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Psalms 18

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Part of Book I📖 Psalms introduction

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1I love you, Lord; you are my strength. ✦ 2The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. ✦ 3I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. ✦ 4The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. ✦ 5The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. ✦ 6But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears. ✦ 7Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of his anger. ✦ 8Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him. ✦ 9He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet. ✦ 10Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind. ✦ 11He shrouded himself in darkness, veiling his approach with dark rain clouds. ✦ 12Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him and rained down hail and burning coals. ✦ 13The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals. ✦ 14He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused. ✦ 15Then at your command, O Lord, at the blast of your breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare. ✦ 16He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. ✦ 17He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. ✦ 18They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me. ✦ 19He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me. ✦ 20The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence. ✦ 21For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil. ✦ 22I have followed all his regulations; I have never abandoned his decrees. ✦ 23I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin. ✦ 24The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. ✦ 25To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. ✦ 26To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. ✦ 27You rescue the humble, but you humiliate the proud. ✦ 28You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. ✦ 29In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. ✦ 30God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. ✦ 31For who is God except the Lord? Who but our God is a solid rock? ✦ 32God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. ✦ 33He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. ✦ 34He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. ✦ 35You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great. ✦ 36You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. ✦ 37I chased my enemies and caught them; I did not stop until they were conquered. ✦ 38I struck them down so they could not get up; they fell beneath my feet. ✦ 39You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet. ✦ 40You placed my foot on their necks. I have destroyed all who hated me. ✦ 41They called for help, but no one came to their rescue. They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer. ✦ 42I ground them as fine as dust in the wind. I swept them into the gutter like dirt. ✦ 43You gave me victory over my accusers. You appointed me ruler over nations; people I don’t even know now serve me. ✦ 44As soon as they hear of me, they submit; foreign nations cringe before me. ✦ 45They all lose their courage and come trembling from their strongholds. ✦ 46The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! ✦ 47He is the God who pays back those who harm me; he subdues the nations under me ✦ 48and rescues me from my enemies. You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies; you save me from violent opponents. ✦ 49For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to your name. ✦ 50You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to David and all his descendants forever. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Where this chapter connects

2 Sam 22 ·32Ps 144 ·11Deut 32 ·10Ps 18 ·9Ps 119 ·8Ps 17 ·6Luke 1 ·6Hab 3 ·6

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryPsalms (Tyndale OT Commentaries)Derek Kidner · Paid · evangelical

    Concise, theologically rich, and wonderfully accessible — the best place to start on the Psalms.

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — Psalms 18David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Psalms 18Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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