Psalm 18
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Psalm 18[a]
A King’s Thanksgiving for Victory
1 For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord, who sang to the Lord the words of this song after the Lord had rescued him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said:(A)
I
I love you, Lord, my strength,
3 Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, my saving horn,[b] my stronghold!(B)
4 Praised be the Lord, I exclaim!
I have been delivered from my enemies.
II
5 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
6 The cords[c] of Sheol encircled me;
the snares of death lay in wait for me.(C)
7 In my distress I called out: Lord!
I cried out to my God.(D)
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry to him reached his ears.
8 [d]The earth rocked and shook;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they shook as his wrath flared up.(E)
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
a devouring fire from his mouth;
it kindled coals into flame.
10 He parted the heavens and came down,
a dark cloud under his feet.(F)
11 Mounted on a cherub[e] he flew,
borne along on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his cloak around him;
his canopy, water-darkened stormclouds.
13 From the gleam before him, his clouds passed,
hail and coals of fire.(G)
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice resound.(H)
15 He let fly his arrows[f] and scattered them;
shot his lightning bolts and dispersed them.(I)
16 Then the bed of the sea appeared;
the world’s foundations lay bare,(J)
At your rebuke, O Lord,
at the storming breath of your nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high and seized me;
drew me out of the deep waters.(K)
18 He rescued me from my mighty enemy,
from foes too powerful for me.
19 They attacked me on my day of distress,
but the Lord was my support.
20 He set me free in the open;
he rescued me because he loves me.
III
21 The Lord acknowledged my righteousness,
rewarded my clean hands.(L)
22 For I kept the ways of the Lord;
I was not disloyal to my God.
23 For his laws were all before me,
his decrees I did not cast aside.
24 I was honest toward him;
I was on guard against sin.
25 So the Lord rewarded my righteousness,
the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 Toward the faithful you are faithful;
to the honest man you are honest;(M)
27 Toward the pure, you are pure;
but to the perverse you are devious.
28 For humble people you save;
haughty eyes you bring low.(N)
29 For you, Lord, give light to my lamp;
my God brightens my darkness.(O)
30 With you I can rush an armed band,
with my God to help I can leap a wall.
31 God’s way is unerring;
the Lord’s promise is refined;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.(P)
IV
32 Truly, who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is the rock?(Q)
33 This God who girded me with might,
kept my way unerring,
34 Who made my feet like a deer’s,
and set me on the heights,(R)
35 Who trained my hands for war,
my arms to string a bow of bronze.[g](S)
V
36 You have given me your saving shield;
your right hand has upheld me;
your favor made me great.
37 You made room for my steps beneath me;
my ankles never twisted.(T)
38 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till I destroyed them.
39 I decimated them; they could not rise;
they fell at my feet.
40 You girded me with valor for war,
subjugated my opponents beneath me.
41 You made my foes expose their necks to me;
those who hated me I silenced.
42 They cried for help, but no one saved them;
cried to the Lord but received no answer.
43 I ground them to dust before the wind;
I left them like mud in the streets.
44 You rescued me from the strife of peoples;
you made me head over nations.
A people I had not known served me;
45 as soon as they heard of me they obeyed.
Foreigners submitted before me;
46 foreigners cringed;
they came cowering from their dungeons.(U)
VI
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock!(V)
Exalted be God, my savior!
48 O God who granted me vengeance,
made peoples subject to me,(W)
49 and saved me from my enemies,
Truly you have elevated me above my opponents,
from a man of lawlessness you have rescued me.
50 Thus I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.(X)
51 You have given great victories to your king,
and shown mercy to his anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.(Y)
Footnotes
- Psalm 18 A royal thanksgiving for a military victory, duplicated in 2 Sm 22. Thanksgiving Psalms are in essence reports of divine rescue. The Psalm has two parallel reports of rescue, the first told from a heavenly perspective (Ps 18:5–20), and the second from an earthly perspective (Ps 18:36–46). The first report adapts old mythic language of a cosmic battle between sea and rainstorm in order to depict God’s rescue of the Israelite king from his enemies. Each report has a short hymnic introduction (Ps 18:2–4, 32–36) and conclusion (Ps 18:21–31, 47–50).
- 18:3 My saving horn: my strong savior. The horn referred to is the weapon of a bull and the symbol of fertility, cf. 1 Sm 2:10; Ps 132:17; Lk 1:69.
- 18:6 Cords: hunting imagery, the cords of a snare.
- 18:8–16 God appears in the storm, which in Palestine comes from the west. The introduction to the theophany (Ps 18:8–9) is probably a description of a violent, hot, and dry east-wind storm. In the fall transition period from the rainless summer to the rainy winter such storms regularly precede the rains, cf. Ex 14:21–22.
- 18:11 Cherub: a winged creature, derived from myth, in the service of the deity (Gn 3:24; Ex 25:18–20; 37:6–9). Cherubim were the throne bearers of the deity (Ps 80:2; 99:1; 1 Kgs 6:23–28; 8:6–8).
- 18:15 Arrows: lightning.
- 18:35 Bow of bronze: hyperbole for a bow difficult to bend and therefore capable of propelling an arrow with great force.
Psalm 18
Tree of Life Version
Adonai lives! Blessed Be My Rock
Psalm 18
1 For the music director: a psalm of David the servant of Adonai. He chanted the words of this song to Adonai on the day Adonai delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
2 He said, I love You, Adonai my strength!
3 Adonai is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.
My God is my rock, in Him I take refuge,
my shield, my horn of salvation, my stronghold.
4 I called upon Adonai, worthy of praise,
and I was rescued from my enemies.
5 Cords of death entangled me.
Torrents of Belial overwhelmed me.
6 Cords of Sheol coiled around me.
Snares of death came before me.
7 In my distress I called on Adonai,
and cried to my God for help.
From His Temple He heard my voice,
my cry before Him came into His ears.
8 Then the earth rocked and quaked.
The foundations of mountains trembled.
They reeled because He was angry.
9 Smoke rose from His nostrils
and consuming fire from His mouth.
Coals blazed from Him.
10 He parted the heavens and came down,
with thick darkness under His feet.
11 He rode upon a cheruv and flew.
He soared on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness His cover,
His sukkah all around Him—
dark waters, thick clouds.
13 Out of the brilliance before Him
passed His thick clouds, hail and fiery coals.
14 Adonai also thundered in the heavens,
and Elyon gave forth His voice, hail and fiery coals.
15 He shot His arrows and scattered them,
hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
16 Then ravines of water appeared.
The foundations of earth were exposed,
at Your rebuke, Adonai,
at a blast of breath from Your nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me.
He drew me out of mighty waters.
18 He saved me from my powerful enemy,
from those who hated me—
for they were much stronger than me.
19 They came against me in my day of calamity,
but Adonai was my support.
20 He brought me out to a wide-open place.
He rescued me since He delighted in me.
21 Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness.
For the cleanness of my hands He repaid me.
22 For I kept the ways of Adonai,
and did not turn wickedly from my God.
23 For all His judgments are before me.
I do not put His rulings away from me.
24 I also had integrity with Him,
and kept myself from my sin.
25 So Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness,
for the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
26 With the loyal You deal loyally.
With the blameless You are blameless.
27 With the pure You are pure,
and with the crooked You are shrewd.
28 For You save lowly people,
but haughty eyes You humble.
29 For You light up my lamp.
Adonai my God shines in my darkness.
30 For with You I rush on a troop,
with my God I scale a wall.
31 As for God, His way is perfect.
The word of Adonai is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32 For who is God, except Adonai?
And who is a Rock, except our God?
33 God girds me with strength
and makes my way straight.
34 He makes my feet like those of deer
and makes me stand on my heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle,
so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
36 You gave me the shield of Your salvation.
Your right hand upholds me,
Your gentleness makes me great.
37 You broaden my steps beneath me,
so my ankles have not slipped.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them,
and will not return till they are wiped out.
39 I will crush them till they cannot rise,
till they fall beneath my feet.
40 For You girded me with strength for battle.
You made those who rose up against me bow down before me.
41 You also made my enemies turn their backs to me.
I cut off those who hate me.
42 They cry out, but there is none to save
—even to Adonai, but He did not answer them.
43 Then I beat them as fine as dust before the wind.
I pour them out like mud in the streets.
44 You free me from strifes of the people.
You set me as head of the nations—
people I did not know are serving me.
45 As soon as they hear, they obey me.
Children of foreigners cringe before me.
46 Children of foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their hideouts.
47 Adonai lives! And blessed be my Rock!
Exalted be God my salvation!
48 God—He gives me vengeance
and subdues peoples under me.
49 He delivers me from my enemies.
Indeed You lift me up above those who rise up against me.
You deliver me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I praise You among the nations,
Adonai, and sing praises to Your Name.[a]
51 Great victories He gives to His king.
He shows loyal love to His anointed—
to David and his seed, forever.
Footnotes
- Psalm 18:50 cf. Rom. 15:9.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.