New Living Translation

New King James Version

For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the LORD. He sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:

I love you, LORD;
you are my strength.

1

God the Sovereign Savior

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:

I will love You, O Lord, my strength.

2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.

2

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my [a]strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the [b]horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3

I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.

3

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

4

The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.

4

The pangs of death surrounded me,
And the floods of [c]ungodliness made me afraid.

5

The gravea wrapped its ropes around me;
death laid a trap in my path.

5

The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.

6

But in my distress I cried out to the LORD;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.

6

In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry came before Him, even to His ears.

7

Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.

7

Then the earth shook and trembled;
The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.

8

Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.

8

Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.

9

He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.

9

He bowed the heavens also, and came down
With darkness under His feet.

10

Mounted on a mighty angelic being,b he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.

10

And He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
He flew upon the wings of the wind.

11

He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.

11

He made darkness His secret place;
His canopy around Him was dark waters
And thick clouds of the skies.

12

Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.c

12

From the brightness before Him,
His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire.

13

The LORD thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.

13

The Lord thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
[d]Hailstones and coals of fire.

14

He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused.

14

He sent out His arrows and scattered [e]the foe,
Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them.

15

Then at your command, O LORD,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

15

Then the channels of the sea were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered
At Your rebuke, O Lord,
At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

16

He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.

16

He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.

17

He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.

17

He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me,
For they were too strong for me.

18

They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the LORD supported me.

18

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my support.

19

He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.

19

He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.

20

The LORD rewarded me for doing right;
he restored me because of my innocence.

20

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.

21

For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
I have not turned from my God to follow evil.

21

For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.

22

I have followed all his regulations;
I have never abandoned his decrees.

22

For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.

23

I am blameless before God;
I have kept myself from sin.

23

I was also blameless [f]before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.

24

The LORD rewarded me for doing right.
He has seen my innocence.

24

Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

25

To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.

25

With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

26

To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd.

26

With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

27

You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.

27

For You will save the humble people,
But will bring down haughty looks.

28

You light a lamp for me.
The LORD, my God, lights up my darkness.

28

For You will light my lamp;
The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

29

In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.

29

For by You I can [g]run against a troop,
By my God I can leap over a wall.

30

God’s way is perfect.
All the LORD’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

30

As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is [h]proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

31

For who is God except the LORD?
Who but our God is a solid rock?

31

For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?

32

God arms me with strength,
and he makes my way perfect.

32

It is God who arms me with strength,
And makes my way perfect.

33

He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

33

He makes my feet like the feet of deer,
And sets me on my high places.

34

He trains my hands for battle;
he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

34

He teaches my hands to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35

You have given me your shield of victory.
Your right hand supports me;
your helpd has made me great.

35

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand has held me up,
Your gentleness has made me great.

36

You have made a wide path for my feet
to keep them from slipping.

36

You enlarged my path under me,
So my feet did not slip.

37

I chased my enemies and caught them;
I did not stop until they were conquered.

37

I have pursued my enemies and overtaken them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.

38

I struck them down so they could not get up;
they fell beneath my feet.

38

I have wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen under my feet.

39

You have armed me with strength for the battle;
you have subdued my enemies under my feet.

39

For You have armed me with strength for the battle;
You have [i]subdued under me those who rose up against me.

40

You placed my foot on their necks.
I have destroyed all who hated me.

40

You have also given me the necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.

41

They called for help, but no one came to their rescue.
They even cried to the LORD, but he refused to answer.

41

They cried out, but there was none to save;
Even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.

42

I ground them as fine as dust in the wind.
I swept them into the gutter like dirt.

42

Then I beat them as fine as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out like dirt in the streets.

43

You gave me victory over my accusers.
You appointed me ruler over nations;
people I don’t even know now serve me.

43

You have delivered me from the strivings of the people;
You have made me the head of the [j]nations;
A people I have not known shall serve me.

44

As soon as they hear of me, they submit;
foreign nations cringe before me.

44

As soon as they hear of me they obey me;
The foreigners [k]submit to me.

45

They all lose their courage
and come trembling from their strongholds.

45

The foreigners fade away,
And come frightened from their hideouts.

46

The LORD lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!

46

The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47

He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me

47

It is God who avenges me,
And subdues the peoples under me;

48

and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.

48

He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.

49

For this, O LORD, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.

49

Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the [l]Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your name.

50

You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.

50

Great deliverance He gives to His king,
And shows mercy to His anointed,
To David and his [m]descendants forevermore.

Parallel

New Living Translation

New King James Version

Psalms 18

Psalms 18