Psalm 18:21-50

Common English Bible

²¹     because I have kept the Lord’s ways.
    I haven’t acted wickedly against my God.
²² All his rules are right in front of me;
    I haven’t turned away from any of his laws.
²³ I have lived with integrity before him;
    I’ve kept myself from wrongdoing.
²⁴ And so the Lord restored me for my righteousness
    because my hands are clean in his eyes.

²⁵ You deal faithfully with the faithful;
    you show integrity
        toward the one who has integrity.
²⁶ You are pure toward the pure,
    but toward the crooked, you are tricky.
²⁷ You are the one who saves people who suffer
    and brings down those with proud eyes.
²⁸ You are the one who lights my lamp—
    the Lord my God illumines my darkness.
²⁹ With you I can charge into battle;
    with my God I can leap over a wall.
³⁰ God! His way is perfect;
    the Lord’s word is tried and true.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.

³¹ Now really, who is divine except the Lord?
    And who is a rock but our God?
³² Only God! The God who equips me with strength
    and makes my way perfect,
³³     who makes my step as sure as the deer’s,
    who lets me stand securely on the heights,
³⁴     who trains my hands for war
    so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
³⁵ You’ve given me the shield of your salvation;
    your strong hand has supported me;
    your help has made me great.
³⁶ You’ve let me walk fast and safe,
    without even twisting an ankle.
³⁷ I chased my enemies and caught them!
    I didn’t come home until I finished them off.
³⁸ I struck them down;
    they couldn’t get up again;
    they fell under my feet.
³⁹ You equipped me with strength for war;
    you brought my adversaries down underneath me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn tail from me;
    I destroyed my foes.
⁴¹ They cried for help,
        but there was no one to save them.
    They cried for help to the Lord,
        but he wouldn’t answer them.
⁴² I crushed them
        like dust blown away by the wind;
    I threw them out
        like mud dumped in the streets.
⁴³ You delivered me from struggles with many people;
    you appointed me the leader of many nations.
        Strangers come to serve me.
⁴⁴ After hearing about me, they obey me;
    foreigners grovel before me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners lose their nerve;
    they come trembling out of their fortresses.^[a]

⁴⁶ The Lord lives! Bless God, my rock!
    Let the God of my salvation be lifted high!
⁴⁷ This is the God who avenges on my behalf,
    who subdues people before me,
⁴⁸     who delivers me from my enemies.
Yes, you lifted me high above my adversaries;
        you delivered me from violent people.
⁴⁹     That’s why I thank you, Lord,
        in the presence of the nations.
    That’s why I sing praises to your name.
⁵⁰ You are the one who gives great victories to your king,
    who shows faithful love to your anointed one—
    to David and to his descendants forever.