Psalms 144:12-15

12 Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.
13 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields;
14 our oxen will draw heavy loads.[a]There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the LORD.

Psalms 144:12-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 144

\\<>\\. This psalm was written by David; not on account of the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, by a spirit of prophecy, as Theodoret; but on his own account, after he was come to the throne, and was king over all Israel; and was delivered from the was between him and Israel, and from the war of the Philistines, as Kimchi observes, having gained two victories over them: or it was written between the two victories, and before he had conquered all his enemies; since he prays to be delivered from the hand of strange children, Ps 144:7,11. R. Obadiah thinks it was written on the account of his deliverance from Absalom and Sheba; but the former is best. Some copies of the Septuagint, and also the Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, have in their titles these words, ``against Goliath;'' and so Apollinarius; as if it was written on account of his combat with him, and victory over him; but this clause is not in the Hebrew Bibles; nor could Theodoret find it in the Septuagint in the Hexapla in his time. The Syriac inscription is still more foreign to the purpose, ``a psalm of David, when he slew Asaph the brother of Goliath.'' R. Saadiah Gaon interprets this psalm of the times of the Messiah; and there are several things in it which are applicable to him.

Cross References 7

  • 1. Psalms 92:12-14; S Psalms 128:3
  • 2. Song of Songs 4:4; Song of Songs 7:4
  • 3. Proverbs 3:10
  • 4. Proverbs 14:4
  • 5. 2 Kings 25:11
  • 6. Isaiah 24:11; Jeremiah 14:2-3
  • 7. Deuteronomy 28:3; Psalms 33:12

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or "our chieftains will be firmly established"
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