1 And David spokez[Ex. 15:1; Judg. 5:1; 1 Chr. 16:7] to the Lord the words of this song on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
2 aFor ver. 1-51, see Ps. 18:2-50 He said,
bDeut. 32:4; Ps. 31:3; 71:3; 91:2; 144:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
3 cver. 32, 47 my God, my rock,d[Heb. 2:13] in whom I take refuge,
ever. 31; Gen. 15:1 my shield, andfLuke 1:69 the horn of my salvation,
gPs. 9:9; 59:9, 16, 17; 62:2, 6; [Prov. 18:10] my stronghold andhPs. 14:6; 46:7, 11; 71:7; Jer. 16:19 my refuge,
my savior; you save me from violence.
4 I call upon the Lord, who isi1 Chr. 16:25; Ps. 48:1; 96:4 worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
5 j[Ps. 42:7; 93:4; Jonah 2:3] For the waves of death encompassed me,
the torrents of destruction assailed me;1Or terrified me
6 kPs. 116:3 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
7 lPs. 116:4; 120:1; Jonah 2:2 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I called.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my crymPs. 18:6 came to his ears.
8 ThennJudg. 5:4; Ps. 77:18; 97:4 the earth reeled and rocked;
o[Job 26:11] the foundations of the heavens trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
9 Smoke went up from his nostrils,1Or in his wrath
and devouring fire from his mouth;
pver. 13 glowing coals flamed forth from him.
10 qPs. 144:5 He bowed the heavens andrIsa. 64:1 came down;
s[Ex. 20:21; 1 Kgs. 8:12; Ps. 97:2] thick darkness was under his feet.
11 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he was seen ontPs. 104:3 the wings of the wind.
12 He mades[See ver. 10 above] darkness around himuJob 36:29 his canopy,
thick clouds, a gathering of water.
13 Out of the brightness before him
vver. 9 coals of fire flamed forth.
14 wJob 37:4; Ps. 29:3 The Lord thundered from heaven,
and the Most High uttered his voice.
15 And he sent outxDeut. 32:23; Ps. 7:13; 77:17; 144:6; Hab. 3:11 arrows and scattered them;
lightning, and routed them.
16 Then the channels of the sea were seen;
the foundations of the world were laid bare,
at the rebuke of the Lord,
at theyEx. 15:8 blast of the breath of his nostrils.
17 zPs. 144:7 He sent from on high, he took me;
he drew me out of many waters.
18 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me,
for they were too mighty for me.
19 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
20 aPs. 31:8; 118:5 He brought me out into a broad place;
he rescued me, becausebSee ch. 15:26 he delighted in me.
21 The Lordc1 Sam. 26:23; 1 Kgs. 8:32; Ps. 7:8 dealt with me according to my righteousness;
according to thed[Ps. 24:4] cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
22 eGen. 18:19; Prov. 8:32 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 fPs. 119:30, 102 For all his rules were before me,
and from his statutes I did not turn aside.
24 I wasg[Gen. 6:9; 17:1; Job 1:1] blameless before him,
and I kept myself from guilt.
25 d[See ver. 21 above] And the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to my cleanness in his sight.
26 h[Matt. 5:7] With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
with theg[See ver. 24 above] blameless man you show yourself blameless;
27 with the purified you deal purely,
and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
28 i[Ps. 72:12, 13] You save a humble people,
j[Isa. 2:11, 12, 17; Luke 1:51] but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.
29 kJob 29:3; Ps. 27:1; [ch. 21:17] For you are my lamp, O Lord,
and my God lightens my darkness.
30 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can leap over a wall.
31 This God—lDeut. 32:4; Matt. 5:48 his way is perfect;
themProv. 30:5 word of the Lord proves true;
he isnver. 3; Ps. 5:12; 33:20; 59:11; 84:9 a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
32 For who is God, but the Lord?
oSee ver. 2 And who is a rock, except our God?
33 This God is mypver. 2; Ps. 28:8; 31:3, 4 strong refuge
and has made my1Or his; also verse 34 way blameless.
34 qSee ch. 2:18 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
and set me securerDeut. 32:13; 33:29; Isa. 58:14 on the heights.
35 sPs. 144:1 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
36 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your gentleness made me great.
37 tProv. 4:12 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip;
38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,
and did not turn back until they were consumed.
39 I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;
they fellu[Mal. 4:3] under my feet.
40 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you madevPs. 44:5; 59:1 those who rise against me sink under me.
41 YouwEx. 23:27 made my enemies turn their backs to me,1Or you gave me my enemies' necks
those who hated me, and I destroyed them.
42 They looked, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, butx1 Sam. 28:6; Prov. 1:28; [Isa. 1:15; Mic. 3:4] he did not answer them.
43 I beat them finey2 Kgs. 13:7 as the dust of the earth;
I crushed them and stamped them downzIsa. 10:6; Mic. 7:10; Zech. 10:5 like the mire of the streets.
44 You delivered me from strife with my people;
you kept me as the head ofaSee ch. 8:1-14 the nations;
bIsa. 55:5 people whom I had not known served me.
45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.
46 Foreigners lost heart
and came tremblingcMic. 7:17 out of their fortresses.
47 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted bedver. 3, 32 my God,eDeut. 32:15; Ps. 89:26; 95:1 the rock of my salvation,
48 the God who gave me vengeance
andfPs. 144:2 brought down peoples under me,
49 who brought me out from my enemies;
you exalted me abovev[See ver. 40 above] those who rose against me;
you delivered me fromgPs. 140:1 men of violence.
50 hCited Rom. 15:9 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing praises to your name.
51 i[Ps. 144:10] Great salvation he brings1Or He is a tower of salvation to his king,
and shows steadfast love toj[1 Sam. 16:12, 13; Ps. 89:20] his anointed,
to David and his offspringkch. 7:12, 13; Ps. 89:29 forever. ”