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

1And David spoke to YHWH the words of this song on the day when YHWH had snatched him up from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2And he said:

“YHWH is my rock

and stronghold and rescuer to me.

3God is my rock, I will trust in him,

my shield and the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold and my refuge, my savior;

from violence You save me.

4I will call upon YHWH who is to be praised,

and from my enemies I shall be saved.

5For the waves of death surrounded me,

the floods of ungodliness terrified me,

6the sorrows of Sheol surrounded me,

the snares of death confronted me.

7In my distress I called upon YHWH,

and to my God I cried out,

and He heard my voice from His temple,

and my cry is in His ears.

8And the earth shook and trembled;

the foundations of the heavens† quaked.

And they were shaken, because He was hot.

9Smoke went up from His nostrils,

and consuming fire from His mouth;

glowing coals were kindled by it.

10And He stretched out the heavens and came down,

and darkness was under His feet.

11And He rode upon a cherub and flew,

and He soared† on the wings of the wind.

12And He made darkness around Him as a covering,

darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

13From the brightness before Him

coals of fire† blazed forth.

14YHWH thundered from the heavens,

and the Most High gave forth His voice.

15And He sent out arrows and scattered them;

lightning, and He vanquished them.

16And the channels of the sea were seen;

the foundations of the world were uncovered

at the rebuke of YHWH,

at the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

17He sent from above, He took me;

He drew me out of many waters.

18He snatched me up from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me,

19they confronted me in the day of my calamity,

and YHWH was support to me.

20And He brought me out into a broad place;

He delivered me because He delighted in me.

21YHWH rewarded me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid to me.

22For I have kept the ways of YHWH,

and have not done wickedly against my God.

23For all His ordinances are before me,

and His statutes—I have not turned away from them.

24And I was blameless before Him,

and I kept myself from my iniquity.

25And YHWH has repaid me according to my righteousness,

according to my cleanness before His eyes.†

26With the kind You show Yourself kind,

with a blameless man You show Yourself blameless,

27with the pure You show Yourself pure,

and with the crooked You show Yourself shrewd.

28And the humble people You will save,

and Your eyes are on the haughty, to bring them down.

29For You are my lamp, O YHWH,

and YHWH shall enlighten my darkness.

30For by You I can run against a troop;

by my God I can leap over a wall.

31As for God, His way is perfect;

the word of YHWH is refined;

He is a shield

to all who trust in Him.

32For who is God, except YHWH?

And who is a rock, except our God?

33God is is my stronghold of strength,

and He makes perfect my way.

34He makes my feet like those of a deer,

and on my high places He sets me.

35He teaches my hands for war,

and my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

36And You have given me the shield of Your salvation,

and Your gentleness has made me great.†

37You enlarged my path under me,

and my feet did not slip.

38I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

and neither did I turn back again until they were consumed.

39And I have destroyed them and wounded them, so that they could not rise,

and they have fallen under my feet.

40And You have girded me with strength for the battle;

those who rose against me You have subdued under me.

41And You have given me the necks of my enemies—

of those who hated me—and I destroyed them.

42They looked, and there was none to save,

to YHWH, and He did not answer them.

43And I beat them as fine as the dust of the earth,

like dirt in the streets I crushed them and trampled them.

44And You have rescued me from the strife of my people,

You have kept me as the head of the nations;

a people I have not known shall serve me.

45Sons of a stranger submit to me;

at the hearing of an ear, they listen to me.

46Sons of a stranger fade away

and come trembling† from their strongholds.

47YHWH lives, and blessed be my Rock,

and may God the Rock of my salvation be exalted.

48It is God who gives vengeance to me

and subdues the peoples under me,

49and He delivers me from my enemies;

and those who rise against me You lift me up above,

from the man of violence You deliver me.

50Upon thus I will confess You, O YHWH, among the Gentiles,

and I will sing praises to Your name.†

51Great salvation is to His king,

and He shows loving devotion to His anointed,

to David and to his seed even to forever.”

Footnotes:

8 Most Hebrew sources; Vulgate, Syriac, and two Hebrew manuscripts (see also Psalm 18:7) mountains
11 Many Hebrew manuscripts (see also Psalm 18:10); most Hebrew manuscripts and He was seen
13 Or bolts of lightning
25 Hebrew; LXX and Vulgate (see also Psalm 18:24) according to the cleanness of my hands
36 Or and Your help exalts me or and You stoop down to make me great
46 Some LXX manuscripts and Vulgate (see also Psalm 18:45); MT and gird themselves
50 Cited in Romans 15:9