Psalm 18

Tree of Life Version

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.