Psalm 18

⁴ 
The cords of death surrounded me,
And the streams of ungodliness and torrents of destruction terrified me.
⁵ 
The cords of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
⁶ 
In my distress [when I seemed surrounded] I called upon the Lord
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry for help came before Him, into His very ears.

⁷ 
Then the earth shook and quaked,
The foundations of the mountains trembled;
They were shaken because He was indignant and angry.
⁸ 
Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
⁹ 
He bowed the heavens also and came down;
And thick darkness was under His feet.
¹⁰ 
And He rode upon a cherub (storm) and flew;
And He sped on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ 
He made darkness His hiding place (covering); His pavilion (canopy) around Him,
The darkness of the waters, the thick clouds of the skies.
¹² 
Out of the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹³ 
The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ 
He sent out His arrows and scattered them;
And He sent an abundance of lightning flashes and confused and routed them [in defeat].
¹⁵ 
Then the stream beds of the waters appeared,
And the foundations of the world were laid bare
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶ 
He reached from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ 
He rescued me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
¹⁸ 
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
But the Lord was my support.
¹⁹ 
He brought me out into a broad place;
He rescued me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me.

²⁰ 
The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness (moral character, spiritual integrity);
According to the cleanness of my hands He has rewarded me.
²¹ 
For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
²² 
For all His ordinances were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.
²³ 
I was ^[a]blameless before Him,
And I kept myself free from my sin.
²⁴ 
Therefore the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness (moral character, spiritual integrity),
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

²⁵ 
With the kind (merciful, faithful, loyal) You show Yourself kind,
With the blameless You show Yourself blameless,
²⁶ 
With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
²⁷ 
For You save an afflicted and humble people,
But bring down those [arrogant fools] with haughty eyes.
²⁸ 
For You cause my lamp to be lighted and to shine;
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.
²⁹ 
For by You I can crush a troop,
And by my God I can leap over a wall.

³⁰ 
As for God, His way is ^[b]blameless.
The word of the Lord is tested [it is perfect, it is faultless];
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
³¹ 
For who is God, but the Lord?
Or who is a rock, except our God,
³² 
The God who encircles me with strength
And makes my way blameless?
³³ 
He makes my feet like ^[c]hinds’ feet [able to stand firmly and tread safely on paths of testing and trouble];
He sets me [securely] upon my high places.
³⁴ 
He trains my hands for war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁵ 
You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds and sustains me;
Your gentleness [Your gracious response when I pray] makes me great.
³⁶ 
You enlarge the path beneath me and make my steps secure,
So that my feet will not slip.

³⁷ 
I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
And I did not turn back until they were consumed.
³⁸ 
I shattered them so that they were not able to rise;
They fell [wounded] under my feet.
³⁹ 
For You have encircled me with strength for the battle;
You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
⁴⁰ 
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me [in defeat],
And I silenced and destroyed those who hated me.
⁴¹ 
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
Even to the Lord [they cried], but He did not answer them.
⁴² 
Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the dirt of the streets.

⁴³ 
You have rescued me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as the head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.
⁴⁴ 
As soon as they hear me, they respond and obey me;
Foreigners feign obedience to me.
⁴⁵ 
Foreigners lose heart,
And come trembling out of their strongholds.

⁴⁶ 
The Lord lives, blessed be my rock;
And may the God of my salvation be exalted,
⁴⁷ 
The God who avenges me,
And subdues peoples (nations) under me.
⁴⁸ 
He rescues me from my enemies;
Yes, You lift me up above those who rise up against me;
You deliver me from the man of violence.
⁴⁹ 
Therefore will I give thanks and praise You, O Lord, among the nations,
And sing praises to Your name.
⁵⁰ 
He gives great triumphs to His king,
And shows steadfast love and mercy to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever.