Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 18
Royal Thanksgiving for Victory
To the leader. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said:
1 I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my rock in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.(A)
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
so I shall be saved from my enemies.(B)
4 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of perdition assailed me;(C)
5 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(D)
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.(E)
7 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and reeled because he was angry.(F)
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils
and devouring fire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down;
thick darkness was under his feet.(G)
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind.(H)
11 He made darkness his covering around him,
his canopy thick clouds dark with water.(I)
12 Out of the brightness before him
there broke through his clouds
hailstones and coals of fire.(J)
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his voice.[a](K)
14 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.(L)
15 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.(M)
16 He reached down from on high; he took me;
he drew me out of mighty waters.(N)
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.(O)
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into a broad place;
he delivered me because he delighted in me.(P)
Elihu Proclaims God’s Majesty
24 “Remember to extol his work,
of which mortals have sung.(A)
25 All people have looked on it;
everyone watches it from far away.
26 Surely God is great, and we do not know him;
the number of his years is unsearchable.(B)
27 For he draws up the drops of water;
he distills[a] his mist in rain,(C)
28 which the skies pour down
and drop upon mortals abundantly.
29 Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds,
the thunderings of his pavilion?(D)
30 See, he scatters his lightning around him
and covers the roots of the sea.
31 For by these he governs peoples;
he gives food in abundance.(E)
32 He covers his hands with the lightning
and commands it to strike the mark.(F)
33 Its crashing[b] tells about him;
he is jealous[c] with anger against iniquity.(G)
14 “Hear this, O Job;
stop and consider the wondrous works of God.(A)
15 Do you know how God lays his command upon them
and causes the lightning of his cloud to shine?
16 Do you know the balancings of the clouds,
the wondrous works of the one whose knowledge is perfect,(B)
17 you whose garments are hot
when the earth is still because of the south wind?
18 Can you, like him, spread out the skies,
hard as a molten mirror?(C)
19 Teach us what we shall say to him;
we cannot draw up our case because of darkness.
20 Should he be told that I want to speak?
Did anyone ever wish to be swallowed up?
21 Now, no one can look on the light
when it is bright in the skies,
when the wind has passed and cleared them.
22 Out of the north comes golden splendor;
around God is awesome majesty.
23 The Almighty[a]—we cannot find him;
he is great in power and justice,
and abundant righteousness he will not violate.(D)
24 Therefore mortals fear him;
he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”(E)
Jesus Stills the Storm
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm.(A) 27 They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.