Canticle for the Justice of Christ

2ND KINGS (SAMUEL) 22, 23

"O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,

3 my God, my rock of refuge!

My shield, the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold, my refuge,

my Savior, from violence you keep me safe.

4 'Praised be the LORD,' I exclaim,

and I am safe from my enemies.

5 "The breakers of death surged round about me,

the floods of perdition overwhelmed me;

6 The cords of the nether world enmeshed me,

the snares of death overtook me.

7 In my distress I called upon the LORD

and cried out to my God;

From his temple He heard my voice,

and my cry reached His ears.

8 "The earth swayed and quaked;

the foundations of the heavens trembled

and shook when his wrath flared up.

9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,

and a devouring fire from his mouth;

he kindled coals into flame.

10 He inclined the heavens and came down,

with dark clouds under his feet.

11 He mounted a cherub and flew,

borne on the wings of the wind.

12 He made darkness the shelter about him,

with spattering rain and thickening clouds.

13 From the brightness of his presence

coals were kindled to flame.

14 "The LORD thundered from heaven;

the Most High gave forth his voice.

15 He sent forth arrows to put them to flight;

he flashed lightning and routed them,

16 Then the wellsprings of the sea appeared,

the foundations of the earth were laid bare,

At the rebuke of the LORD,

at the blast of the wind of his wrath.

17 "He reached out from on high and grasped me;

he drew me out of the deep waters.

18 He rescued me from my mighty enemy,

from my foes, who were too powerful for me.

19 They attacked me on my day of calamity,

but the LORD came to my support.

20 He set me free in the open,

and rescued me, because he loves me.

21 The LORD rewarded me according to my justice;

according to the cleanness of my hands He requited me.

22 For I kept the ways of the LORD

and was not disloyal to my God.

23 For His ordinances were all present to me,

and His statutes I put not from me;

24 But I was wholehearted toward Him,

and I was on guard against guilt.

25 And the LORD requited me according to my justice,

according to my innocence in His sight

26 Toward the faithful You are faithful;

toward the wholehearted You are wholehearted;

27 Toward the sincere you are sincere ;

but toward the crooked you are astute.

28 You save lowly people,

though on the lofty Your eyes look down.

29 You are my lamp, 0 LORD!

0 my God, you brighten the darkness about me.

30 For with your aid I run against an armed band,

and by the help of my God I leap over a wall.

31 God's way is unerring;

the promise of the LORD is fire tried;

He is a shield to all who take refuge in

Him.

32 "For who is God except the LORD?

Who is a rock save our God?

33 The God who girded me with strength

and kept my way unerring; I

34 Who made my feet swift as those of hinds

and set me on the heights;

35 Who trained my hands for war

till my arms could bend a bow of brass.

36 You have given me your saving shield,

and your help has made me great.

37 You made room for my steps;

unwavering was my stride.

38 I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,

nor did I turn again till I made an end of them.

39 I smote them and they did not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

40 You girded me with strength for war;

you subdued my adversaries beneath me.

41 My enemies you put to flight before me

and those who hated me I destroyed.

42 They cried for help - but no one saved them;

to the LORD - but he answered them not.

43 I ground them fine as the dust of the earth;

like the mud in the streets I trampled them

down.

44 "You rescued me from the strife of my people;

you made me head over nations.

A people I had not known became my slaves;

45 as soon as they heard me, they obeyed.

46 The foreigners fawned and cringed before me;

they staggered forth from their fortresses.

47 "The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!

Extolled be my God, Rock of my salvation.

48 God, who granted me vengeance,

who made peoples subject to me

49 and helped me escape from my enemies,

Above my adversaries you exalt me

and from the violent man you rescue me.

50 Therefore will I proclaim You, 0 Lord, among

the nations,

and I will sing praise to your name,

51 You Who gave great victories to Your King

"The utterance of David, son of Jesse;

the utterance of the man God raised up,

Anointed of the God of Jacob,

favorite of the Mighty One of Israel.

2 The spirit of the LORD spoke through me;

his word was on my tongue.

3 The God of Israel spoke;

of me the Rock of Israel said,

'He that rules over men in justice,

that rules in the fear of God,

4 Is like the morning light at sunrise.

on a cloudless morning,

making the greensward sparkle after rain.'

5 Although my house is not so with God

Yet He has made an eternal covenant with me,

set forth in detail and secured.

Will he not bring to fruition all my salvation

and my every desire?

6 But the wicked are all like thorns to be cast

away; they cannot be taken up by hand.

7 He who wishes to touch them

must arm himself with iron and the shaft of

a spear, and they must be consumed by fire."