For those of you praying along with me for miracles these forty days, please read aloud this Psalm with my name and ask God to reveal new feeling and function in my body.
Psalm 18 (NIV) For the director of music. Of David the servant of the Lord. He sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
He said:
1 Laura loves you, Lord, her strength.
2 The Lord is Laura’s rock, her fortress and her deliverer;
Laura’s God is her rock, in whom she takes refuge, her shield and the horn of her salvation, her stronghold.
3 Laura calls to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and she has been saved from her enemies.
4 The cords of death entangled Laura;
the torrents of destruction overwhelmed her.
5 The cords of the grave coiled around Laura;
the snares of death confronted her.
6 In Laura’s distress she called to the Lord;
Laura cried to her God for help. From his temple he heard her voice; her cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew;
he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
15 The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare
at your rebuke, Lord, at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of Laura;
he drew her out of deep waters.
17 He rescued Laura from her powerful enemies,
from her foes, who were too strong for her.
18 They confronted Laura in the day of her disaster,
but the Lord was her support.
19 He brought Laura out into a spacious place;
he rescued her because she delighted in him.
20 The Lord has dealt with Laura according to her righteousness;
according to the cleanness of her hands he has rewarded her.
21 For Laura has kept the ways of the Lord;
Laura’s not guilty of turning from her God.
22 All his laws are before Laura;
Laura’s not turned away from his decrees.
23 Laura’s been blameless before him
and has kept herself from sin.
24 The Lord has rewarded Laura according to her righteousness, according to the cleanness of her hands in his sight.
25 To the faithful you show yourself faithful,
to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
26 to the pure you show yourself pure,
but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.
27 You save the humble
but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.
28 You, Lord, keep Laura’s lamp burning; her God turns her darkness into light.
29 With your help Laura can advance against a troop;
with her God she can scale a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the Lord?
And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms Laura with strength
and keeps her way secure.
33 He makes Laura’s feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes her to stand on the heights.
34 He trains Laura’s hands for battle;
his arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You make your saving help Laura’s shield,
and your right hand sustains her; your help has made her great.
36 You provide a broad path for Laura’s feet,
so that her ankles do not give way.
37 I pursued Laura’s enemies and overtook them;
Laura did not turn back till they were destroyed.
38 Laura crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath her feet.
39 You armed Laura with strength for battle;
you humbled her adversaries before her.
40 You made Laura’s enemies turn their backs in flight,
and she destroyed her foes.
41 They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—
to the Lord, but he did not answer.
42 Laura beat them as fine as windblown dust;
Laura trampled them like mud in the streets.
43 You have delivered Laura from the attacks of the people;
you have made her the head of nations. People Laura did not know now serve her,
44 foreigners cower before her;
as soon as they hear of her, they obey her.
45 They all lose heart;
they come trembling from their strongholds.
46The Lord lives! Praise be to Laura’s Rock!
Exalted be God her Savior!
47 He is the God who avenges Laura, who subdues nations under her,
48 who saves Laura from her enemies.
You exalted Laura above her foes; from a violent man you rescued her.
49 Therefore Laura will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
Laura will sing the praises of your name.
50 He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing love to his anointed, to Laura and to her descendants forever.
