1 David sang a song to the Lord after the Lord had rescued him from his enemies, especially Saul. These are the words to David's song:
2 Our Lord and our God,you are my mighty rock,my fortress, my protector.
3 You are the rockwhere I am safe.You are my shield,my powerful weapon,and my place of shelter.You rescue me and keep mesafe from violence.
4 I praise you, our Lord!I prayed to you,and you rescued mefrom my enemies.
5 Death, like ocean waves,surrounded me,and I was almost swallowedby its flooding waters.
6 Ropes from the worldof the deadhad coiled around me,and death had set a trapin my path.
7 I was in terrible troublewhen I called out to you,but from your templeyou heard meand answered my prayer.
8 Earth shook and shivered!The columns supporting the skyrocked back and forth.You were angry
9 and breathed out smoke.Scorching heat and fiery flamesspewed from your mouth.
10 You opened the heavenslike curtains,and you came downwith storm cloudsunder your feet.
11 You rode on the backsof flying creatures.You appearedwith the wind as wings.
12 Darkness was your tent!Thunderclouds filled the sky,hiding you from sight.
13 Fiery coals lit up the skyin front of you.
14 Lord Most High, your voicethundered from the heavens.
15 You scattered your enemieswith arrows of lightning.
16 You roared at the sea,and its deepest channelscould be seen.You snorted,and the earth shookto its foundations.
17 You reached down from heaven,and you lifted mefrom deep in the ocean.
18 You rescued me from enemieswho were hatefuland too powerful for me.
19 On the day disaster struck,they came and attacked,but you defended me.
20 When I was fenced in,you freed and rescued mebecause you love me.
21 You are good to me, Lord,because I do right,and you reward mebecause I am innocent.
22 I do what you wantand never turn to do evil.
23 I keep your laws in mindand never turn awayfrom your teachings.
24 I obey you completelyand guard against sin.
25 You have been good to mebecause I do right;you have rewarded mefor being innocentby your standards.
26 You are always loyalto your loyal people,and you are faithfulto the faithful.
27 With all who are sincereyou are sincere,but you treat the unfaithfulas their deeds deserve.
28 You rescue the humble,but you look for waysto put down the proud.
29 Our Lord and God,you are my lamp.You turn darkness to light.
30 You help me defeat armiesand capture cities.
31 Your way is perfect, Lord,and your word is correct.You are a shield for thosewho run to you for help.
32 You alone are God!Only you are a mighty rock.
33 You are my strong fortress,and you set me free.
34 You make my feet run as fastas those of a deer,and you help me standon the mountains.
35 You teach my hands to fightand my arms to usea bow of bronze.
36 You alone are my shield,and by coming to help me,you have made me famous.
37 You clear the way for me,and now I won't stumble.
38 I kept chasing my enemiesuntil I caught themand destroyed them.
39 I destroyed them!I stuck my swordthrough my enemies,and they were crushedunder my feet.
40 You helped me win victoriesand forced my attackersto fall victim to me.
41 You made my enemies run,and I killed them.
42 They cried out for help,but no one saved them;they called out to you,but there was no answer.
43 I ground them to dust,and I squashed themlike mud in the streets.
44 You rescued mefrom my stubborn peopleand made me the leaderof foreign nations,who are now my slaves.
45 They obey and come crawling.
46 They have lost all courageand from their fortressesthey come trembling.
47 You are the living Lord!I will praise you!You are a mighty rock.I will honor youfor keeping me safe.
48 You took revenge for me,and you put nationsin my power.
49 You protected mefrom violent enemies,and you made me much greaterthan all of them.
50 I will praise you, Lord,and I will honor youamong the nations.
51 You give glorious victoriesto your chosen king.Your faithful love for Davidand for his descendantswill never end.