22:1 David sang¹ the words of this song to the LORD on the day that the LORD rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 22:2 He said,

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress; he is the one who delivers me.
22:3 My God² is my rock; I take refuge in him.
My shield and the horn of my deliverance, my stronghold,
my refuge, my savior. You deliver me from those who are violent.
22:4 I call to the LORD, the one who is to be praised,
and I am delivered from my enemies.
22:5 The breakers of death encompassed me;
the rushing torrents of destruction assailed me.
22:6 The cords of death³ surrounded me;
the traps of death confronted me.
22:7 In my distress I cried to the LORD;
I called out to my God.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my call for help reached his ears.
22:8 The earth trembled and shook;
the foundations of the sky quivered.
They shook because he was angry.
22:9 Smoke went up from his nostrils;
fire from his mouth devoured.
Coals burned forth from it.
22:10 He spread out the heavens and descended;
a dark cloud was beneath his feet.
22:11 He rode on a cherub, flying.
He flew swiftly⁴ on the wings of the wind.
22:12 He put darkness all around him as an enclosure.
the thick masses of clouds are for collection of the waters.
22:13 From the brightness that was before him burned
coals of fire.
22:14 The LORD thundered forth from the sky;
the Most High uttered his voice.
22:15 He shot⁵ arrows and scattered them;⁶
he flashed lightning and scared them.
22:16 The channels of the sea were brought into view;
the foundations of the earth were exposed
by the LORD’s rebuke, by the breath of wind from his nostrils.
22:17 From the heights he stretched out his hand⁷ and took hold of me.
He drew me from many waters.
22:18 He delivered me from my strong enemy—
from my adversaries, for they were too strong for me.
22:19 They stood before me on the day of my destruction.
But it was the LORD that I leaned on.⁸
22:20 He brought me out into the broad place;
he delivered me because he took delight in me.
22:21 The LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness;
he has repaid me according to the purity of my hands.
22:22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD;
I have not acted in an evil way against my God.
22:23 For all his judgments are before me;
I have not turned away from his statutes.
22:24 I am blameless before him;
I have kept myself from my iniquity.
22:25 The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness—
according to my purity in his sight.⁹
22:26 To the faithful you demonstrate that you are faithful;
to the blameless warrior you demonstrate that you are blameless.
22:27 To those who are pure you demonstrate that you are pure;
but you wrestle with¹⁰ those who are perverted.
22:28 You save an afflicted people;
but you oppose¹¹ the arrogant and cause their downfall.
22:29 You are my lamp,¹² O LORD.
The LORD illumines¹³ my darkness.
22:30 With you I can run against a hostile troop;
with my God I can leap over a wall.
22:31 As for God, his way is perfect;
what the LORD says is without imperfection.¹⁴
He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
22:32 Indeed, who is God other than the LORD?
Who is a rock other than our God?
22:33 God is my mighty refuge;¹⁵
he causes¹⁶ my¹⁷ path to be perfect.
22:34 He establishes my¹⁸ feet like those of the does;
he enables me to stand on the precipices.
22:35 he equips¹⁹ my hands for battle;
my arms can stretch even a bow made of bronze.
22:36 You provide for me your victorious shield;
by lowering yourself you make me great.
22:37 You make the path²⁰ beneath me spacious;
my ankles do not falter.
22:38 I went after my enemies and destroyed them;
I did not return until I had finished them off.
22:39 I completely shattered them, leaving them unable to get up;
they fell beneath my feet.
22:40 You girded me with strength for the battle;
you caused my adversaries to cower beneath me.
22:41 You showed me the back of my enemies as they fled;
I annihilated my adversaries.
22:42 They cried out for help,²¹ but there was no one to deliver them;
they called out²² to the LORD, but he did not answer them.
22:43 I pulverized them as fine as the dust of the ground;
I crushed and mashed them like mud in the streets.
22:44 You delivered me from the hostilities of my own people;
you protected me as a head of nations.
A people I did not even know served me.
22:45 Foreigners came cringing to me;
with receptive ears they obeyed me.
22:46 Foreigners withered away;
they quaked²³ as they came from their strongholds.
22:47 The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock!
Let the God of the rock, my deliverer, be exalted!
22:48 It is God who avenges me,
and subjects peoples beneath me.
22:49 It is he who frees me from my enemies.
You have exalted me over my adversaries.
You have delivered me from violent people.
22:50 Therefore I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations;
I will sing to your name.
22:51 You are the one who magnifies²⁴ the victories of his king,
the one who shows tender loyalty to his anointed,
to David and to his descendants forever.”