The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, athe servant of the Lord, bwho addressed the words of this csong to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my arock and my bfortress and my deliverer,
my God, my arock, in cwhom I take refuge,
my dshield, and ethe horn of my salvation, my fstronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is aworthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
4 aThe cords of death encompassed me;
bthe torrents of destruction assailed me;
5 athe cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 aIn my distress I called upon the Lord;
to my God I cried for help.
From his btemple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.
7 Then the earth areeled and rocked;
the foundations also of the mountains trembled
and quaked, because he was angry.
8 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
and devouring afire from his mouth;
glowing coals flamed forth from him.
9 He abowed the heavens and bcame down;
cthick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he came swiftly on athe wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his acanopy around him,
thick clouds bdark with water.
12 Out of the brightness before him
ahailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.
13 The Lord also athundered in the heavens,
and the Most High uttered his bvoice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14 And he sent out his aarrows and scattered them;
he flashed forth lightnings and brouted them.
15 Then athe channels of the sea were seen,
and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your brebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of cthe breath of your nostrils.
16 He asent from on high, he took me;
he bdrew me out of cmany waters.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were atoo mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He brought me out into aa broad place;
he rescued me, because he bdelighted in me.
20 The Lord dealt with me aaccording to my righteousness;
according to bthe cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
21 For I have akept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For aall his rules were before me,
and his statutes I did not put away from me.
23 I was ablameless before him,
and I kept myself from my guilt.
24 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25 With athe merciful you show yourself merciful;
with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
26 with the purified you show yourself pure;
and with athe crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
27 For you save aa humble people,
but bthe haughty eyes you bring down.
28 For it is you who light my alamp;
the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
29 For by you I can run against a troop,
and by my God I can aleap over ba wall.
30 This God—his way is aperfect;
the word of the Lord bproves true;
he is ca shield for all those who dtake refuge in him.
31 For awho is God, but the Lord?
And who is ba rock, except our God?—
32 the God who aequipped me with strength
and made my way bblameless.
33 He made my feet like the feet of a adeer
and set me secure on bthe heights.
34 He atrains my hands for war,
so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
and your right hand asupported me,
and your bgentleness made me great.
36 You agave a wide place for my steps under me,
and my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
and did not turn back till they were consumed.
38 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
they fell under my feet.
39 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
you made those who rise against me sink under me.
40 You made my enemies aturn their backs to me,
and those who hated me I destroyed.
41 aThey cried for help, but there was none to save;
they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them fine as adust before the wind;
I cast them out like bthe mire of the streets.
43 You delivered me from astrife with the people;
you made me bthe head of the nations;
cpeople whom I had not known served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
aforeigners bcame cringing to me.
45 aForeigners lost heart
and bcame trembling out of their fortresses.
46 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
and exalted be the God of my salvation—
47 the God who gave me vengeance
and asubdued peoples under me,
48 who rescued me from my enemies;
yes, you aexalted me above those who rose against me;
you delivered me from bthe man of violence.
49 aFor this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
and bsing to your name.
50 Great asalvation he brings to his king,
and shows steadfast love to his banointed,
to cDavid and his offspring forever.