2 Samuel 22:1-23:7

New King James Version

^(E)“The Lord is my rock and my ^(F)fortress and my deliverer;
³ The God of my strength, ^(G)in whom I will trust;
My ^(H)shield and the ^(I)horn^[a] of my salvation,
My ^(J)stronghold and my ^(K)refuge;
My Savior, You save me from violence.
⁴ I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies.

⁵ “When the waves of death surrounded me,
The floods of ungodliness ^[b]made me afraid.
⁶ The ^(L)sorrows of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
⁷ In my distress ^(M)I called upon the Lord,
And cried out to my God;
He ^(N)heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry entered His ears.

⁸ “Then ^(O)the earth shook and trembled;
^(P)The foundations of ^[c]heaven quaked and were shaken,
Because He was angry.
⁹ Smoke went up from His nostrils,
And devouring ^(Q)fire from His mouth;
Coals were kindled by it.
¹⁰ He ^(R)bowed the heavens also, and came down
With ^(S)darkness under His feet.
¹¹ He rode upon a cherub, and flew;
And He ^[d]was seen ^(T)upon the wings of the wind.
¹² He made ^(U)darkness canopies around Him,
Dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
¹³ From the brightness before Him
Coals of fire were kindled.

¹⁴ “The Lord ^(V)thundered from heaven,
And the Most High uttered His voice.
¹⁵ He sent out ^(W)arrows and scattered them;
Lightning bolts, and He vanquished them.
¹⁶ Then the channels of the sea ^(X)were seen,
The foundations of the world were uncovered,
At the ^(Y)rebuke of the Lord,
At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

¹⁷ “He^(Z) sent from above, He took me,
He drew me out of many waters.
¹⁸ He delivered me from my strong enemy,
From those who hated me;
For they were too strong for me.
¹⁹ They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
But the Lord was my ^(AA)support.
^20 (AB)He also brought me out into a broad place;
He delivered me because He ^(AC)delighted in me.

²¹ “The^(AD) Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the ^(AE)cleanness of my hands
He has recompensed me.
²² For I have ^(AF)kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not wickedly departed from my God.
²³ For all His ^(AG)judgments were before me;
And as for His statutes, I did not depart from them.
²⁴ I was also ^(AH)blameless before Him,
And I kept myself from my iniquity.
²⁵ Therefore ^(AI)the Lord has ^[e]recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to ^[f]my cleanness in His eyes.

²⁶ “With ^(AJ)the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
²⁷ With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
And ^(AK)with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.
²⁸ You will save the ^(AL)humble^[g] people;
But Your eyes are on ^(AM)the haughty, that You may bring them down.

²⁹ “For You are my ^(AN)lamp, O Lord;
The Lord shall enlighten my darkness.
³⁰ For by You I can run against a troop;
By my God I can leap over a ^(AO)wall.
³¹ As for God, ^(AP)His way is perfect;
^(AQ)The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

³² “For ^(AR)who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?
^33 [h]God is my ^(AS)strength and power,
And He ^(AT)makes ^[i]my way ^(AU)perfect.
³⁴ He makes ^[j]my feet ^(AV)like the feet of deer,
And ^(AW)sets me on my high places.
³⁵ He teaches my hands ^[k]to make war,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

³⁶ “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your gentleness has made me great.
³⁷ You ^(AX)enlarged my path under me;
So my feet did not slip.

³⁸ “I have pursued my enemies and destroyed them;
Neither did I turn back again till they were destroyed.
³⁹ And I have destroyed them and wounded them,
So that they could not rise;
They have fallen ^(AY)under my feet.
⁴⁰ For You have ^(AZ)armed me with strength for the battle;
You have ^[l]subdued under me ^(BA)those who rose against me.
⁴¹ You have also ^[m]given me the ^(BB)necks of my enemies,
So that I destroyed those who hated me.
⁴² They looked, but there was none to save;
Even ^(BC)to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
⁴³ Then I beat them as fine ^(BD)as the dust of the earth;
I trod them ^(BE)like dirt in the streets,
And I ^[n]spread them out.

⁴⁴ “You^(BF) have also delivered me from the ^[o]strivings of my people;
You have kept me as the ^(BG)head of the nations.
^(BH)A people I have not known shall serve me.
⁴⁵ The foreigners submit to me;
As soon as they hear, they obey me.
⁴⁶ The foreigners fade away,
And ^[p]come frightened ^(BI)from their hideouts.

⁴⁷ “The Lord lives!
Blessed be my Rock!
Let God be exalted,
The ^(BJ)Rock of my salvation!
⁴⁸ It is God who avenges me,
And ^(BK)subdues the peoples under me;
⁴⁹ He delivers me from my enemies.
You also lift me up above those who rise against me;
You have delivered me from the ^(BL)violent man.
⁵⁰ Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among ^(BM)the Gentiles,
And sing praises to Your ^(BN)name.

⁵¹ “He^(BO) is the tower of salvation to His king,
And shows mercy to His ^(BP)anointed,
To David and ^(BQ)his descendants forevermore.”

Thus says David the son of Jesse;
Thus says ^(BR)the man raised up on high,
^(BS)The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

² “The^(BT) Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
³ The God of Israel said,
^(BU)The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling ^(BV)in the fear of God.
⁴ And ^(BW)he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,
By clear shining after rain.’

⁵ “Although my house is not so with God,
^(BX)Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things and secure.
For this is all my salvation and all my desire;
Will He not make it increase?
⁶ But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with hands.
⁷ But the man who touches them
Must be ^[q]armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”