• Psalm 18:21-50
• Diligam te, Domine

²¹ The LORD rewarded me because of my righteous dealing; *

because my hands were clean he rewarded me;

²² For I have kept the ways of the LORD *

and have not offended against my God;

²³ For all his judgments are before my eyes, *

and his decrees I have not put away from me;

²⁴ For I have been blameless with him *

and have kept myself from iniquity;

²⁵ Therefore the LORD rewarded me according to my righteous dealing, *

because of the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

²⁶ With the faithful you show yourself faithful, O God; *

with the forthright you show yourself forthright.

²⁷ With the pure you show yourself pure, *

but with the crooked you are wily.

²⁸ You will save a lowly people, *

but you will humble the haughty eyes.

²⁹ You, O LORD, are my lamp; *

my God, you make my darkness bright.

³⁰ With you I will break down an enclosure; *

with the help of my God I will scale any wall.

³¹ As for God, his ways are perfect;

the words of the LORD are tried in the fire; *

he is a shield to all who trust in him.

³² For who is God, but the LORD? *

who is the Rock, except our God?

³³ It is God who girds me about with strength *

and makes my way secure.

³⁴ He makes me sure-footed like a deer *

and lets me stand firm on the heights.

³⁵ He trains my hands for battle *

and my arms for bending even a bow of bronze.

³⁶ You have given me your shield of victory; *

your right hand also sustains me;

your loving care makes me great.

³⁷ You lengthen my stride beneath me, *

and my ankles do not give way.

³⁸ I pursue my enemies and overtake them; *

I will not turn back till I have destroyed them.

³⁹ I strike them down, and they cannot rise; *

they fall defeated at my feet.

⁴⁰ You have girded me with strength for the battle; *

you have cast down my adversaries beneath me;

you have put my enemies to flight.

⁴¹ I destroy those who hate me;

they cry out, but there is none to help them; *

they cry to the LORD, but he does not answer.

⁴² I beat them small like dust before the wind; *

I trample them like mud in the streets.

⁴³ You deliver me from the strife of the peoples; *

you put me at the head of the nations.

⁴⁴ A people I have not known shall serve me;

no sooner shall they hear than they shall obey me; *

strangers will cringe before me.

⁴⁵ The foreign peoples will lose heart; *

they shall come trembling out of their strongholds.

⁴⁶ The LORD lives! Blessed is my Rock! *

Exalted is the God of my salvation!

⁴⁷ He is the God who gave me victory *

and cast down the peoples beneath me.

⁴⁸ You rescued me from the fury of my enemies;

you exalted me above those who rose against me; *

you saved me from my deadly foe.

⁴⁹ Therefore will I extol you among the nations, O LORD, *

and sing praises to your Name.

⁵⁰ He multiplies the victories of his king; *

he shows loving-kindness to his anointed,

to David and his descendants for ever.