2 Samuel 22

Evangelical Heritage Version

The Lord is my rocky cliff,
my stronghold, and my deliverer.
³ My God is my rock. I take refuge in him.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my high fortress, my refuge, and my savior.
You save me from violence.
⁴ I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵ The waves of death swirled around me.
Floodwaters of destruction^[b] rolled over me.
⁶ The ropes of the grave wrapped around me.
The traps of death threatened me.
⁷ In my distress I called to the Lord.
To my God I cried out.
He heard my voice from his temple.
My cry for help reached his ears.

⁸ Then the earth shook and quaked,
and the foundations of the heavens^[c] trembled.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
⁹ Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and fire out of his mouth devoured.
Coals were set on fire by it.
¹⁰ Then he tore open the heavens and came down.
A dark cloud was under his feet.
¹¹ He rode upon a cherub,^[d] and he flew.
He soared^[e] on the wings of the wind.
¹² He made the darkness around him his shelter,
the dark rain clouds of the sky.^[f]
13 From the brightness in front of him, coals of fire burned.
¹⁴ Then the Lord thundered in the heavens.
The Most High raised his voice.
¹⁵ Then he shot his arrows and scattered the enemy.
He hurled great bolts of lightning and routed them.
¹⁶ Then the sources of the sea^[g] were revealed,
and the foundations of the world were uncovered
    by the rebuke of the Lord,
    by the breath of wind from his nostrils.
¹⁷ He reached down from on high and took hold of me.
He drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁸ Because they were too strong for me,
he rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hate me.
¹⁹ They confronted me on the day of my disaster,
but the Lord supported me.
²⁰ Then he brought me out into a wide open space.
He rescued me because he delighted in me.

²¹ The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands, he has repaid me,
²² because I have kept the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil and departed from my God.
²³ So all his just decrees remain before me,
and I have not turned away from his statutes.
²⁴ I have been blameless with him.
I have kept myself from guilt.
²⁵ The Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands^[h] in his sight.

²⁶ To the merciful^[i] you reveal yourself as merciful.
To the blameless person you reveal yourself as blameless.
²⁷ To the pure you reveal yourself as pure,
but to the crooked you reveal yourself as crafty.^[j]

²⁸ Yes, you save humble people,
but your eyes are on the proud, and you bring them down.
²⁹ Yes, you are my lamp, O Lord.
The Lord turns my darkness to light.
³⁰ For with you I can charge against a battalion,^[k]
and with my God I can jump over a wall.

³¹ This God—his way is blameless.
The speech of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
³² For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
³³ This God wraps me with strength^[l]
and makes my way smooth.^[m]
34 By making my feet like those of a deer,
    he enables me to stand on high places.
³⁵ Because he trains my hands for battle,
    my arms can draw a bronze bow.
³⁶ Then you give me the shield of your salvation.
Your response makes me great.
³⁷ You widen the path under my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁸ I pursued my enemies, and I destroyed them.
Yes, I did not turn back until they were wiped out.
³⁹ I wiped them out. I crushed them.
They could not rise again.
They fell beneath my feet.
⁴⁰ You wrapped me with strength for battle.
You made those who rose up against me bow down to me.
⁴¹ You made my enemies turn their backs and flee.
I destroyed those who hate me.
⁴² They cried for help, but there was no one to save them.
They cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴³ So I ground them as fine as dust of the earth.
I scattered them and trampled them down like mud in the streets.
⁴⁴ You delivered me from the accusations of my people.
You preserved me as the head of nations.
A people I did not know serve me.
⁴⁵ Foreigners cringe before me.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
⁴⁶ Foreigners fall exhausted.
They come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁷ The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock!
May God, the Rock who saves me, be exalted!
⁴⁸ This God, who avenges me, subdues peoples under me.
⁴⁹ You delivered me from my enemies.
Yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me.
You rescued me from the violent man.
⁵⁰ Therefore, I will thank you among the nations, Lord.
To your name I will make music.
⁵¹ By providing great salvation for his King,
he shows mercy to his Anointed One,
to David and to his Seed^[n] forever.