Psalms 17
1 For the end,
a Psalm of David the servant of the Lord;
the words which he spoke to the Lord,
even the words of this Song, in the day in which the
Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of
Saul: and he said:
2 I will love thee, O Lord, my
strength. 3 The Lord is my firm
support, and my refuge, and my deliverer; my God is my helper, I will hope in
him; he is my defender, and the horn of my salvation,
and my helper. 4 I will call upon the
Lord with praises, and I shall be saved from mine enemies.
5 The pangs of death compassed me, and
the torrents of ungodliness troubled me exceedingly.
6 The pangs of hell came round about
me: the snares of death prevented me.
7 And when I was afflicted I called
upon the Lord, and cried to my God: he heard my voice out of his holy temple,
and my cry shall enter before him, even into his
ears.
8 Then the earth shook and quaked, and
the foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and were shaken, because God
was angry with them. 9 There went up a
smoke in his wrath, and fire burst into a flame at his presence: coals were
kindled at it. 10 And he bowed the
heaven, and came down: and thick darkness was under his feet.
11 And he mounted on cherubs and
flew: he flew on the wings of winds.
12 And he made darkness his secret
place: round about him was his tabernacle, even dark
water in the clouds of the air. 13 At
the brightness before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire.
14 The Lord also thundered from
heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice.
15 And he sent forth
his weapons, and scattered them; and multiplied
lightnings, and routed them. 16 And
the springs of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed,
at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blasting of the breath of thy wrath.
17 He sent from on high and took me,
he drew me to himself out of many waters.
18 He will deliver me from my mighty
enemies, and from them that hate me; for they are stronger than I.
19 They prevented me in the day of
mine affliction: but the Lord was my stay against
them. 20 And
he brought me out into a wide place: he will deliver me, because he has
pleasure in me. 21 And the Lord will
recompense me according to my righteousness; even according to the purity of
my hands will he recompense me.
22 For I have kept the ways of the
Lord and have not wickedly departed from my God.
23 For all his judgments were before
me, and his ordinances departed not from me.
24 And I shall be blameless with him,
and shall keep myself from mine iniquity.
25 And the Lord shall recompense me
according to my righteousness, and according to the purity of my hands before
his eyes.
26 With the holy thou wilt be holy;
and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent.
27 And with the excellent
man thou wilt be excellent; and with the perverse
thou wilt shew frowardness. 28 For
thou wilt save the lowly people, and wilt humble the eyes of the proud.
29 For thou, O Lord, wilt light my
lamp: my God, thou wilt lighten my darkness.
30 For by thee shall I be delivered
from a troop; and by my God I will pass over a wall.
31 As for my
God, his way is perfect: the oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire; he is
a protector of all them that hope in him.
32 For who is God but the Lord? and
who is a God except our God?
33 It is God
that girds me with strength, and has made my way blameless:
34 who strengthens my feet as hart's
feet, and sets me upon high places.
35 He instructs my hands for war; and
thou hast made my arms as a brazen bow.
36 And thou hast made me
aGr. the protection of.secure in my salvation: and thy right hand has helped me, and thy correction
has upheld me to the end; yea, thy correction itself shall instruct me.
37 Thou hast made room for my goings
under me, and my footsteps did not fail.
38 I will pursue mine enemies, and
overtake them; and I will not turn back until they are consumed.
39 I will dash them to pieces and
they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet.
40 For thou hast girded me with
strength for war: thou hast beaten down under me all that rose up against me.
41 And thou hast made mine enemies
turn their backs before me; and thou hast destroyed them that hated me.
42 They cried, but there was no
deliverer: even to the Lord, but he hearkened not to
them. 43 I will grind them as the mud
of the streets: and I will beat them small as dust before the wind.
44 Deliver me from the gainsayings of
the people: thou shalt make me head of the Gentiles: a people whom I knew not
served me, 45 at the hearing of the
ear they obeyed me: the strange children
bOr, feigned obedience.lied to me. 46 The strange children
waxed old, and fell away from their paths through lameness.
47 The Lord lives; and blessed
be my God; and let the God of my salvation be
exalted. 48 It is God that avenges me, and has subdued the
nations under me; 49 my deliverer
from angry enemies: thou shalt set me on high
cOr, out of the way of.above them that rise up against me: thou shalt deliver me from the
unrighteous man. 50 Therefore will I
confess to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing to thy name.
51 God magnifies the deliverances of his king; and
deals mercifully with David his anointed, and his seed, for ever.