For the music leader. Of David, the servant of the LORD, who spoke the words of this song to the LORD on the day the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
He said: “I love you, LORD, my strength. The LORD is my crag, my fortress, and my deliverer;my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death enclosed me;
torrents of destruction terrified me. The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called on the LORD and cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears. Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled and shook because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils, and consuming fire came from his mouth;
coals blazed from it. He bent the heavens and came down, with thick darkness beneath his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his hiding place, his shelter all around him: dark waters and dense clouds. From the brightness before him his clouds passed, with hail and coals of fire. The LORD thundered in the heavens;
the Most High sounded his voice, with hail and coals of fire. He sent out his arrows and scattered them;
he hurled lightning in abundance and threw them into confusion. Then the watercourses appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils. He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of mighty waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too powerful for me. They confronted me on the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands he repaid me. For I have kept the ways of the LORD and have not wickedly turned away from my God. All his judgments were before me, and I did not put his statutes away from me. I was blameless with him and kept myself from my iniquity. So the LORD repaid me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes. With the faithful you show yourself faithful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless. With the pure you show yourself pure, and with the crooked you deal shrewdly. For you save an afflicted people, but you bring down haughty eyes. For you light my lamp;
the LORD my God brightens my darkness. With you I can charge a troop;
with my God I can leap over a wall. God’s way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is refined.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the LORD?
Who is a rock except our God? It is God who girds me with strength and makes my way blameless. He makes my feet like the feet of deer and sets me on my heights. He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bronze bow. You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand supports me, and your gentleness makes me great. You give my steps room beneath me, and my ankles have not slipped. I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back until they were finished. I crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet. You girded me with strength for battle;
you subdued beneath me those who rose against me. You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and I destroyed those who hated me. They cried for help, but there was no savior;
they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them. I ground them fine as dust before the wind;
I poured them out like mud in the streets. You delivered me from the strife of the people and made me head of nations;
a people I had not known serves me. As soon as they hear, they obey me;
foreigners feign submission to me. Foreigners wither away and come trembling from their strongholds. The LORD lives!
Blessed be my rock!
Exalted be the God of my salvation! He is the God who grants me vengeance and subdues peoples beneath me, who delivers me from my enemies.
You lift me above those who rise against me;
you rescue me from the violent man. Therefore I will thank you among the nations, LORD, and sing praise to your name. He grants great deliverance to his king and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.”