Sovereign God, Sovereign Grace (Psalm 18:1-29)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord on the day when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:

I love you, O Lord, my strength. ² The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,  my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³ I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.

⁴ The cords of death encompassed me;  the torrents of destruction assailed me; ⁵ the cords of Sheol entangled me;the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the Lord;  to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears. ⁷ Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because He was angry. ⁸ Smoke went up from His nostrils, and devouring fire from His mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from Him. ⁹ He bowed the heavens and came down;  thick darkness was under His feet. ¹⁰ He rode on a cherub and flew; He came swiftly on the wings of the wind. ¹¹ He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him, thick clouds dark with water. ¹² Out of the brightness before Him hailstones and coals of fire broke through His clouds.

¹³ The Lord also thundered in the heavens,  and the Most High uttered His voice,  hailstones and coals of fire. ¹⁴ And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; He flashed forth lightnings and routed them. ¹⁵ Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at Your rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.

¹⁶ He sent from on high, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. ¹⁷ He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. ¹⁸ They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but theLord was my support. ¹⁹ He brought me out into a broad place; He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

²⁰ The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;  according to the cleanness of my hands He rewarded me.²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord,  and have not wickedly departed from my God. ²² For all His rules were before me,  and His statutes I did not put away from me. ²³ I was blameless before Him, and I kept myself from my guilt. ²⁴ So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,   according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.

²⁵ With the merciful You show Yourself merciful;  with the blameless man You show Yourself blameless; ²⁶ with the purified You show Yourself pure; and with the crooked You make Yourself seem tortuous. ²⁷ For You save a humble people,  but the haughty eyes You bring down. ²⁸ For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. ²⁹ For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.