Psalms 18:1-18

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD. He sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:

1 ^[a]I love you, LORD, my strength.

2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield^[b] and the horn^[c] of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.

8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.

9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.

10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.^[d]

14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.

Psalms 18:1-18 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 18:1-18 In-Context

1 I love you, LORD, my strength.

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

3 I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5 The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.

6 In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

7 The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.

8 Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.

9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet.

10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13 The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.

14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy, with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

15 The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.

17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18 They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support.

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

20 The LORD has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

21 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I am not guilty of turning from my God.

22 All his laws are before me; I have not turned away from his decrees.

Cross References

• 1. S Exodus 15:2; S Deuteronomy 33:29; S 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalms 22:19; Psalms 28:7; Psalms 59:9; Psalms 81:1; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 49:5; Jeremiah 16:19
• 2. S Exodus 33:22; Psalms 19:14
• 3. Psalms 28:8; Psalms 31:2,3; Isaiah 17:10; Jeremiah 16:19
• 4. Psalms 40:17
• 5. Psalms 2:12; Psalms 9:9; Psalms 94:22
• 6. S Genesis 15:1; Psalms 28:7; Psalms 84:9; Psalms 119:114; Psalms 144:2; Psalms 59:11
• 7. S 1 Samuel 2:1; S Luke 1:69; Psalms 75:10
• 8. S 1 Chronicles 16:25; Psalms 48:1
• 9. S Psalms 9:13
• 10. Psalms 116:3
• 11. Psalms 93:4; Psalms 124:4; Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 17:12; Jeremiah 6:23; Jeremiah 51:42,55; Ezekiel 43:2
• 12. Proverbs 13:14; Psalms 116:3
• 13. S Deuteronomy 4:30
• 14. Psalms 30:2; Psalms 99:6; Psalms 102:2; Psalms 120:1
• 15. Psalms 66:19; Psalms 116:1; Psalms 34:15
• 16. S Job 16:18
• 17. Psalms 97:4; Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 64:3
• 18. S Judges 5:4
• 19. S Judges 5:5
• 20. S Job 9:5; Jeremiah 10:10; Psalms 68:7-8
• 21. S Job 41:20
• 22. S Exodus 15:7; S Exodus 19:18; S Job 41:21; Psalms 50:3; Psalms 97:3; Daniel 7:10
• 23. Proverbs 25:22; Romans 12:20
• 24. S Genesis 11:5; S Psalms 57:3; Psalms 144:5
• 25. S Exodus 20:21; S Deuteronomy 33:26; S Psalms 104:3
• 26. S Genesis 3:24; Ezekiel 10:18; Psalms 80:1
• 27. S Deuteronomy 33:26
• 28. Psalms 104:3
• 29. S Exodus 19:9; S Deuteronomy 4:11; Psalms 97:2
• 30. S Job 22:14; Isaiah 4:5; Jeremiah 43:10
• 31. Psalms 104:2
• 32. S Joshua 10:11
• 33. S Job 36:30; Psalms 97:3
• 34. S Exodus 9:23; S 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalms 29:3; Psalms 104:7
• 35. S Deuteronomy 32:23
• 36. S Job 36:30; Revelation 4:5
• 37. S Judges 4:15; Psalms 144:6
• 38. S Psalms 11:3
• 39. Psalms 76:6; Psalms 104:7; Psalms 106:9; Isaiah 50:2
• 40. S Exodus 15:8
• 41. Exodus 15:5; Psalms 69:2; Proverbs 18:4; Proverbs 20:5; Psalms 144:7
• 42. ver 48; Psalms 38:19; Psalms 59:1; Psalms 143:9
• 43. S Judges 18:26; Psalms 35:10
• 44. Proverbs 1:27; Proverbs 16:4; Jeremiah 17:17; Jeremiah 40:2; Obadiah 1:13
• 45. Psalms 20:2; Isaiah 3:1; Psalms 59:16

Footnotes

• [a]. In Hebrew texts 18:1-50 is numbered 18:2-51.
• [b]. Or "sovereign"
• [c]. "Horn" here symbolizes strength.
• [d]. Some Hebrew manuscripts and Septuagint (see also 2 Samuel 22:14); most Hebrew manuscripts "resounded," / "amid hailstones and bolts of lightning"