Psalm 18:1-19

New American Standard Bible

The Lord Praised for Rescuing David.

For the music director. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, ^[a]who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said,

18 “I love You, Lord, ^(A)my strength.”
²The Lord is ^(B)my rock and ^(C)my fortress and my ^(D)savior,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My ^(E)shield and the ^(F)horn of my salvation, my ^(G)stronghold.
³I call upon the Lord, who is ^(H)worthy to be praised,
And I am ^(I)saved from my enemies.

⁴The ^(J)ropes of death encompassed me,
And the ^(K)torrents of ^[b]destruction ^[c]terrified me.
⁵The ^(L)ropes of ^[d]Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
⁶In my ^(M)distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice ^(N)from His temple,
And my ^(O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷Then the ^(P)earth shook and quaked;
And the ^(Q)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
⁸Smoke went up ^[e]out of His nostrils,
And ^(R)fire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
⁹He also ^(S)bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick ^(T)darkness under His feet.
¹⁰He rode on a ^(U)cherub and flew;
And He sped on the ^(V)wings of the wind.
¹¹He made ^(W)darkness His hiding place, ^(X)His ^[f]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds.
¹²From the ^(Y)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and ^(Z)coals of fire.
¹³The Lord also ^(AA)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴He ^(AB)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and ^[g]routed them.
¹⁵Then the ^(AC)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your ^(AD)rebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the ^(AE)breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶He ^(AF)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of ^(AG)many waters.
¹⁷He ^(AH)saved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were ^(AI)too mighty for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in ^(AJ)the day of my disaster,
But ^(AK)the Lord was my support.
¹⁹He also brought me out into an ^(AL)open place;
He rescued me, because ^(AM)He delighted in me.