To the Director: By the servant of the LORD, David, who spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hands of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.

Gratitude for Victory

1He said:

“I love you, Lord, my strength.

2The LORD is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God,

my strongholda in whom I take refuge, my shield, the gloryb

of my salvation, and my high tower.”

3I cried out to the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

and I was delivered from my enemies.

4The cords of death entangled me;

the rivers of Belialc made me afraid.

5The cords of Sheold surrounded me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6In my distress I cried to the LORD;

to my God I cried for help.

From his Temple he heard my voice;

my cry reached his ears.

7The world shook and trembled;

the foundations of the mountains quaked,

they shook because he was angry.

8In his anger smoke poured out of his nostrils,

and consuming fire from his mouth;

coals were lit from it.

9He bent the sky and descended,

and darkness was under his feet.

10He rode upon a cherub and flew;

he soared upon the wings of the wind.

11He made darkness his hiding place,

his canopy surrounding him was dark waters and thick clouds.

12The brightness before him scattered the thick clouds,

with hail stones and flashes of fire.

13Then the LORD thundered ine the heavens,

and the Most High sounded aloud,

calling for hail stones and flashes of fire.f

14He shot his arrows and scattered them;

with many lightning bolts he frightened them.

15Then the channels of the sea could be seen,

and the foundations of the earth were uncovered

because of your rebuke, LORD,

because of the blast from the breath of your nostrils.

16He reached down and took me;

he drew me from many waters.

17He delivered me from my strong enemies,

from those who hated me because

they were stronger than I.

18They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the LORD was my support.

19He brought me out to a spacious place;

he delivered me, for in me he takes delight.

God’s Reward to the Righteous

20The LORD will reward me because I am righteous;

because my hands are clean he will restore me;

21because I have kept the ways of the LORD,

and I have not wickedly departed from my God;

22because all his judgments were always before me,

and I did not cast off his statutes.

23I was uprightg before him,

and I kept myself from iniquity.

24So the LORD restored me according to my righteousness,

because my hands were clean in his sight.

25To the holy, you show your gracious love,

to the upright, you show yourself upright;

26to the pure, you show yourself pure,

and to the morally corrupt, you appear to be perverse.

27Indeed, you deliver the oppressed,h

but you bring down those who exalt themselves

in their own eyes.

28For you, LORD, make my lamp shine;

my God enlightens my darkness.

29With your helpi I will run through an army,

with help fromj my God I leap over walls.

30As for God, his way is upright;k

the word of God is pure;

he is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

The Acts of God for the Righteous

31For who is God but the LORD,

and who is a Rock other than our God?—

32the God who clothes me with strength,

and who makes my way upright;l

33who makes my feet swift as the deer;

who makes me stand on high places;

34who teaches my hands to make war,

and my arms to bend a bronze bow.

35You have given to me the shield of your deliverance,

and your right hand holds me up;

your gentleness made me great.

36You make a broad place for my steps,

so my feetm won’t slip.

37I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn around until they were utterly defeated.

38I struck them down,

so they are not able to rise up;

they fell under my feet.

39You clothed me with strength for war;

you will subdue under me those who rise up against me.

40You have made my enemies turn their back to me,

and I will destroy those who hate me.

41They cried out for deliverance,

but there was no one to deliver;

they cried outn to the LORD,

but he did not answer them.

42I ground them like wind-swept dust;

I emptied them outo like dirt in the street.

43You rescued me from conflict with the people;

you made me head of the nations.

People who did not know me will serve me.

44When they hear of me,p they will obey me;

foreigners will submit to me.

45Foreigners will wilt away;

they will come trembling out of their stronghold.

46The LORD lives!

Blessed be my Rock!

May the God of my deliverance be exalted!

47He is the God who executes vengeance on my behalf;

who destroys peoples under me;

48who delivers me from my enemies.

Truly you will exalt me above those who oppose me;

you will deliver me from the violent person.

49Therefore, I will give thanks to you among the nations, LORD;

I will sing praises to your name.

50He is the one who gives victories to his king;

who shows gracious love to his anointed,

to David and his seed forever.