Psalm - 18

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1 I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength.

2 J ehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I will trust; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.

3 I will call upon Jehovah, who is to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

4 T he bands of death encompassed me, and torrents of Belial made me afraid.

5 T he bands of Sheol surrounded me, the cords of death encountered me.

6 I n my distress I called upon Jehovah, and I cried out to my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, into his ears.

7 T hen the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook, because he was wroth.

8 T here went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals burned forth from it.

9 A nd he bowed the heavens, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.

10 A nd he rode upon a cherub and did fly; yea, he flew fast upon the wings of the wind.

11 H e made darkness his secret place, his tent round about him: darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 F rom the brightness before him his thick clouds passed forth: hail and coals of fire.

13 A nd Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire.

14 A nd he sent his arrows, and scattered; and he shot forth lightnings, and discomfited them.

15 A nd the beds of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered at thy rebuke, Jehovah, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

16 H e reached forth from above, he took me, he drew me out of great waters:

17 H e delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me; for they were mightier than I.

18 T hey encountered me in the day of my calamity, but Jehovah was my stay.

19 A nd he brought me forth into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20 J ehovah hath rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

21 F or I have kept the ways of Jehovah, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 F or all his ordinances were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me;

23 A nd I was upright with him, and kept myself from mine iniquity.

24 A nd Jehovah hath recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25 W ith the gracious thou dost shew thyself gracious; with the upright man thou dost shew thyself upright;

26 W ith the pure thou dost shew thyself pure; and with the perverse thou dost shew thyself contrary.

27 F or it is thou that savest the afflicted people; but the haughty eyes wilt thou bring down.

28 F or it is thou that makest my lamp to shine: Jehovah my God enlighteneth my darkness.

29 F or by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

30 A s for God, his way is perfect; the word of Jehovah is tried: he is a shield to all that trust in him.

31 F or who is +God save Jehovah? and who is a rock if not our God?

32 T he God who girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect,

33 W ho maketh my feet like hinds', and setteth me upon my high places;

34 W ho teacheth my hands to war, and mine arms bend a bow of brass;

35 A nd thou didst give me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand held me up; and thy condescending gentleness hath made me great.

36 T hou didst enlarge my steps under me, and mine ankles have not wavered.

37 I pursued mine enemies, and overtook them; and I turned not again till they were consumed.

38 I crushed them, and they were not able to rise: they fell under my feet.

39 A nd thou girdedst me with strength to battle; thou didst subdue under me those that rose up against me.

40 A nd mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, and those that hated me I destroyed.

41 T hey cried, and there was none to save;—unto Jehovah, and he answered them not.

42 A nd I did beat them small as dust before the wind; I did cast them out as the mire of the streets.

43 T hou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; thou hast made me the head of the nations: a people I knew not doth serve me.

44 A t the hearing of the ear, they obey me: strangers come cringing unto me.

45 S trangers have faded away, and they come trembling forth from their close places.

46 J ehovah liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation,

47 T he God who hath avenged me, and hath subjected the peoples to me;

48 W ho hath delivered me from mine enemies: yea, thou hast lifted me up above them that rose up against me; from the man of violence hast thou delivered me.

49 T herefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, and will sing psalms to thy name.

50 w ho giveth great deliverances to his king, and sheweth loving-kindness to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.