Psalms 144

A King's Prayer

1

Davidic.

1 May the Lord my rock be praised, who trains my hands for battle and my fingers for warfare.
2 He is my faithful love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer. He is my shield, and I take refuge in Him;[a] He subdues my people[b] under me.
3 Lord, what is man, that You care for him, the son of man, that You think of him?[c]
4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Lord, part Your heavens and come down.[d] Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.[e]
6 Flash [Your] lightning and scatter the foe;[f] shoot Your arrows and rout them.
7 Reach down[g] from on high; rescue me from deep water,[h] and set me free from the grasp of foreigners
8 whose mouths speak lies, whose right hands are deceptive.
9 God, I will sing a new song to You; I will play on a ten-stringed harp[i] for You-
10 the One who gives victory to kings, who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.
11 Set me free and rescue me from the grasp of foreigners whose mouths speak lies, whose right hands are deceptive.
12 Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth, our daughters, like corner pillars that are carved in the palace style.
13 Our storehouses will be full, supplying all kinds of produce; our flocks will increase by thousands and tens of thousands in our open fields.
14 Our cattle will be well fed.[j] There will be no breach [in the walls], no going [into captivity],[k] and no cry of lament in our public squares.
15 Happy are the people with such [blessings]. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

Footnotes 11

  • [a]. Ps 18:2; 71:1-3; 2 Sm 22:2-3
  • [b]. Other Hb mss, DSS, Aq, Syr, Tg, Jer read subdues peoples; Ps 18:47; 2 Sm 22:48
  • [c]. Ps 8:4
  • [d]. Ps 18:9-10; 2 Sm 22:10
  • [e]. Ps 104:32
  • [f]. Lit scatter them
  • [g]. Lit down Your hands
  • [h]. Ps 18:16; 2 Sm 22:17
  • [i]. Ps 33:3; 40:3; 98:1
  • [j]. Or will bear heavy loads, or will be pregnant
  • [k]. Or be no plague, no miscarriage

Psalms 144 Commentaries

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