1 | I love thee, O LORD, my strength. |
2 | The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. |
3 | I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. |
4 | The cords of death encompassed me, the torrents of perdition assailed me; |
5 | the cords of Sheol entangled me, the snares of death confronted me. |
6 | In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. |
7 | Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. |
8 | Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. |
9 | He bowed the heavens, and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. |
10 | He rode on a cherub, and flew; he came swiftly upon the wings of the wind. |
11 | He made darkness his covering around him, his canopy thick clouds dark with water. |
12 | Out of the brightness before him there broke through his 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 | And he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; he flashed forth lightnings, and routed them. |
15 | Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare, at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. |
16 | He reached from on high, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. |
17 | He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me. |
18 | They came upon me in the day of my calamity; but the LORD was my stay. |
19 | He brought me forth into a broad place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me. |
20 | The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he recompensed 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 his statutes I did not put away from me. |
23 | I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from guilt. |
24 | Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight. |
25 | With the loyal thou dost show thyself loyal; with the blameless man thou dost show thyself blameless; |
26 | with the pure thou dost show thyself pure; and with the crooked thou dost show thyself perverse. |
27 | For thou dost deliver a humble people; but the haughty eyes thou dost bring down. |
28 | Yea, thou dost light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. |
29 | Yea, by thee I can crush a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall. |
30 | This God -- his way is perfect; the promise of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. |
31 | For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? -- |
32 | the God who girded me with strength, and made my way safe. |
33 | He made my feet like hinds' feet, and set me secure on the heights. |
34 | He trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. |
35 | Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation, and thy right hand supported me, and thy help made me great. |
36 | Thou didst give a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip. |
37 | I pursued my enemies and overtook them; and did not turn back till they were consumed. |
38 | I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet. |
39 | For thou didst gird me with strength for the battle; thou didst make my assailants sink under me. |
40 | Thou didst make my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. |
41 | They cried for help, but there was none to save, they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. |
42 | I beat them fine as dust before the wind; I cast them out like the mire of the streets. |
43 | Thou didst deliver me from strife with the peoples; thou didst make me the head of the nations; people whom I had not known served me. |
44 | As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me; foreigners came cringing to me. |
45 | Foreigners lost heart, and came trembling out of their fastnesses. |
46 | The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation, |
47 | the God who gave me vengeance and subdued peoples under me; |
48 | who delivered me from my enemies; yea, thou didst exalt me above my adversaries; thou didst deliver me from men of violence. |
49 | For this I will extol thee, O LORD, among the nations, and sing praises to thy name. |
50 | Great triumphs he gives to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his descendants for ever. |