My Father, My Strength
For the director of music. Of David, the servant of our Father, who sang these words to our Father on the day he was rescued from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
After his rescue from Saul, David tells the whole story. He was drowning in the cords of death, and his cry brought his Father down the sky on the wind, in smoke and hail, to draw him out of deep water and set him on the heights.
18 1I love you, my Father, my strength. 2My Father is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my Father, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and my saving strength, my stronghold. 3I call upon my Father, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.
4The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. 5The cords of the grave entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6In my distress I called upon my Father; to my Father I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears.
7Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals blazed out from him. 9He bent the heavens low and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10He rode on a cherub and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. 11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. 12Out of the brightness before him his clouds broke through, with hailstones and coals of fire. 13My Father also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High raised his voice, with hailstones and coals of fire. 14He sent out his arrows and scattered them; he hurled lightning bolts and routed them. 15Then the channels of the sea were seen, and the foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, my Father, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of the mighty waters. 17He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. 18They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but my Father was my support. 19He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
20My Father dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. 21For I have kept the ways of my Father, and have not turned away from my Father in wickedness. 22For all his rules were before me, and I did not set his statutes aside. 23I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from wrongdoing. 24So my Father has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
25With the faithful you show yourself faithful; with the blameless you show yourself blameless; 26with the pure you show yourself pure, but with the crooked you show yourself shrewd. 27For you save a humble people, but haughty eyes you bring low. 28For it is you who light my lamp; my Father lightens my darkness. 29For by you I can charge against a troop, and by my Father I can leap over a wall.
30As for my Father—his way is perfect; the word of my Father proves true; he is a shield for all who take refuge in him. 31For who is our Father but my Father? And who is a rock but our Father? 32It is my Father who arms me with strength and makes my way blameless. 33He makes my feet like the feet of a deer and sets me secure on the heights. 34He trains my hands for battle, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze. 35You have given me the shield of your salvation; your right hand supports me, and your gentleness has made me great. 36You make a wide place for my steps beneath me, and my feet do not slip.
37I pursued my enemies and overtook them; I did not turn back until they were finished. 38I struck them down so they could not rise; they fell beneath my feet. 39You armed me with strength for the battle; you made those who rose against me fall beneath my feet. 40You made my enemies turn their backs to me, and those who hated me I destroyed. 41They cried for help, but there was no one to save; they cried to my Father, but he did not answer them. 42I beat them as fine as dust before the wind; I poured them out like the mud of the streets. 43You delivered me from the strife of the people; you made me the head of the nations; a people I had not known now serve me. 44As soon as they hear of me, they obey me; foreigners come cringing to me. 45Foreigners lose heart and come trembling out of their strongholds.
46My Father lives! Blessed be my rock, and exalted be the Father who saves me, 47the Father who gives me justice and subdues peoples under me, 48who rescued me from my enemies. Yes, you lifted me above those who rose against me; you delivered me from the violent man. 49For this I will praise you, my Father, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.
50He gives great victories to his king, and shows covenant love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever.
