Chapter Samuel 22

And David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul: ²And he said, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; ³The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence. ⁴I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. ⁵When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; ⁶The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me; ⁷In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears. ⁸Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of heaven moved and shook, because he was wroth. ⁹There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. ¹⁰He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet. ¹¹And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: and he was seen upon the wings of the wind. ¹²And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. ¹³Through the brightness before him were coals of fire kindled. ¹⁴The Lord thundered from heaven, and the most High uttered his voice. ¹⁵And he sent out arrows, and scattered them; lightning, and discomfited them. ¹⁶And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered, at the rebuking of the Lord, at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. ¹⁷He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters; ¹⁸He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. ¹⁹They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. ²⁰He brought me forth also into a large place: he delivered me, because he delighted in me. ²¹The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me. ²²For I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. ²³For all his judgments were before me: and as for his statutes, I did not depart from them. ²⁴I was also upright before him, and have kept myself from mine iniquity. ²⁵Therefore the Lord hath recompensed me according to my righteousness; according to my cleanness in his eye sight. ²⁶With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful, and with the upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright. ²⁷With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself unsavoury. ²⁸And the afflicted people thou wilt save: but thine eyes are upon the haughty, that thou mayest bring them down. ²⁹For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness. ³⁰For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall. ³¹As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him. ³²For who is God, save the Lord? and who is a rock, save our God? ³³God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect. ³⁴He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places. ³⁵He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. ³⁶Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. ³⁷Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. ³⁸I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. ³⁹And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. ⁴⁰For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. ⁴¹Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me. ⁴²They looked, but there was none to save; even unto the Lord, but he answered them not. ⁴³Then did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad. ⁴⁴Thou also hast delivered me from the strivings of my people, thou hast kept me to be head of the heathen: a people which I knew not shall serve me. ⁴⁵Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. ⁴⁶Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places. ⁴⁷The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted be the God of the rock of my salvation. ⁴⁸It is God that avengeth me, and that bringeth down the people under me, ⁴⁹And that bringeth me forth from mine enemies: thou also hast lifted me up on high above them that rose up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man. ⁵⁰Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. ⁵¹He is the tower of salvation for his king: and sheweth mercy to his anointed, unto David, and to his seed for evermore.