Through My Bible Yr 01 - September 07 (2024)

2 Samuel 22

A Psalm by David
(Psalm 18) ^[1]

¹ David spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord had delivered him from the grasp of all his enemies, even from the grasp of Saul. ²He said:

The Lord is my rocky cliff,
my stronghold, and my deliverer.
³My God is my rock. I take refuge in him.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,
my high fortress, my refuge, and my savior.
You save me from violence.
⁴I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.

⁵The waves of death swirled around me.
Floodwaters of destruction ^[2] rolled over me.
⁶The ropes of the grave wrapped around me.
The traps of death threatened me.
⁷In my distress I called to the Lord.
To my God I cried out.
He heard my voice from his temple.
My cry for help reached his ears.

⁸Then the earth shook and quaked,
and the foundations of the heavens ^[3] trembled.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
⁹Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and fire out of his mouth devoured.
Coals were set on fire by it.
¹⁰Then he tore open the heavens and came down.
A dark cloud was under his feet.
¹¹He rode upon a cherub, ^[4] and he flew.
He soared ^[5] on the wings of the wind.
¹²He made the darkness around him his shelter,
the dark rain clouds of the sky. ^[6]
13From the brightness in front of him, coals of fire burned.
¹⁴Then the Lord thundered in the heavens.
The Most High raised his voice.
¹⁵Then he shot his arrows and scattered the enemy.
He hurled great bolts of lightning and routed them.
¹⁶Then the sources of the sea ^[7] were revealed,
and the foundations of the world were uncovered
by the rebuke of the Lord,
by the breath of wind from his nostrils.
¹⁷He reached down from on high and took hold of me.
He drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁸Because they were too strong for me,
he rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hate me.
¹⁹They confronted me on the day of my disaster,
but the Lord supported me.
²⁰Then he brought me out into a wide open space.
He rescued me because he delighted in me.

²¹The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness.
According to the cleanness of my hands, he has repaid me,
²²because I have kept the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil and departed from my God.
²³So all his just decrees remain before me,
and I have not turned away from his statutes.
²⁴I have been blameless with him.
I have kept myself from guilt.
²⁵The Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands ^[8] in his sight.

²⁶To the merciful ^[9] you reveal yourself as merciful.
To the blameless person you reveal yourself as blameless.
²⁷To the pure you reveal yourself as pure,
but to the crooked you reveal yourself as crafty. ^[10]

²⁸Yes, you save humble people,
but your eyes are on the proud, and you bring them down.
²⁹Yes, you are my lamp, O Lord.
The Lord turns my darkness to light.
³⁰For with you I can charge against a battalion, ^[11]
and with my God I can jump over a wall.

³¹This God—his way is blameless.
The speech of the Lord is pure.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
³²For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
³³This God wraps me with strength ^[12]
and makes my way smooth. ^[13]
34By making my feet like those of a deer,
he enables me to stand on high places.
³⁵Because he trains my hands for battle,
my arms can draw a bronze bow.
³⁶Then you give me the shield of your salvation.
Your response makes me great.
³⁷You widen the path under my feet,
so that my ankles do not give way.

³⁸I pursued my enemies, and I destroyed them.
Yes, I did not turn back until they were wiped out.
³⁹I wiped them out. I crushed them.
They could not rise again.
They fell beneath my feet.
⁴⁰You wrapped me with strength for battle.
You made those who rose up against me bow down to me.
⁴¹You made my enemies turn their backs and flee.
I destroyed those who hate me.
⁴²They cried for help, but there was no one to save them.
They cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
⁴³So I ground them as fine as dust of the earth.
I scattered them and trampled them down like mud in the streets.
⁴⁴You delivered me from the accusations of my people.
You preserved me as the head of nations.
A people I did not know serve me.
⁴⁵Foreigners cringe before me.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
⁴⁶Foreigners fall exhausted.
They come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁷The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock!
May God, the Rock who saves me, be exalted!
⁴⁸This God, who avenges me, subdues peoples under me.
⁴⁹You delivered me from my enemies.
Yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me.
You rescued me from the violent man.
⁵⁰Therefore, I will thank you among the nations, Lord.
To your name I will make music.
⁵¹By providing great salvation for his King,
he shows mercy to his Anointed One,
to David and to his Seed ^[14] forever.