~ Psalm 18 ~
This is a long read but it is well worth it. There are many treasures in this Psalm! I have highlighted just a few of them that stood out to me.
1: I love You, O Lord, my strength.
2: The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3: I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
4: The cords of death encompassed me, and the torrents of ungodliness terrified me.
5: The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me.
6: In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7: Then the earth shook and quaked; and the foundations of the mountains were trembling and were shaken, because He was angry.
8: Smoke went up out of His nostrils, and fire from His mouth devoured; coals were kindled by it.
9: He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet.
10: He rode upon a cherub and flew; and He sped upon the wings of the wind.
11: He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12: From the brightness before Him passed His thick clouds, hailstones and coals of fire.
13: The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.
14: He sent out His arrows, and scattered them, and lightning flashes in abundance, and routed them.
15: Then the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16: He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters.
17: He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.
18: They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my stay.
19: He brought me forth also into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.
20: The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
21: For I have kept the ways of the Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22: For all His ordinances were before me, and I did not put away His statutes from me.
23: I was also blameless with Him, and I kept myself from my iniquity.
24: Therefore the Lord has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
25: With the kind You show Yourself kind; with the blameless You show Yourself blameless;
26: With the pure You show Yourself pure, and with the crooked You show Yourself astute.
27: For You save an afflicted people, but haughty eyes You abase.
28: For You light my lamp; the Lord my God illumines my darkness.
29: For by You I can run upon a troop; and by my God I can leap over a wall.
30: As for God, His way is blameless; the word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31: For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God,
32: The God who girds me with strength and makes my way blameless?
33: He makes my feet like hinds' feet, and sets me upon my high places.
34: He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35: You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great.
36: You enlarge my steps under me, and my feet have not slipped.
37: I pursued my enemies and overtook them, and I did not turn back until they were consumed.
38: I shattered them, so that they were not able to rise; they fell under my feet.
39: For You have girded me with strength for battle; You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40: You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroyed those who hated me.
41: They cried for help, but there was none to save, even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42: Then I beat them fine as the dust before the wind; I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
43: You have delivered me from the contentions of the people; You have placed me as head of the nations; a people whom I have not known serve me.
44: As soon as they hear, they obey me; foreigners submit to me.
45: Foreigners fade away, and come trembling out of their fortresses.
46: The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of my salvation,
47: The God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me.
48: He delivers me from my enemies; surely You lift me above those who rise up against me; You rescue me from the violent man.
49: Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord, and I will sing praises to Your name.
50: He gives great deliverance to His king, and shows lovingkindness to His anointed, to David and his descendants forever.
