The Lord Is My Rock and My Fortress
“I love you, O Yahweh, my strength.”
Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, I will take refuge in him; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
I will call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised, and I will be saved from my enemies.
The cords of death surrounded me. The torrents of Belial made me afraid.
The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death lay ahead of me.
In my distress, I called on Yahweh, and I cried for help to my God. He heard my voice out of his Temple, and my cry to him came into his ears.
Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken because he was angry.
Smoke arose from his nostrils. Fire out of his mouth devoured. Burning coals flamed forth from him.
He spread apart the heavens and came down. A thick cloud was under his feet.
He rode on a cherub and flew. Yes, he glided swiftly on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his hiding place, his canopy around him, the darkness of waters, the thick clouds of the skies.
From the brightness before him, his thick clouds passed by with hail and coals of fire.
Yahweh also thundered in the heavens. And the Most High gave forth his voice: hail and coals of fire.
He sent out his arrows and scattered them; And he multiplied lightning bolts and confused them.
Then the sources of water appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare by your rebuke, O Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
He stretched out his hand from on high and took me; he drew me out of mighty waters.
He delivered me from my strong enemy; from those who hate me, from those who were mightier than I.
They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my support.
He brought me out into an open space. He delivered me because he delighted in me.
Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness. He paid me back according to the purity of my hands.
For I have kept the ways of Yahweh and have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his laws are before me. I have not put away his statutes from me.
I was blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity.
So Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the purity of my hands in his eyes.
With the merciful you are merciful. With the blameless man you are blameless.
With the pure you are pure. With the crooked you are shrewd.
For you will save the afflicted people, but the haughty eyes you will bring down.
For you will light my lamp, O Yahweh. And my God lightens my darkness.
For by you I can run against a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect. The word of Yahweh is tested. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
For who is God, except Yahweh? Who is a rock besides our God,
the God who arms me with strength and makes my way blameless?
He makes my feet like the does’ feet and sets me on my high places.
He trains my hands for battle so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
You have given me the shield of your salvation. And your right hand supports me. And your gentleness has made me great.
You have enlarged my steps under me. My feet have not slipped.
I will pursue my enemies and overtake them. And I will not return until they are finished.
I will crush them so that they cannot rise. They will fall dead under my feet.
For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
You made my enemies turn their backs to me; I destroyed those who hate me.
They cried out for help, but there was none to save; to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
Then I crushed them like dust before the wind. I threw them out like the dirt of the streets.
You have delivered me from the strifes of people. You have made me the head of nations. A people whom I have not known will serve me.
As soon as their ears hear, they will obey me. Foreigners will submit themselves to me.
Foreigners will lose courage and will come trembling out of their strongholds.
Yahweh lives! Blessed be my rock! Exalted be the God of my salvation.
the God who executes vengeance for me, who subdues peoples under me,
who rescues me from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent person.
Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations, and I will make music to your name.
He gives great salvation to his king and shows covenant faithfulness to his anointed one, to David and to his seed forevermore.