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Psalms 144

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Praise for the Divine Warrior 1–2

1
A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: ​
2
My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me. ​

Reflection on Human Mortality 3–4

3
LORD, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! ​
4
Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away. ​

Prayer for Cosmic Intervention 5–8

5
Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. ​
6
Cast forth lightning, and scatter them: shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them.
7
Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children; ​
8
Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. ​

Vow of Praise and Renewed Petition 9–10

9
I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee. ​
10
It is he that giveth salvation unto kings: who delivereth David his servant from the hurtful sword. ​

The Vision of National Prosperity 11–15

11
Rid me, and deliver me from the hand of strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood: ​
12
That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace: ​
13
That our garners may be full, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets:
14
That our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. ​
15
Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 144

Verse 1

my strength — Literally 'my rock' (tsur), as in Ps 18:46, 'blessed be my rock'. The second half is David's own thanksgiving after his victories: 'He teacheth my hands to war' (Ps 18:34; 2 Sam 22:35). 'Teacheth' is lamad, to teach, from the word for an ox-goad.

Verse 2

my goodness — Chesed, loving-kindness, the word usually rendered 'mercy', here made one of his titles for the LORD. The titles that follow gather those of Ps 18:2: 'fortress' (matsud, a stronghold), 'high tower' (misgab, a height out of reach), 'deliverer', 'shield' (magen), and the one 'in whom I trust'.

Verse 3

what is man — The question is Ps 8:4, with its two words for man reversed: there enosh and 'son of man' (ben adam), here adam and 'son of man' (ben enosh). 'Takest knowledge' is yada, to know; 'makest account' is chashab, to reckon. Heb 2:6 quotes Ps 8:4.

Verse 4

Man is like to vanity — Hebel, a breath or vapour, the word of Ps 39:5, 'every man at his best state is altogether vanity'. The days are a 'shadow' (tsel) 'that passeth away', as in Ps 102:11, 'My days are like a shadow that declineth'.

Verse 5

Bow thy heavens — David asks again for what he saw: 'He bowed the heavens also, and came down' (Ps 18:9). The hills that 'smoke' at his touch (Ps 104:32) recall Sinai, 'altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire' (Ex 19:18).

Verse 7

Send thine hand from above — Ps 18:16 is the answered form: 'He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.' 'Great waters' is the same Hebrew pair as 'many waters' there. 'Strange children' is literally the sons of the nekar, the foreigner. 'Rid' is patsah, which returns in vv.10–11.

Verse 8

Whose mouth speaketh vanity — Shav, emptiness, the word of 'in vain' in the third commandment (Ex 20:7); the second line adds sheqer, falsehood. Ps 12:2 describes the same speech: 'They speak vanity every one with his neighbour'. Their hand is as false as their mouth.

Verse 9

a new song — Also called for in Ps 33:3; 96:1; 98:1; 149:1 and Isa 42:10, and given in Ps 40:3. 'Sing praises' is zamar, to make music. The instruments, 'a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings', are those of Ps 33:2, where asor, 'ten', also names a ten-stringed instrument.

Verse 10

giveth salvation unto kings — Teshuah, deliverance. The LORD saves kings, and no king is 'saved by the multitude of an host' (Ps 33:16). 'Delivereth' is patsah, the verb the psalm prayed with in vv.7 and 11; David is named here as 'his servant' (ebed), the title of his own psalms.

Verse 11

Rid me, and deliver me — The verse repeats the end of v.7 and the whole of v.8, with 'out of great waters' left out. The psalm ends its prayer where the threat was first named, 'strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity', and turns in v.12 to what is asked for the household.

Verse 12

plants grown up in their youth — 'Plants' is nati'a, a young planting; 'grown up' is gadal, to become great. Daughters are 'corner stones' (zavit, a corner; elsewhere only 'the corners of the altar', Zech 9:15), hewn 'after the similitude of a palace', heykal, the word used of the temple (1 Kgs 6:5).

Verse 14

no breaking in — Perets, a breach, the gap broken in a wall. 'Complaining' is tsevachah, an outcry of anguish, heard in Isa 24:11, 'There is a crying for wine in the streets'. The 'streets' (rechob) are the broad open places of the town, which Zech 8:5 pictures 'full of boys and girls playing'.

Verse 15

Happy is that people — Ashre, 'happy', is the first word of Ps 1:1, 'Blessed is the man'. The close of the psalm rests the blessing on the LORD alone: 'Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD' (Ps 33:12), as 'Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help' (Ps 146:5).