You encircle me with Your strength

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Psalm 18

-Abridged

“I love You, Lord, my strength.”

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my savior,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved from my enemies.

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In my distress I called upon the Lord,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice from His temple,
And my cry for help before Him came into His ears.

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He also brought me out into an open place;
He rescued me, because He delighted in me.

The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.

For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
And have not acted wickedly against my God.

For all His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His statutes from me.

I was also blameless with Him,
And I kept myself from my wrongdoing.

Therefore the Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.

With the faithful You show Yourself faithful;
With the blameless You prove Yourself blameless;

With the pure You show Yourself pure,
And with the crooked You show Yourself astute.

For You save an afflicted people,
But You humiliate haughty eyes.

For You light my lamp;
The Lord my God illumines my darkness.

For by You I can run at a troop of warriors;
And by my God I can leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is blameless;
The word of the Lord is refined;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.

For who is God, but the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God,

The God who encircles me with strength,
And makes my way blameless?

He makes my feet like deer’s feet, And sets me up on my high places.

He trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation,
And Your right hand upholds me;
And Your gentleness makes me great.

You enlarge my steps under me,
And my feet have not slipped

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For You have encircled me with strength for battle;
You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.

 

You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me,
And I destroyed those who hated me.

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You have rescued me from the contentions of the people;
You have placed me as head of the nations;
A people whom I have not known serve me.

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The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock;
And exalted be the God of my salvation,

The God who executes vengeance for me,
And subdues peoples under me.

He rescues me from my enemies;
You indeed lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from a violent man.

Therefore I will give thanks to You among the nations, Lord,
And I will sing praises to Your name.

He gives great salvation to His king,
And shows faithfulness to His anointed,
To David and his descendants forever.

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