ps. 12:6 proves true;
he is #ver. 2 a shield for all those who #Ps. 17:7take refuge in him.
31For #[Ps. 86:8] who is God, but the Lord?
And who is #See ver. 2a rock, except our God?—
32the God who #1 Sam. 2:4; Isa. 45:5 equipped me with strength
and made my way #Ps. 101:2, 6; 119:1; Job 22:3blameless.
33He made my feet like the feet of a #Hab. 3:19 deer
and set me secure on #Deut. 32:13; Isa. 58:14the heights.
34He #Ps. 144:1trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand #Ps. 20:2 supported me,
and your #[Isa. 63:9]gentleness made me great.
36You #Ps. 31:8; Prov. 4:12; [ver. 19]gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
39For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40You made my enemies #Ex. 23:27; [Ps. 21:12]turn their backs to me,#18:40 Or You gave me my enemies’ necks
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 # See Job 27:9 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42I beat them fine as #2 Kgs. 13:7 dust before the wind;
I cast them out like #Isa. 10:6; Mic. 7:10; Zech. 10:5the mire of the streets.
43You delivered me from #[2 Sam. 3:1; 19:9, 43; 20:1] strife with the people;
you made me #[Ps. 2:8]; See 2 Sam. 8:1-14 the head of the nations;
#
Isa. 55:5; [Ps. 22:27] people whom I had not known served me.
44As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
#
Ps. 144:7 foreigners #Ps. 66:3; 81:15; Deut. 33:29came cringing to me.
45 # [See ver. 44 above] Foreigners lost heart
and #Mic. 7:17came trembling out of their fortresses.
46The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47the God who gave me vengeance
and #Ps. 47:3; 144:2; [Isa. 45:1]subdued peoples under me,
48who rescued me from my enemies;
yes, you #Ps. 59:1 exalted me above those who rose against me;
you delivered me from #Ps. 140:1the man of violence.
49 # Cited Rom. 15:9 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and #Ps. 66:4sing to your name.
50Great #Ps. 144:10 salvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his #See Ps. 2:2 anointed,
to #[Ps. 89:29; 2 Sam. 7:12, 13, 29]David and his offspring forever.
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