Psalm 18:1-20, Chant D

1 I love you, O Lord my strength, *
O Lord my stronghold, my crag, and my ha-ven.

2 My God, my rock in whom I put my trust, *
my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my refuge;
you are wor-thy of praise.

3 I will call upon the Lord, *
and so shall I be saved from my en-emies.

4 The breakers of death rolled o-ver me, *
and the torrents of oblivion made me a-fraid.

5 The cords of hell entan-gled me, *
and the snares of death were set for me.

6 I called upon the Lord in my dis-tress *
and cried out to my God for help.

7 He heard my voice from his heaven-ly dwel-ling; *
my cry of anguish came to his ears.

8 The earth reeled and rocked; *
the roots of the mountains shook;
they reeled because of his an-ger.

9 Smoke rose from his nostrils and
a consuming fire out of his mouth; *
hot burning coals blazed forth from him.

10 He parted the heavens and came down *
with a storm cloud un-der his feet.

11 He mounted on cherubim and flew; *
he swooped on the wings of the wind.

12 He wrapped darkness a-bout him; *
he made dark waters and thick clouds his pa-vil-ion.

13 From the brightness of his presence, through the clouds, *
burst hailstones and coals of fire.

14 The Lord thundered out of hea-ven; *
the Most High uttered his voice.

15 He loosed his arrows and scattered them; *
he hurled thunder-bolts and rou-ted them.

16 The beds of the seas were uncovered,
and the foundations of the world laid bare, *
at your battle cry, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your no-strils.

17 He reached down from on high and grasped me; *
he drew me out of great wa-ters.

18 He delivered me from my strong enemies
and from those who hated me; *
for they were too mighty for me.

19 They confronted me in the day of my di-sa-ster; *
but the Lord was my sup-port.

20 He brought me out into an o-pen place; *
he rescued me because he deligh-ted in me.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Ho-ly Spir-it: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ev–er. A-men.