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The Book of Psalms

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- Chapter 18 -

The Lord is my rock

(2 Samuel 22:1-51)
1
Unto the end. For David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke the words of this canticle to the Lord, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. And he said:
2
I will love you, O Lord my strength.
3
The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my liberator. My God is my helper, and I hope in him: my protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support.
4
Praising, I will call upon the Lord. And I will be saved from my enemies.
5
The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me.
6
The sorrows of Hell encompassed me, and the snares of death intercepted me.
7
In my tribulation, I called upon the Lord, and I cried out to my God. And he listened to my voice from his holy temple. And my cry in his presence entered into his ears.
8
The earth was shaken, and it trembled. The foundations of the mountains were disturbed, and they were shaken, because he was angry with them.
9
A smoke ascended by his wrath, and a fire flared up from his face: coals were kindled by it.
10
He bent the heavens, and they descended. And darkness was under his feet.
11
And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew: he flew upon the feathers of the winds.
12
And he set darkness as his hiding place, with his tabernacle all around him: dark waters in the clouds of the air.
13
At the brightness that was before his sight, the clouds crossed by, with hail and coals of fire.
14
And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High uttered his voice: hail and coals of fire.
15
And he sent forth his arrows and scattered them. He multiplied lightnings, and he set them in disarray.
16
Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were revealed, by your rebuke, O Lord, by the inspiration of the Spirit of your wrath.
17
He sent from on high, and he accepted me. And he took me up, out of many waters.
18
He rescued me from my strongest enemies, and from those who hated me. For they had been too strong for me.
19
They intercepted me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my protector.
20
And he led me out, into a wide place. He accomplished my salvation, because he willed me.(a)
21
And the Lord will reward me according to my justice, and he will repay me according to the purity of my hands.
22
For I have preserved the ways of the Lord, and I have not behaved impiously before my God.
23
For all his judgments are in my sight, and his justice, I have not pushed away from me.
24
And I will be immaculate together with him, and I will keep myself from my iniquity.
25
And the Lord will reward me according to my justice and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes.
26
With the holy, you will be holy, and with the innocent, you will be innocent,
27
and with the elect, you will be elect, and with the perverse, you will be perverse.
28
For you will save the humble people, but you will bring down the eyes of the arrogant.
29
For you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. My God, enlighten my darkness.
30
For in you, I will be delivered from temptation; and with my God, I will climb over a wall.
31
As for my God, his way is undefiled. The eloquence of the Lord has been examined by fire. He is the protector of all who hope in him.
32
For who is God, except the Lord? And who is God, except our God?
33
It is God who has wrapped me with virtue and made my way immaculate.
34
It is he who has perfected my feet, like the feet of deer, and who stations me upon the heights.
35
It is he who trains my hands for battle. And you have set my arms like a bow of brass.
36
And you have given me the protection of your salvation. And your right hand sustains me. And your discipline has corrected me unto the end. And your discipline itself will teach me.(b)
37
You have expanded my footsteps under me, and my tracks have not been weakened.
38
I will pursue my enemies and apprehend them. And I will not turn back until they have failed.
39
I will break them, and they will not be able to stand. They will fall under my feet.
40
And you have wrapped me with virtue for the battle. And those rising up against me, you have subdued under me.
41
And you have given the back of my enemies to me, and you have destroyed those who hated me.(c)
42
They cried out, but there was none to save them, to the Lord, but he did not heed them.
43
And I will crush them into dust before the face of the wind, so that I will obliterate them like the mud in the streets.
44
You will rescue me from the contradictions of the people. You will set me at the head of the Gentiles.
45
A people I did not know has served me. As soon as their ears heard, they were obedient to me.
46
The sons of foreigners have been deceitful to me, the sons of foreigners have grown weak with time, and they have wavered from their paths.
47
The Lord lives, and blessed is my God, and may the God of my salvation be exalted:
48
O God, who vindicates me and who subdues the people under me, my liberator from my enraged enemies.
49
And you will exalt me above those who rise up against me. From the iniquitous man, you will rescue me.(d)
50
Because of this, O Lord, I will confess to you among the nations, and I will compose a psalm to your name:(e)
51
magnifying the salvation of his king, and showing mercy to David, his Christ, and to his offspring, even for all time.(f)

Footnotes

(a)17:20 The phrase ‘quoniam voluit me’ could be translated as ‘because he was pleased with me,’ or ‘because he wanted me,’ or ‘because he willed me.’ In terms of salvation theology, God does not save us because of us but because of Himself. Therefore, ‘because he willed me,’ is the better fit.(Conte)
(b)17:36 In most cases, ‘in finem’ means ‘in the end.’ In this context, perhaps the alternate translation of ‘in parts,’ also works. God does not wait until the end to correct, but He corrects in parts or in steps.(Conte)
(c)17:41 The word ‘dorsum’ can also refer to a downhill position (i.e. the less favorable position during a battle).(Conte)
(d)17:49 Notice that the phrase ‘viro iniquo’ is translated using the word ‘man,’ but the word ‘iniquo’ by itself would be translated without the word ‘man.’(Conte)
(e)17:50 The phrase ‘dicam psalmum’ can be translated as ‘I will recite a psalm,’ but such a translation would too weak for this context. The context is that of being vindicated and liberated from great harm, and of confessing to God among the nations of the world. Therefore, the phrase does not mean to merely recite a psalm, but to compose a psalm. (Composition in ancient times was probably most often done in spoken words, since most persons were illiterate and those who were literate did much less reading and writing than the average person today.)(Conte)
(f)17:51 The term ‘christo suo David’ refers to David, and the term ‘semini eius’ refers to Jesus Christ. However, references to David can often be taken as figurative references to Christ, because David was a foreshadowing of Christ, the son of David.(Conte)

The Lord is my rock

(2 Samuel 22:1-51)
1
I love you, LORD, my strength.
2
The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
3
I call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; and I am saved from my enemies.
4
The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5
The cords of Sheol(a) were around me. The snares of death came on me.
6
In my distress I called on the LORD, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.
7
Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
8
Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.
9
He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
10
He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.
11
He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12
At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire.
13
The LORD also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire.
14
He sent out his arrows, and scattered them. He routed them with great lightning bolts.
15
Then the channels of waters appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, 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 delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.
18
They came on me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my support.
19
He brought me out also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20
The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands, he has recompensed me.
21
For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22
For all his ordinances were before me. I didn’t put away his statutes from me.
23
I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity.
24
Therefore the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25
With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.
26
With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
27
For you will save the afflicted people, but the arrogant eyes you will bring down.
28
For you will light my lamp, LORD. My God will light up my darkness.
29
For by you, I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall.
30
As for God, his way is perfect. The LORD’s word is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
31
For who is God, except the LORD? Who is a rock, besides our God,
32
the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?
33
He makes my feet like deer’s feet, and sets me on my high places.
34
He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
35
You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand sustains me. Your gentleness has made me great.
36
You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped.
37
I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. I won’t turn away until they are consumed.
38
I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. They shall fall under my feet.
39
For you have armed me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40
You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.
41
They cried, but there was no one to save; even to the LORD, but he didn’t answer them.
42
Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.
43
You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44
As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.
45
The foreigners shall fade away, and shall come trembling out of their strongholds.
46
The LORD lives! Blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation,
47
even the God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me.
48
He rescues me from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man.
49
Therefore I will give thanks to you, LORD, among the nations, and will sing praises to your name.
50
He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his offspring,(b) forever more.

Footnotes

(a)18:5 Sheol is the place of the dead.
(b)18:50 or, seed
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