Psalm 18

1    I love you, O Lord my strength.  

The Lord is my crag, my fortress and my deliverer,

2    My God, my rock in whom I take refuge,  

my shield, the horn of my salvation and my stronghold.

3    I cried to the Lord in my anguish  

and I was saved from my enemies.

4    The cords of death entwined me  

and the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5    The cords of the Pit fastened about me  

and the snares of death entangled me.

6    In my distress I called upon the Lord  

and cried out to my God for help.

7    He heard my voice in his temple  

and my cry came to his ears.

8    The earth trembled and quaked;  

the foundations of the mountains shook;

    they reeled because he was angry.

9    Smoke rose from his nostrils

    and a consuming fire went out of his mouth;  

burning coals blazed forth from him.

10  He parted the heavens and came down  

and thick darkness was under his feet.

11  He rode upon the cherubim and flew;  

he came flying on the wings of the wind.

12  He made darkness his covering round about him,  

dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion.

13  From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds  

burst hailstones and coals of fire.

14  The Lord also thundered out of heaven;  

the Most High uttered his voice

    with hailstones and coals of fire.

15  He sent out his arrows and scattered them;  

he hurled down lightnings and put them to flight.

16  The springs of the ocean were seen,

    and the foundations of the world uncovered  

at your rebuke, O Lord,

    at the blast of the breath of your displeasure.

17  He reached down from on high and took me;  

he drew me out of the mighty waters.

18  He delivered me from my strong enemy,  

from foes that were too mighty for me.

19  They came upon me in the day of my trouble;  

but the Lord was my upholder.

20  He brought me out into a place of liberty;  

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

21  The Lord rewarded me after my righteous dealing;  

according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed me,

22  Because I had kept the ways of the Lord  

and had not gone wickedly away from my God,

23  For I had an eye to all his laws,  

and did not cast out his commandments from me.

24  I was also wholehearted before him  

and kept myself from iniquity;

25  Therefore the Lord rewarded me

    after my righteous dealing,  

and according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

26  With the faithful you show yourself faithful;  

with the true you show yourself true;

27  With the pure you show yourself pure,  

but with the crooked you show yourself perverse.

28  For you will save a lowly people  

and bring down the high looks of the proud.

29  You also shall light my candle;  

the Lord my God shall make my darkness to be bright.

30  By your help I shall run at an enemy host;  

with the help of my God I can leap over a wall.

31  As for God, his way is perfect;

    the word of the Lord is tried in the fire;  

he is a shield to all who trust in him.

32  For who is God but the Lord,  

and who is the rock except our God?

33  It is God who girds me about with strength  

and makes my way perfect.

34  He makes my feet like hinds’ feet  

so that I tread surely on the heights.

35  He teaches my hands to fight  

and my arms to bend a bow of bronze.

36  You have given me the shield of your salvation;  

your right hand upholds me

    and your grace has made me great.

37  You enlarge my strides beneath me,  

yet my feet do not slide.

38  I will pursue my enemies and overtake them,  

nor turn again until I have destroyed them.

39  I will smite them down so they cannot rise;  

they shall fall beneath my feet.

40  You have girded me with strength for the battle;  

you will cast down my enemies under me;

41  You will make my foes turn their backs upon me  

and I shall destroy them that hate me.

42  They will cry out, but there shall be none to help them;  

they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer.

43  I shall beat them as small as the dust on the wind;  

I will cast them out as the mire in the streets.

44  You will deliver me from the strife of the peoples;  

you will make me the head of the nations.

45  A people I have not known shall serve me;

    as soon as they hear me, they shall obey me;  

strangers will humble themselves before me.

46  The foreign peoples will lose heart  

and come trembling out of their strongholds.

47  The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock!  

Praised be the God of my salvation,

48  Even the God who vindicates me  

and subdues the peoples under me!

49  You that deliver me from my enemies,

    you will set me up above my foes;  

from the violent you will deliver me;

50  Therefore will I give you thanks, O Lord, among the nations  

and sing praises to your name,

51  To the one who gives great victory to his king  

and shows faithful love to his anointed,

    to David and his seed for ever.

 

Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England, material from which is included here,
is copyright © The Archbishops' Council 2000 and published by Church House Publishing.

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