Dual Panel1David prayed to GOD the words of this song after GOD saved him from all his enemies and from Saul.
2GOD is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight.
3My God--the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout; My mountaintop refuge, he saves me from ruthless men.
4I sing to GOD the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved.
5The waves of death crashed over me, devil waters rushed over me.
6Hell's ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit.
7A hostile world! I called to GOD, to my God I cried out. From his palace he heard me call; my cry brought me right into his presence--a private audience!
8Earth wobbled and lurched; the very heavens shook like leaves, Quaked like aspen leaves because of his rage.
9His nostrils flared, billowing smoke; his mouth spit fire. Tongues of fire darted in and out;
10he lowered the sky. He stepped down; under his feet an abyss opened up.
11He rode a winged creature, swift on wind-wings.
12He wrapped himself in a trenchcoat of black rain-cloud darkness.
13But his cloud-brightness burst through, a grand comet of fireworks.
14Then GOD thundered out of heaven; the High God gave a great shout.
15God shot his arrows--pandemonium! He hurled his lightnings--a rout!
16The secret sources of ocean were exposed, the hidden depths of earth lay uncovered The moment GOD roared in protest, let loose his hurricane anger.
17But me he caught--reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out
18Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning.
19They hit me when I was down, but GOD stuck by me.
20He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved--surprised to be loved!
21GOD made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I cleaned up my act, he gave me a fresh start.
22Indeed, I've kept alert to GOD's ways; I haven't taken God for granted.
23Every day I review the ways he works, I try not to miss a trick.
24I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step.
25GOD rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.
26You stick by people who stick with you, you're straight with people who're straight with you,
27You're good to good people, you shrewdly work around the bad ones.
28You take the side of the down-and-out, but the stuck-up you take down a peg.
29Suddenly, GOD, your light floods my path, GOD drives out the darkness.
30I smash the bands of marauders, I vault the high fences.
31What a God! His road stretches straight and smooth. Every GOD-direction is road-tested. Everyone who runs toward him Makes it.
32Is there any god like GOD? Are we not at bedrock?
33Is not this the God who armed me well, then aimed me in the right direction?
34Now I run like a deer; I'm king of the mountain.
35He shows me how to fight; I can bend a bronze bow!
36You protect me with salvation-armor; you touch me and I feel ten feet tall.
37You cleared the ground under me so my footing was firm.
38When I chased my enemies I caught them; I didn't let go till they were dead men.
39I nailed them; they were down for good; then I walked all over them.
40You armed me well for this fight; you smashed the upstarts.
41You made my enemies turn tail, and I wiped out the haters.
42They cried "uncle" but Uncle didn't come; They yelled for GOD and got no for an answer.
43I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind. I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.
44You rescued me from a squabbling people; you made me a leader of nations. People I'd never heard of served me;
45the moment they got wind of me they submitted.
46They gave up; they came trembling from their hideouts.
47Live, GOD! Blessing to my Rock, my towering Salvation-God!
48This God set things right for me and shut up the people who talked back.
49He rescued me from enemy anger. You pulled me from the grip of upstarts, You saved me from the bullies.
50That's why I'm thanking you, GOD, all over the world. That's why I'm singing songs that rhyme your name.
51God's king takes the trophy; God's chosen is beloved. I mean David and all his children--always.