Psalms 18

Praise to God for His Deliverance

1

For the [music] director. Of David, the servant of Yahweh, who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song {when} Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.

1 And he said: "I love you, O Yahweh, my strength."
2 Yahweh [is] my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock in whom I have taken refuge, my shield and the horn of my deliverance, my stronghold.
3 I called upon Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised, and I was saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death encircled me, and streams of ruin overwhelmed me.
5 The ropes of Sheol surrounded me; [the] snares of death confronted me.
6 In my trouble I called on Yahweh, and to my God I cried for help. He heard my voice from his temple, and my cry for help came up before his presence into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked, and [the] foundations of [the] mountains trembled, and they staggered because he was angry.
8 Smoke went forth from his nose, and fire from his mouth consumed. Burning coals blazed from him.
9 So he bowed [the] heavens and came down with a thick cloud under his feet.
10 And he mounted a cherub and flew, and he swooped down on wings of wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding place; all about him his covering [was] a darkness of waters, {thick clouds}.
12 From the brightness before him his clouds passed over [with] hail and coals of fire.
13 And Yahweh thundered from the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice [with] hail and coals of fire.
14 And he shot his arrows and scattered them, and many lightning bolts and routed them.
15 Then the channels of [the] sea became visible, and [the] foundations of [the] world were uncovered by your rebuke, O Yahweh, by the {blast} of the wind of your nose.
16 He reached from on high; he seized me. He drew me from many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from [those who] hated me because they were stronger than I.
18 They confronted me on the day of disaster, but Yahweh was my support.
19 So he brought me out to a spacious place. He delivered me because he delighted in me.
20 Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands he has repaid me.
21 Because I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not acted wickedly against my God,
22 because all his ordinances [are] before me, and his statutes I have not removed from me,
23 and I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 Therefore Yahweh has repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 To [the] loyal you show yourself loyal. To [the] blameless you show yourself blameless.
26 To [the] pure you show yourself pure. but to [the] wicked you show yourself shrewd.
27 For you deliver humble people, but haughty eyes you humiliate.
28 For you light my lamp; Yahweh, my God, lights up my darkness.
29 For with you I can charge a troop, and with my God I can scale a wall.
30 This God--his way [is] blameless. The word of Yahweh [is] flawless. He [is] a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
31 For who [is] God apart from Yahweh, and who [is] a rock except our God?
32 The God who girded me [with] strength, and made safe my way,
33 he made my feet like the deer's, and on my high places he makes me stand.
34 [He] trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You also gave me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your humility made me great.
36 You enlarged my step under me, and my ankles did not slip.
37 I chased my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were finished [off].
38 I struck them and they were not able to stand up; they fell under my feet.
39 And you girded me [with] strength for the battle; [those] rising against me you made to kneel under me.
40 And you {made my enemies turn their backs}, then I destroyed those [who] hated me.
41 They cried out but there was no rescuer, [even] to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
42 And I ground them like dust {in the wind}, I emptied them out like mud of [the] streets.
43 You rescued me from strife with people; you set me as head (over) nations. People I did not know served me;
44 as soon as {they heard}, they obeyed me. [The] children of a foreign land feigned obedience before me.
45 [The] children of a foreign land {lost heart}, and they came trembling from their strongholds.
46 Yahweh lives, and blessed [be] my rock, and may the God of my salvation be exalted--
47 the God who executed vengeance for me, and subdued peoples under me,
48 who delivered me from my enemies. Indeed, you exalted me higher than [those who] rose against me. You delivered me from the man of violence.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, O Yahweh, and I will sing [the praise] of your name:
50 the one who makes great victories for his king, and [who] shows loyal love for his anointed, to David and to his descendants forever.

Images for Psalms 18

Footnotes 14

  • [a]. Literally "on the day"
  • [b]. The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm; the English verse number is reduced by one
  • [c]. Literally "clouds of clouds"
  • [d]. That is, the enemy
  • [e]. Or "breath"
  • [f]. Or "sent"
  • [g]. Hebrew "The"
  • [h]. Or "refined"
  • [i]. Or "blameless"
  • [j]. Literally "turned to me my enemies' neck"
  • [k]. Literally "on [the] face of [the] wind"
  • [l]. Many Hebrew manuscripts, the LXX, Syriac, and 2 Sam 22:43 read "I crushed them"
  • [m]. Literally "hearing of ear"
  • [n]. Literally "sunk down"

Psalms 18 Commentaries

Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.