A message from The Message

This morning I went to church at Christ the King in Anacortes, Washington, my wife's hometown. Some of Robin's friends are on the staff. The talk was mostly on Psalm 23, but made some use of Psalm 18 from The Message. It is interesting to contrast the ESV direct translation:

⁴ The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction assailed me;
⁵ the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.

⁶ In my distress I called upon the LORD;
to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
and my cry to him reached his ears.

to the embellished paraphrase of The Message:

^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!

I am not a big fan of The Message (my wife is). But, I think it is sometimes good to be jolted out of familiarity with the text.