PSA C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31 C32 C33 C34 C35 C36 C37 C38 C39 C40 C41 C42 C43 C44 C45 C46 C47 C48 C49 C50 C51 C52 C53 C54 C55 C56 C57 C58 C59 C60 C61 C62 C63 C64 C65 C66 C67 C68 C69 C70 C71 C72 C73 C74 C75 C76 C77 C78 C79 C80 C81 C82 C83 C84 C85 C86 C87 C88 C89 C90 C91 C92 C93 C94 C95 C96 C97 C98 C99 C100 C101 C102 C103 C104 C105 C106 C107 C108 C109 C110 C111 C112 C113 C114 C115 C116 C117 C118 C119 C120 C121 C122 C123 C124 C125 C126 C127 C128 C129 C130 C131 C132 C133 C134 C135 C136 C137 C138 C139 C140 C141 C142 C143 C144 C145 C146 C147 C148 C149 C150

MOF PSA Chapter 18

◄ PSA 18 ► ║ ©

From the Choirmaster’s collection. A song of David the servant of the Eternal, who sang these words to the Eternal on the day when the Eternal rescued him from the power of all his enemies, from the power of Saul. He said:

18 O Eternal my Strength, I will exalt thee.

2 The Eternal is my crag, my stronghold, my deliverer,

my God, my fortalice where I shelter,

my shield, my saving strength, my retreat.

3 The Eternal is to be praised!—I call to him,

and I am rescued from my foes.

4 For waves of death broke round me,

floods of destruction burst on me;

5 deadly nets entangled me,

and fatal snares surprised me.

6 I called to the Eternal in my plight;

I cried to my God for aid;

he in his palace heard my voice,

my cry came to his ears.

7 The earth was swaying, quaking,

hills were quivering to their base,

before his anger shaking;

8 smoke fumed from his nostrils,

and scorching fire from his lips,

that kindled blazing coals,

9 as down he came on the bending sky,

the storm-cloud at his feet.

10 He rode on flying kherubs,

and swooped with the wings of the wind,

11 shrouding himself in darkness,

that veiled his presence round,

with rain-clouds dark and dense.

12 Storm-clouds rolled in front of him,

with hail and lightning flashes,

13 and the Eternal thundered from heaven,

the Most High uttered his voice;

he scattered his arrows,

14 shot twisting flashes of lightning,

till the beds of the waters were seen,

15 and earth’s foundations were laid bare,

at thy storming, O Eternal,

at the snorting of thy nostrils.

16 He reaches down to raise me,

he draws me from the flood,

17 he frees me from my foe so strong,

from haters far too strong for me,

18 who assailed me by surprise in my distress;

but the Eternal comes to my support

19 and sets me free, in a clear space;

as he delights in me, he rescues me.

20 The Eternal deals with me as I am upright,

he recompenses me for my clean life;

21 for I have kept to the Eternal’s road,

and never sinned by swerving from my God;

22 his rules are all before my mind,

I never set aside his orders;

23 I was blameless in his eyes,

and kept clear of my sins.

24 So the Eternal has rewarded me

for my integrity,

for my life clean in his eyes.

25 To the kind thou provest kind,

and true to the true,

26 to the pure thou provest pure,

and treacherous to the treacherous;

27 the humble thou wilt raise,

but the haughty thou wilt abase.

28 O Eternal, thou wilt light my lamp,

my God, thou wilt make my darkness shine;

29 by thy help I can face a troop,

by God’s help I can leap a wall.

30 God is unerring in his ways,

the Eternal’s promises are tried and true;

he shields all who take shelter with him.

31 For who is God save the Eternal?

Who is steadfast but our God?—

32 the God who girdles me with strength,

and clears the path for me.

33 He makes me nimble as a deer

and sets me on the height.

34 He trains me how to fight,

till I can bend a bow of bronze.

35 Thou hast shielded me with thine aid,

thy right hand holds me up;

thine answers to prayer have raised me up.

36 Thou hast given me room to move,

and a sure foothold.

37 I chase my foes and catch them,

I never turn till they are killed,

38 I fell them till they cannot rise;

they fall down at my feet.

39 For thou hast braced me for the fray;

thou makest my assailants drop before me;

40 thou makest my foes run before me,

till I finish off those who hate me.

41 They cry for help, but there is none to help them,

cry to the Eternal, but they get no answer;

42 and I pound them to pieces like dust before the wind,

I crush them like mud in the street.

43 Thou hast freed me from feuds,

and made me head over pagans;

44 outsiders fawn on me,

foreigners come cringing to me;

once they hear of me, they render homage;

45 foreigners give way,

and creep trembling from their forts.

46 The Eternal is living—blest be my Might,

exalted be my God of victory!—

47 God who lets me enjoy my vengeance,

subduing the nation under me.

48 O thou my rescuer from my foes,

who settest me high above my enemies,

who recuest me from violence,

49 I thank thee before pagans, O Eternal,

I will sing thy praise.

50 [[He gives his king great victories,

and kindness to his chosen prince,

to David and his dynasty for ever.]]