Psalms 144:4-14

4 Man to vanity hath been like, His days [are] as a shadow passing by.

5 Jehovah, incline Thy heavens and come down, Strike against mountains, and they smoke.

6 Send forth lightning, and scatter them, Send forth Thine arrows, and trouble them,

7 Send forth Thy hand from on high, Free me, and deliver me from many waters, From the hand of sons of a stranger,

8 Because their mouth hath spoken vanity, And their right hand [is] a right hand of falsehood.

9 O God, a new song I sing to Thee, On a psaltery of ten strings I sing praise to Thee.

10 Who is giving deliverance to kings, Who is freeing David His servant from the sword of evil.

11 Free me, and deliver me From the hand of sons of a stranger, Because their mouth hath spoken vanity, And their right hand [is] a right hand of falsehood,

12 Because our sons [are] as plants, Becoming great in their youth, Our daughters as hewn stones, Polished -- the likeness of a palace,

13 Our garners [are] full, bringing out from kind to kind, Our flocks are bringing forth thousands, Ten thousands in our out-places,

14 Our oxen are carrying, there is no breach, And there is no outgoing, And there is no crying in our broad places.

Psalms 144:4-14 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.