Psalm 18:6-31

New American Standard Bible

⁶ In my ^(A)distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice ^(B)from His temple,
And my ^(C)cry for help before Him came into His ears.

⁷ Then the ^(D)earth shook and quaked;
And the ^(E)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
⁸ Smoke went up ^[a]out of His nostrils,
And ^(F)fire from His mouth was devouring;
Coals burned from it.
⁹ He also ^(G)bowed the heavens down low, and came down
With thick ^(H)darkness under His feet.
¹⁰ He rode on a ^(I)cherub and flew;
And He sped on the ^(J)wings of the wind.
¹¹ He made ^(K)darkness His hiding place, ^(L)His ^[b]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds.
¹² From the ^(M)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and ^(N)coals of fire.
¹³ The Lord also ^(O)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High uttered His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
¹⁴ He ^(P)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and ^[c]routed them.
¹⁵ Then the ^(Q)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were exposed
By Your ^(R)rebuke, Lord,
At the blast of the ^(S)breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶ He ^(T)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of ^(U)many waters.
¹⁷ He ^(V)saved me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were ^(W)too mighty for me.
¹⁸ They confronted me in ^(X)the day of my disaster,
But ^(Y)the Lord was my support.
¹⁹ He also brought me out into an ^(Z)open place;
He rescued me, because ^(AA)He delighted in me.

²⁰ The Lord has ^(AB)rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the ^(AC)cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
²¹ For I have ^(AD)kept the ways of the Lord,
And have ^(AE)not acted wickedly against my God.
²² For all ^(AF)His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His ^(AG)statutes from me.
²³ I was also ^[d](AH)blameless with Him,
And I ^(AI)kept myself from my wrongdoing.
²⁴ Therefore the Lord has ^(AJ)repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

²⁵ With ^(AK)the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the ^[e]blameless ^(AL)You prove Yourself blameless;
²⁶ With the pure You show Yourself ^(AM)pure,
And with the crooked ^(AN)You show Yourself ^[f]astute.
²⁷ For You ^(AO)save an afflicted people,
But You humiliate ^(AP)haughty eyes.
²⁸ For You ^(AQ)light my lamp;
The Lord my God ^(AR)illumines my darkness.
²⁹ For by You I can ^(AS)run at a ^[g]troop of warriors;
And by my God I can ^(AT)leap over a wall.

³⁰ As for God, His way is ^[h](AU)blameless;
The ^(AV)word of the Lord is refined;
He is a ^(AW)shield to all who take refuge in Him.
³¹ For ^(AX)who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a ^(AY)rock, except our God,