Psalms 18:1-26 - Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

¹ I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

² The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength,a in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

³ I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

⁴ The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly menb made me afraid.

⁵ The sorrowsc of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

⁷ Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

⁸ There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,d and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

⁹ He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

¹⁰ And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

¹¹ He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

¹² At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

¹³ The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

¹⁴ Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

¹⁵ Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of manye waters.

¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

¹⁸ They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

¹⁹ He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

²⁰ The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

²¹ For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

²² For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

²³ I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

²⁴ Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

²⁵ With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

²⁶ With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.f