22 ¹ THESE ARE THE WORDS OF THE SONG David sang to the LORD on the day when the LORD delivered him from the power of all his enemies and from the power of Saul:
22 ² vv2-51: cp Ps. 18.2-50 The LORD is my stronghold, my fortress and my champion,
22 ³ my God, my rock where I find safety;
my shield, my mountain fastness, my strong tower,
my refuge, my deliverer, who saves me from violence.
22 ⁴ I will call on the LORD to whom all praise is due,
and I shall be delivered from my enemies.

22 ⁵ When the waves of death swept round me,
and torrents of destruction overtook me,
22 ⁶ the bonds of Sheol tightened about me,
the snares of death were set to catch me;

22 ⁷ then in anguish of heart I cried to the LORD,
I called for help to my God;
he heard me from his temple,
and my cry rang in his ears.

22 ⁸ The earth heaved and quaked,
heaven's foundations shook;
they heaved, because he was angry.
22 ⁹ Smoke rose from his nostrils,
devouring fire came out of his mouth,
glowing coals and searing heat.
22 ¹⁰ He swept the skies aside as he descended,
thick darkness lay under his feet.
22 ¹¹ He rode on a cherub, he flew through the air;
he swooped prob. rdg, cp Ps. 18.10; Heb was seen on the wings of the wind.
22 ¹² He curtained himself in darkness
and made dense vapour his canopy.
22 ¹³ Thick clouds came out of the radiance before him;
glowing coals burned brightly.
22 ¹⁴ The LORD thundered from the heavens
and the voice of the Most High spoke out.
22 ¹⁵ He loosed his arrows, he sped them far and wide,
his lightning shafts, and sent them echoing.
22 ¹⁶ The channels of the sea-bed were revealed,
the foundations of earth laid bare
at the LORD's rebuke,
at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

22 ¹⁷ He reached down from the height and took me,
he drew me out of mighty waters,
22 ¹⁸ he rescued me from my enemies, strong as they were,
from my foes when they grew too powerful for me.
22 ¹⁹ They confronted me in the hour of my peril,
but the LORD was my buttress.
22 ²⁰ He brought me out into an open place,
he rescued me because he delighted in me.

22 ²¹ The LORD rewarded me as my righteousness deserved;
my hands were clean, and he requited me.
22 ²² For I have followed the ways of the LORD
and have not turned wickedly from my God;
22 ²³ all his laws are before my eyes,
I have not failed to follow his decrees.
22 ²⁴ In his sight I was blameless
and kept myself from wilful sin;
22 ²⁵ the LORD requited me as my righteousness deserved
and my purity in his eyes.

22 ²⁶ With the loyal thou showest thyself loyal
and with the blameless man blameless.
22 ²⁷ With the savage man thou showest thyself savage,
and With the savage ... savage, and:
or
With the pure thou showest thyself pure,
but tortuous with the perverse.
22 ²⁸ Thou deliverest humble folk,
thou lookest with contempt upon the proud.
22 ²⁹ Thou, LORD, art my lamp,
and the LORD will lighten my darkness.
22 ³⁰ With thy help I leap over a bank,
by God's aid I spring over a wall.

22 ³¹ The way of God is perfect,
the LORD's word has stood the test;
he is the shield of all who take refuge in him.

22 ³² What god is there but the LORD?
What rock but our God?—
22 ³³ the God who girds me who girds me: prob. rdg, cp Ps. 18.32; Heb my refuge or my strength with strength
and makes my way blameless and makes ... blameless: prob. rdg, cp Ps. 18.32; Heb unintelligible,
22 ³⁴ who makes me swift as a hind
and sets me secure on the mountains;
22 ³⁵ who trains my hands for battle,
and my arms aim an arrow tipped with bronze.

22 ³⁶ Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation,
in thy providence thou makest me great.
22 ³⁷ Thou givest me room for my steps,
my feet have not faltered.
22 ³⁸ I pursue my enemies and destroy them,
I do not return until I have made an end of them.
22 ³⁹ I make an end of them, I strike them down;
they rise no more, they fall beneath my feet.
22 ⁴⁰ Thou dost arm me with strength for the battle
and dost subdue my foes before me.
22 ⁴¹ Thou settest prob. rdg, cp Ps. 18.40; Heb unintelligible my foot on my enemies' necks,
and I bring to nothing those that hate me.
22 ⁴² They cry out cry out: prob. rdg, cp Ps. 18.41; Heb look and there is no one to help them,
they cry to the LORD and he does not answer.
22 ⁴³ I will pound them fine as dust on the ground,
like mud in the streets will I trample them prob. rdg, cp Ps. 18.42; Heb adds will I stamp them down.

22 ⁴⁴ Thou dost deliver me from the clamour of the people,
and makest me master of the nations.
A people I never knew shall be my subjects.
22 ⁴⁵ Foreigners shall come cringing to me;
as soon as they hear tell of me, they shall obey me.
22 ⁴⁶ Foreigners shall be brought captive to me,
and come limping from their strongholds.

22 ⁴⁷ The LORD lives, blessed is my rock,
high above all is God my rock and safe refuge.

22 ⁴⁸ O God, who grantest me vengeance,
who dost subdue peoples under me,
22 ⁴⁹ who dost snatch me from my foes and set me over my enemies,
thou dost deliver me from violent men.

22 ⁵⁰ Therefore, LORD, I will praise thee among the nations
and sing psalms to thy name,
22 ⁵¹ to one who gives his king great victories
and in all his acts keeps faith with his a1ointed king,
with David and his descendants for ever.