2 Samuel 22

‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
³     my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield^[a] and the horn^[b] of my salvation.
He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour –
    from violent people you save me.

⁴ ‘I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
    and have been saved from my enemies.
⁵ The waves of death swirled about me;
    the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
⁶ The cords of the grave coiled around me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

⁷ ‘In my distress I called to the Lord;
    I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
    my cry came to his ears.
⁸ The earth trembled and quaked,
    the foundations of the heavens^[c] shook;
    they trembled because he was angry.
⁹ Smoke rose from his nostrils;
    consuming fire came from his mouth,
    burning coals blazed out of it.
¹⁰ He parted the heavens and came down;
    dark clouds were under his feet.
¹¹ He mounted the cherubim and flew;
    he soared^[d] on the wings of the wind.
¹² He made darkness his canopy around him –
    the dark^[e] rain clouds of the sky.
¹³ Out of the brightness of his presence
    bolts of lightning blazed forth.
¹⁴ The Lord thundered from heaven;
    the voice of the Most High resounded.
¹⁵ He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
    with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
¹⁶ The valleys of the sea were exposed
    and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at the rebuke of the Lord,
    at the blast of breath from his nostrils.

¹⁷ ‘He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
    he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁸ He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
²⁰ He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.

²¹ ‘The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.
²² For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
    I am not guilty of turning from my God.
²³ All his laws are before me;
    I have not turned away from his decrees.
²⁴ I have been blameless before him
    and have kept myself from sin.
²⁵ The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to my cleanness^[f] in his sight.

²⁶ ‘To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
    to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
²⁷ to the pure you show yourself pure,
    but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
²⁸ You save the humble,
    but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them low.
²⁹ You, Lord, are my lamp;
    the Lord turns my darkness into light.
³⁰ With your help I can advance against a troop^[g];
    with my God I can scale a wall.

³¹ ‘As for God, his way is perfect:
    the Lord’s word is flawless;
    he shields all who take refuge in him.
³² For who is God besides the Lord?
    And who is the Rock except our God?
³³ It is God who arms me with strength^[h]
    and keeps my way secure.
³⁴ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
    he causes me to stand on the heights.
³⁵ He trains my hands for battle;
    my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
³⁶ You make your saving help my shield;
    your help has made^[i] me great.
³⁷ You provide a broad path for my feet,
    so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁸ ‘I pursued my enemies and crushed them;
    I did not turn back till they were destroyed.
³⁹ I crushed them completely, and they could not rise;
    they fell beneath my feet.
⁴⁰ You armed me with strength for battle;
    you humbled my adversaries before me.
⁴¹ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
    and I destroyed my foes.
⁴² They cried for help, but there was no one to save them –
    to the Lord, but he did not answer.
⁴³ I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth;
    I pounded and trampled them like mud in the streets.

⁴⁴ ‘You have delivered me from the attacks of the peoples;
    you have preserved me as the head of nations.
People I did not know now serve me,
⁴⁵     foreigners cower before me;
    as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.
⁴⁶ They all lose heart;
    they come trembling^[j] from their strongholds.

⁴⁷ ‘The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!
    Exalted be my God, the Rock, my Saviour!
⁴⁸ He is the God who avenges me,
    who puts the nations under me,
⁴⁹     who sets me free from my enemies.
You exalted me above my foes;
    from a violent man you rescued me.
⁵⁰ Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing the praises of your name.

⁵¹ ‘He gives his king great victories;
    he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
    to David and his descendants for ever.’