David’s Song of Deliverance
(Psalm 18:1–50)

1And David spoke to the Lord the words of this verse, in the day that the Lord freed him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

2And he said: “The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my Savior.

3I will hope in him. God is my strong one, my shield, and the horn of my salvation. He lifts me up, and he is my refreshment. You, O my Savior, will free me from iniquity.

4I will call upon the Lord, who is praiseworthy; and I will be saved from my enemies.

5For the pangs of death have encircled me. The torrents of Belial have terrified me.

6The ropes of Hell have encompassed me. The snares of death have intercepted me.

7In my tribulation, I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry out to my God. And he will heed my voice from his temple, and my outcry will reach his ears.

8The earth was shaken, and it quaked. The foundations of the mountains were struck together and violently shaken, because he was angry with them.

9Smoke ascends from his nostrils, and fire from his mouth will devour; coals have been kindled by it.

10He bent down the heavens, and it descended; and a fog was beneath his feet.

11And he climbed upon the cherubim, and he flew; and he slid upon the wings of the wind.

12He set darkness as a hiding place around himself, with waters sifted from the clouds of the heavens.

13By means of the brightness of his glance, coals of fire were kindled.

14The Lord will thunder from heaven; and the Most High will utter his voice.

15He shot arrows, and he scattered them; lightning, and he consumed them.

16And the overflow of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the globe were revealed, at the rebuke of the Lord, at the exhale of the breath of his fury.

17He sent from on high, and he took me up. And he drew me out of many waters.

18He freed me from my most powerful enemy and from those who had hated me. For they were too strong for me.

19He went before me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my firmament.

20And he led me out to a wide-open place. He freed me, because I was pleasing to him.

21The Lord will reward me according to my justice. And he will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands.

22For I have kept to the ways of the Lord, and I have not acted impiously before my God.

23For all his judgments are in my sight. And I have not removed his precepts from me.

24And I shall be perfect with him. And I shall guard myself from my own iniquity.

25And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice, and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes.

26With the holy one, you will be holy, and with the strong one, you will be perfect.

27With the elect one, you will be elect, and with the perverse one, you will be perverse.

28And you will bring to salvation the poor people, and you will humble the exalted with your eyes.

29For you are my lamp, O Lord. And you, O Lord, will illuminate my darkness.

30For in you, I will run girded. In my God, I will leap over the wall.

31God, his way is immaculate; the eloquence of the Lord is an exacting fire. He is the shield of all who hope in him.

32Who is God except the Lord? And who is strong except our God?

33God, he has girded me with fortitude, and he has made my way perfect:

34making my feet like the feet of the stag, and stationing me upon my exalted places,

35teaching my hands to do battle, and making my arms like a bow of brass.

36You have given me the shield of your salvation. And your mildness has multiplied me.

37You will enlarge my steps under me, and my ankles will not fail.

38I will pursue my enemies, and crush them. And I will not turn back, until I consume them.

39I will consume them and break them apart, so that they cannot rise up; they will fall under my feet.

40You have girded me with strength for the battle. Those who resisted me, you have bent down under me.

41You have caused my enemies to turn their back to me; they have hatred for me, and I shall destroy them.

42They will cry out, and there will be no one to save; to the Lord, and he will not heed them.

43I will wipe them away like the dust of the earth. I will break them apart and crush them, like the mud of the streets.

44You will save me from the contradictions of my people. You will preserve me to be the head of the Gentiles; a people I do not know shall serve me.

45The sons of foreigners, who will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will be obedient to me.

46The foreigners flowed away, but they will be drawn together in their anguishes.

47The Lord lives, and my God is blessed. And the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted.

48God gives me vindication, and he casts down the peoples under me.

49He leads me away from my enemies, and he lifts me up from those who resist me. You will free me from the iniquitous man.

50Because of this, I will confess to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and I will sing to your name:

51magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring forever.”