Incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee

From those that rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of the

eye,

Hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

From the wicked that oppress me,

From my deadly enemies, who compass me about. They are inclosed in their own fat:

With their mouth they speak proudly.

They have now compassed us in our steps:
They have set their eyes bowing down to the earth;
Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey,

And as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
Arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down:
Deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword:
From men which are thy hand, O Lord,

From men of the world, which have their portion in this life,

And whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure:
They are full of children,

And leave the rest of their substance to their babes.
As for me,
I will behold thy face in righteousness:
I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

XVIII

To the chief Musician
A Psalm of David

The servant of the Lord, who spake unto the Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said

I Will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;

My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;

My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.

The sorrows of death compassed me,

And the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about:

The snares of death prevented me.

In my distress I called upon the Lord,

And cried unto my God:

He heard my voice out of his temple,

And my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled;

The foundations also of the hills moved

And were shaken, because he was wroth.

There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,

And fire out of his mouth devoured:

Coals were kindled by it.

He bowed the heavens also, and came down:
And darkness was under his feet.

And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly:

Yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his secret place;

His pavilion round about him

Were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds

passed,

Hail stones and coals of fire.

The Lord also thundered in the heavens,

And the Highest gave his voice;

Hail stones and coals of fire.

Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them;

And he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen,

And the foundations of the world were discovered At thy rebuke, O Lord,

At the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

He sent from above, he took me,

He drew me out of many waters.

He delivered me from my strong enemy,

And from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

They prevented me in the day of my calamity:

But the Lord was my stay.

He brought me forth also into a large place;
He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

The Lord rewarded me according to my righteous

ness;

According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord,

And have not wickedly departed from my God.
For all his judgments were before me,

And I did not put away his statutes from me.
I was also upright before him,

And I kept myself from mine iniquity.

Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according

to my righteousness,

According to the cleanness of my

sight.

hands in his eye

With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; With an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; With the thou wilt shew thyself pure;

pure

And with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

For thou wilt save the afflicted people;

But wilt bring down high looks.

For thou wilt light my candle:

The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.

For by thee I have run through a troop;

And by my God have I leaped over a wall.
As for God, his way is perfect:

The word of the Lord is tried:

He is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

For who is God save the Lord?

Or who is a rock save our God?

It is God that girdeth me with strength,
And maketh my way perfect.

He maketh my feet like hinds' feet,

And setteth me upon my high places.
He teacheth my hands to war,

So that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation:
And thy right hand hath holden me up,

And thy gentleness hath made me great.
Thou hast enlarged my steps under me,
That my feet did not slip.

I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them:
Neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
I have wounded them that they were not able to rise:
They are fallen under my feet.

For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: Thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies;

That I might destroy them that hate me.

They cried, but there was none to save them: