Psaume 144:2-12

2 Mon bienfaiteur et ma forteresse, ma haute retraite et mon libérateur, mon bouclier et celui vers qui je me retire; celui qui range mon peuple sous moi!

3 Éternel, qu'est-ce que l'homme, que tu aies soin de lui? et le fils de l'homme que tu en tiennes compte?

4 L'homme est semblable à un souffle; ses jours sont comme l'ombre qui passe.

5 Éternel, abaisse tes cieux et descends; touche les montagnes, et qu'elles fument!

6 Fais briller l'éclair, et disperse-les; lance tes flèches, et les mets en déroute!

7 Étends tes mains d'en haut, délivre-moi, et me retire des grandes eaux, de la main du fils de l'étranger;

8 Dont la bouche profère le mensonge, et dont la droite est une droite trompeuse.

9 O Dieu, je te chanterai un cantique nouveau; je te célébrerai sur la lyre à dix cordes,

10 Toi qui donnes la délivrance aux rois, qui sauves David, ton serviteur, de l'épée meurtrière.

11 Délivre-moi, et me retire de la main des fils de l'étranger, dont la bouche profère le mensonge, et dont la droite est une droite trompeuse.

12 Que nos fils soient comme des plantes croissant dans leur jeunesse; nos filles comme des colonnes taillées, ornant les angles d'un palais!

Psaume 144:2-12 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.