it's worth the read

I know this is long, but just go ahead & read this psalm in the New Living Translation & then in The Message. Just shut up & do it. It'll be worth it.

Psalm 18
¹ I love you, Lord; Psalm 18
you are my strength.
² The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior;
my God is my rock, in whom I find protection.
He is my shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
³ I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and he saved me from my enemies.

⁴ The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.
⁵ The grave wrapped its ropes around me;
death laid a trap in my path.
⁶ But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from his sanctuary;
my cry to him reached his ears.

⁷ Then the earth quaked and trembled.
The foundations of the mountains shook;
they quaked because of his anger.
⁸ Smoke poured from his nostrils;
fierce flames leaped from his mouth.
Glowing coals blazed forth from him.
⁹ He opened the heavens and came down;
dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
¹⁰ Mounted on a mighty angelic being,^b]">[b] he flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.
¹¹ He shrouded himself in darkness,
veiling his approach with dark rain clouds.
¹² Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him
and rained down hail and burning coals.^c]">[c]
¹³ The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded
amid the hail and burning coals.
¹⁴ He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
his lightning flashed, and they were greatly confused.
¹⁵ Then at your command, O Lord,
at the blast of your breath,
the bottom of the sea could be seen,
and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

¹⁶ He reached down from heaven and rescued me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
¹⁷ He rescued me from my powerful enemies,
from those who hated me and were too strong for me.
¹⁸ They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress,
but the Lord supported me.
¹⁹ He led me to a place of safety;
he rescued me because he delights in me.
²⁰ The Lord rewarded me for doing right;
he restored me because of my innocence.
²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord;
I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
²² I have followed all his regulations;
I have never abandoned his decrees.
²³ I am blameless before God;
I have kept myself from sin.
²⁴ The Lord rewarded me for doing right.
He has seen my innocence.

²⁵ To the faithful you show yourself faithful;
to those with integrity you show integrity.
²⁶ To the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the wicked you show yourself hostile.
²⁷ You rescue the humble,
but you humiliate the proud.
²⁸ You light a lamp for me.
The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.
²⁹ In your strength I can crush an army;
with my God I can scale any wall.

³⁰ God’s way is perfect.
All the Lord’s promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.
³¹ For who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is a solid rock?
³² God arms me with strength,
and he makes my way perfect.
³³ He makes me as surefooted as a deer,
enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
³⁴ He trains my hands for battle;
he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.
³⁵ You have given me your shield of victory.
Your right hand supports me;
your help has made me great.
³⁶ You have made a wide path for my feet
to keep them from slipping.

³⁷ I chased my enemies and caught them;
I did not stop until they were conquered.
³⁸ I struck them down so they could not get up;
they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You have armed me with strength for the battle;
you have subdued my enemies under my feet.
⁴⁰ You placed my foot on their necks.
I have destroyed all who hated me.
⁴¹ They called for help, but no one came to their rescue.
They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer.
⁴² I ground them as fine as dust in the wind.
I swept them into the gutter like dirt.
⁴³ You gave me victory over my accusers.
You appointed me ruler over nations;
people I don’t even know now serve me.
⁴⁴ As soon as they hear of me, they submit;
foreign nations cringe before me.
⁴⁵ They all lose their courage
and come trembling from their strongholds.

⁴⁶ The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted!
⁴⁷ He is the God who pays back those who harm me;
he subdues the nations under me
⁴⁸ and rescues me from my enemies.
You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies;
you save me from violent opponents.
⁴⁹ For this, O Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.
⁵⁰ You give great victories to your king;
you show unfailing love to your anointed,
to David and all his descendants forever.

Now in The Message...

^1-2 I love you, God— you make me strong.
God is bedrock under my feet,
the castle in which I live,
my rescuing knight.
My God—the high crag
where I run for dear life,
hiding behind the boulders,
safe in the granite hideout.

³ I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,
and find myself safe and saved.

^4-5 The hangman's noose was tight at my throat;
devil waters rushed over me.
Hell's ropes cinched me tight;
death traps barred every exit.

⁶ A hostile world! I call to God,
I cry to God to help me.
From his palace he hears my call;
my cry brings me right into his presence—
a private audience!

^7-15 Earth wobbles and lurches;
huge mountains shake like leaves,
Quake like aspen leaves
because of his rage.
His nostrils flare, bellowing smoke;
his mouth spits fire.
Tongues of fire dart in and out;
he lowers the sky.
He steps down;
under his feet an abyss opens up.
He's riding a winged creature,
swift on wind-wings.
Now he's wrapped himself
in a trenchcoat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.
Then God thundered out of heaven;
the High God gave a great shout,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.
God shoots his arrows—pandemonium!
He hurls his lightnings—a rout!
The secret sources of ocean are exposed,
the hidden depths of earth lie uncovered
The moment you roar in protest,
let loose your hurricane anger.

^16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

^20-24 God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
he gave me a fresh start.
Now I'm alert to God's ways;
I don't take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I'm watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

^25-27 The good people taste your goodness,
The whole people taste your health,
The true people taste your truth,
The bad ones can't figure you out.
You take the side of the down-and-out,
But the stuck-up you take down a peg.

^28-29 Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;
I'm blazing with glory, God's glory!
I smash the bands of marauders,
I vault the highest fences.

³⁰ What a God! His road
stretches straight and smooth.
Every God-direction is road-tested.
Everyone who runs toward him
Makes it.

^31-42 Is there any god like God?
Are we not at bedrock?
Is not this the God who armed me,
then aimed me in the right direction?
Now I run like a deer;
I'm king of the mountain.
He shows me how to fight;
I can bend a bronze bow!
You protect me with salvation-armor;
you hold me up with a firm hand,
caress me with your gentle ways.
You cleared the ground under me
so my footing was firm.
When I chased my enemies I caught them;
I didn't let go till they were dead men.
I nailed them; they were down for good;
then I walked all over them.
You armed me well for this fight,
you smashed the upstarts.
You made my enemies turn tail,
and I wiped out the haters.
They cried "uncle"
but Uncle didn't come;
They yelled for God
and got no for an answer.
I ground them to dust; they gusted in the wind.
I threw them out, like garbage in the gutter.

^43-45 You rescued me from a squabbling people;
you made me a leader of nations.
People I'd never heard of served me;
the moment they got wind of me they listened.
The foreign devils gave up; they came
on their bellies, crawling from their hideouts.

^46-48 Live, God! Blessings from my Rock,
my free and freeing God, towering!
This God set things right for me
and shut up the people who talked back.
He rescued me from enemy anger,
he pulled me from the grip of upstarts,
He saved me from the bullies.

^49-50 That's why I'm thanking you, God,
all over the world.
That's why I'm singing songs
that rhyme your name.
God's king takes the trophy;
God's chosen is beloved.
I mean David and all his children—
always.