Psalm 18
Words: The Psalter of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, 1887 ed.
Note: This page also has a Common Metre version of this psalm.
1 Thee will I love, O Lord, my might,
My rock, my help, my saving power,
My God, my trust, my shield in fight,
My great salvation, my high tower.
2 I to Jehovah lift my prayer,
To whose great name all praise we owe;
So shall I by his watchful care
Be safely guarded from my foe.
3 By floods of wicked men distressed,
With deadly sorrows compassed round;
My soul with pains of hell oppressed,
And in death's iron fetters bound.
4 Distressed, I called upon the Lord,
And to my God addressed my prayer;
My voice he from his temple heard,
My cry ascended to his ear.
5 When God in his fierce anger came,
The everlasting hills did quake;
The trembling earth throughout its frame,
Did from its deep foundations shake.
6 Dark clouds of smoke, dread signs of ire
Up from Jehovah's nostrils came;
His mouth sent forth devouring fire,
And coals were kindled into flame.
7 He bowed the heavens, his high abode,
Descending 'mid the gloom of night;
He on a cherub swiftly rode,
And on the wings of wind his flight.
8 Dark watery mists in thick array
And lowering clouds his presence veil,
But at his brightness pass away,
And burst in storms of fire and hail.
9 Then through the heaven with lightning riven,
Jehovah thundered in his ire;
The voice of God Most High was given
'Mid storms of hail and coals of fire.
10 His deadly shafts around he threw,
His foes dispersed in wild retreat;
Like burning darts his lightnings flew,
Consuming them in sore defeat.
11 The waters' channels were disclosed,
Laid bare the world's foundations vast;
By thy rebuke, O Lord, exposed,
And by thy nostrils' angry blast.
12 He sent from heaven and rescued me
From many waters swelling high;
From those that hate me set me free,
And foes that stronger were than I.
13 With fierce assault in sorrow's day,
My foes came on, but God was near;
He saved me, and enlarged my way,
Because to him my soul was dear.
14 As I in life have righteous been,
Jehovah will his grace afford;
According as my hands are clean,
He'll give to me a just reward.
15 Jehovah's ways I kept aright,
And from my God did not depart;
I kept his judgments in my sight,
And all his statutes in my heart.
16 Sincere beneath his searching sight,
I kept from each besetting sin;
So he my goodness doth requite,
According as my hands are clean.
17 To gracious men thou gracious art,
And pure to such as purely live,
Upright to men of upright heart,
But with the froward thou wilt strive.
18 For thou the troubled soul wilt save,
High looks wilt humble in thy might.
A lamp to me Jehovah gave,
And turned my darkness into light.
19 I on his mighty arm relied,
And over troops of foes prevailed;
And with my God upon my side,
Their lofty walls I fearless scaled.
20 The way of God perfection shows,
Jehovah's holy word is tried;
He is a buckler unto those
Who in his mighty power confide.
21 For who as God should be adored?
Who but our God can us befriend?
Who is a rock besides the Lord?
Who else is able to defend?
22 My loins with strength th' Almighty binds,
My way makes perfect by his hand;
My feet he makes as swift as hinds',
On my high places makes me stand.
23 By him well trained in arts of war,
My arms the bow of steel shall break;
Thy hand and shield my safety are,
And great thy kindness shall me make.
24 Thou hast made room where I did go,
Kept safe my feet whilst I pursued,
And pressed upon the flying foe,
Nor turned till they were all subdued.
25 I smote them, they could rise no more;
They fell down helpless at my feet.
Thou didst me gird with strength for war;
Thro' thee my triumph was complete.
26 The lives of all my deadly foes
To be destroyed to me were given;
They called, but none to save them rose;
In vain they cried for help to heaven.
27 Then small as rising dust which flies
Before the wind, I did them beat;
I cast them forth like dirt which lies
Down-trodden in the miry street.
28 From strife thou hast secured my throne;
O'er heathen made me head to be;
A people which I have not known
Shall render service unto me.
29 They shall obey soon as they hear;
The sons of strangers shall submit;
Yea, strangers' sons shall fade with fear,
Who in their strong enclosures sit.
30 Jehovah lives, let him be praised,
My rock, on whom alone I rest;
And highly let God's name be raised,
Who me with his salvation blest.
31 The mighty God avenges me,
Hath nations under me subdued,
From all my foes hath set me free,
And saved from all that me with-stood.
32 From men of violence and blood
Thou didst to me deliv'rance bring;
So thanks to thee I'll give, O God,
Thy praise among the nations sing.
33 He to his king deliv'rance sends,
To his anointed shows his grace;
His mercy evermore extends
To David and his promised race.
1 Thee will I love, O Lord, my strength.
My fortress is the Lord,
My rock, and he that doth to me
Deliverance afford:
2 My God, my strength, whom I will trust,
A buckler unto me,
The horn of my salvation, too,
And my high tower is he.
3 The Lord is worthy to be praised,
Upon his name I'll call;
And he from all my enemies
Preserve me safely shall.
4 Death's pangs surrounded me, ill men
Like floods made me afraid;
Hell's sorrows compassed me about;
Death's snares were on me laid.
5 In my distress I called on God,
Cry to my God did I;
He from his temple heard my voice,
To his ears came my cry.
6 The earth affrighted then did shake,
Upon it trembling seized;
The hills' foundations moved and shook,
Because he was displeased.
7 Then from his nostrils rose a smoke,
And from his month there came
Devouring fire, and coals by it
Were kindled into flame.
8 The heavens also he bowed down,
And thence he did descend,
Whilst thickest clouds of darkness did
Beneath his feet attend.
9 And he upon a cherub rode,
Upon it he did fly;
Yea, on the swift wings of the wind
His flight was from on high.
10 He darkness made his secret place;
Around him gathered were
For his pavilion, waters dark
And clouds that fill the air.
11 And at the brightness of that light
Which was before his eye,
His thick clouds passed away, hailstones
And coals of fire did fly.
12 Jehovah also in the heavens
Did thunder in his ire;
And there the Highest gave his voice
Hailstones and coals of fire.
13 He sent his arrows forth, and they
Were scattered far and near;
His lightnings also he shot out,
And they confounded were.
14 The waters' channels then were seen,
The world's foundations vast
At thy rebuke discovered were,
And at thy nostrils' blast.
15 And from above the Lord sent down,
And took me from below;
From many waters drew me out,
Which would me overflow.
16 He me relieved from my strong foes,
And such as did me hate;
Because he saw that they for me
Too strong were, and too great.
17 They rose against me in the day
Of my calamity;
But even then the Lord himself
A stay was unto me.
18 He to a place where liberty
And room was hath me brought;
Because he took delight in me,
He my deliv'rance wrought.
19 According to my righteousness
He did me recompense,
He me repaid according to
My hand's pure innocence
20 For I have kept Jehovah's ways,
From God turned not aside;
Before me still his judgments are,
His statutes are my guide.
21 Sincere and upright in my heart
Before his face was I;
And watchfully I kept myself
From my iniquity.
22 According to my righteousness
The Lord did me requite,
According as my hands were clean
Before his searching sight.
23 Thou wilt thy tender mercy show
To those who mercy love;
Thou also with the upright man
Thyself wilt upright prove.
24 To those who walk in purity
Thyself thou pure wilt show;
And froward thou wilt prove to those
In froward ways that go.
25 For thou wilt the afflicted save
In grief that low do lie:
But wilt bring down the countenance
Of them whose looks are high.
26 The Lord will light my candle so,
That it shall shine full bright;
The Lord my God will also make
My darkness to be light.
27 By thee through troops of men I break,
And them discomfit all;
And by my God assisting me,
I overleap a wall.
28 All perfect is the way of God;
Jehovah's word is tried;
He is a buckler unto all
Who do in him confide.
29 Who but the Lord is God? but he
Who is a rock and stay?
Jehovah girdeth me with strength,
And perfect makes my way.
30 He set me on my places high,
Like hinds' feet mine did make.
My hands he taught to war, my arms
A bow of steel did break.
31 The shield of thy salvation thou
Upon me didst bestow;
Thy right band held me up, and great
Thy kindness made me grow.
32 And in my way thou hast enlarged
My footsteps under me,
That I go safely, and my feet
Are kept from sliding free.
33 My enemies I have pursued,
And them did overtake;
Nor turned again till I of them
An utter end did make.
34 I wounded them, they could not rise,
They at my feet did fall.
Thou girdest me with strength for war,
My foes thou broughtst down all.
35 And thou hast given me the necks
Of such as are my foes;
That I might them destroy who do
With hatred me oppose.
36 They in their trouble cried for help,
But there was none to save;
Yea, they upon Jehovah called,
But he no answer gave.
37 Then did I beat them small as dust
Before the wind that flies;
And I did cast them out like filth
Upon the street that lies.
38 Thou mad'st me free from people's strife,
The heathen's head to be;
A people whom I have not known
Shall service do to me.
39 At hearing they shall yield to me,
My will they shall obey:
From their enclosures, struck with fear,
Shall strangers fade away.
40 God lives, blest be my rock, and praised
Let God my Savior be.
God doth avenge me, and subdues
The people under me.
41 He saves me from my enemies;
Yea, thou hast lifted me
Above my foes; and from the man
Of vi'lence set me free.
42 I therefore will to thee, O Lord,
In songs my thanks proclaim;
And I among the heathen will
Sing praises to thy name.
43 He great deliv'rance gives his king;
He mercy doth extend
To David, his anointed one,
And his seed without end.
