*Psalms 18

₁David said: ‘Lord, I love you.

You make me strong.

₂Lord, You are my Rock,

my safe place in the mountains, my Saviour.

I feel safe with You.

You are my Shield,

the One who protects and defends me.

₃Lord, I praise You.

You are holy and wonderful.

You have saved me

from my enemies.

₄Death wanted to hold me

and tie me with ropes.

Floods of water flowed over me,

and I almost died.

₅Cords from the underworld tied me,

and traps of death wanted to get me.

₆When I have trouble,

I pray to the Lord. I shout

and ask Him for help.

He listens to me in his temple.

He listens when I cry and ask Him for help.

₇The earth shook and trembled,

and the foundations of the mountains

shook and trembled,

because the Lord was angry.

₈Smoke came out of his nose,

and burning fire and coals came from his mouth.

₉He broke open

the heaven and He came down.

Dark clouds were under his feet.

₁₀He rode on a cherub and flew,

and He moved quickly on the wings of the wind.

₁₁It was dark around Him,

and dark waters and thick clouds covered Him.

₁₂Hail-stones and coals of fire came from

the light that shines around the Lord

and it came through the clouds.

₁₃When the Lord started to speak,

it sounded like thunder in the sky.

The voice of the Most_High_God was very loud,

and it came with hail-stones and coals of fire.

₁₄He used lightning for his arrows

and He chased away all of his enemies

who had to flee.

₁₅When the Lord gets angry

and He rebukes his enemies,

the breath from his nose is

like a storm wind,

the sea becomes empty,

and the foundations of the earth

lie open for all to see.

₁₆The Lord put out his hand

from heaven and He grabbed me,

and He lifted me out of the deep water.

₁₇He saved me from my enemies

and from the people who hate me,

because they were too strong for me.

₁₈They attacked me

when I had trouble and suffered,

but the Lord helped me and kept me upright.

₁₉He brought me to a place

where I am safe.

He saved me because He loves me.

₂₀The Lord said I am not guilty,

and He has rewarded me because

I have done what is right.

₂₁Yes, I have done what the Lord wants,

and I have not sinned or

turned away from my God.

₂₂I have remembered what the Lord said to me,

and I have done what He has told us in his laws.

₂₃I have done everything that He wants,

and I have kept on doing what is right.

₂₄I am innocent. My God saw

that I had done nothing wrong

and He rewarded me.

₂₅Lord, You are faithful to people

who are faithful to You

and do what they have promised.

You are always good to people who are good.

₂₆You are pure to people who are pure,

but You are against people

who are bad and false,

and You punish them.

₂₇You save people

who are humble,

but You make proud people fall,

and You humiliate them.

₂₈Lord, You are the One

who gives me light in my life.

You are my God who takes away

the darkness around me.

₂₉Lord, if You are with me,

I can attack an army.

If You help me,

I can jump over any high wall.

₃₀Everything that God does is right,

and every word that God says is true.

He protects everyone who flees to Him.

He protects them like a shield.

₃₁The Lord is the only God,

and only our God is a Rock.

₃₂He is the God who

makes me strong enough to go to war,

and He keeps me safe.

₃₃He makes my feet as strong

as the feet of a deer.

He keeps me safe as I stand on high places.

₃₄He teaches me how to go to war,

and He makes my arms strong so that I

can shoot with a bronze bow_and_arrow.

₃₅The Lord saves me like a shield that protects me.

The shield that You give me saves my life.

You help me stand upright,

and You help me to be good and great.

₃₆You make me run fast,

and I do not stumble and fall.

₃₇I follow_and_chase my enemies.

I attack them and I don't turn_around

until they are all dead.

₃₈I pierce them and they fall to the ground,

and they can not get up.

They lie down at my feet.

₃₉Lord, You make me strong enough to go to war,

and You make my enemies kneel before me.

₄₀You made them run away from me,

and I destroyed the people who hated me.

₄₁They shouted and

asked for help,

but no one came to save them.

They cried to the Lord,

but He did not answer them.

₄₂I beat them into pieces,

like fine dust that blows away in the wind,

and I trampled them like I do when I put my foot

down into mud on the roads.

₄₃Lord, You have saved me from people

who rebelled_against me.

You made me the leader of

many people and nations,

and people that I did not know before

came to serve me.

₄₄When they hear what I say,

they listen immediately and do what I want.

People from other lands

bow down in front of me.

₄₅They all become afraid and tremble,

and they come out of the towns and cities

with strong walls where they have been hiding.

₄₆The Lord lives, and He is my Rock.

I praise Him, the God who saved me.

He is more important than anything.

₄₇He is the God who helps me

punish people for the things

that they have done to me.

He makes people bow down before me.

₄₈He has saved me from my enemies,

and He has made me stand high above the people

who were fighting against me.

He saved me when cruel people

wanted to hurt me.

₄₉Lord, this is why

I praise You so that people

from all nations can hear when I sing

about your name.

₅₀The Lord always helps our king

defeat his enemies.

He is always faithful and

He never forgets his anointed king

and the descendants of David.’