A Song to the Lord Who Preserves and Prospers His People

A Psalm of David.

144 Blessed be the Lord my Rock,
(A)Who trains my hands for war,
And my fingers for battle—
My lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my deliverer,
My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues [a]my people under me.

(B)Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?
(C)Man is like a breath;
(D)His days are like a passing shadow.

(E)Bow down Your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
(F)Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
(G)Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Shoot out Your arrows and destroy them.
Stretch out Your hand from above;
Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters,
From the hand of foreigners,
Whose mouth (H)speaks [b]lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

I will (I)sing a new song to You, O God;
On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
10 The One who gives [c]salvation to kings,
(J)Who delivers David His servant
From the deadly sword.

11 Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners,
Whose mouth speaks lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood—
12 That our sons may be (K)as plants grown up in their youth;
That our daughters may be as [d]pillars,
Sculptured in palace style;
13 That our barns may be full,
Supplying all kinds of produce;
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
And ten thousands in our fields;
14 That our oxen may be well laden;
That there be no [e]breaking in or going out;
That there be no outcry in our streets.
15 (L)Happy are the people who are in such a state;
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 144:2 So with MT, LXX, Vg.; Syr., Tg. the peoples (cf. 18:47)
  2. Psalm 144:8 empty or worthless
  3. Psalm 144:10 deliverance
  4. Psalm 144:12 corner pillars
  5. Psalm 144:14 Lit. breach

A Prayer for National Safety

Of David.[a]

144 Blessed be Yahweh, my rock,
the one who trains my hands for battle,
my fingers for war—
my loyal love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, and one in whom I take refuge,
the one who subdues peoples[b] under me.
O Yahweh, what is humankind that you take knowledge of him,
or the son of man that you take thought of him?
Humankind is like a breath,
his days like a passing shadow.
O Yahweh, bow the heavens and come down;
touch the mountains so that they smoke.
Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
dispatch your arrows and rout them.
Stretch out your hands from on high;
Rescue me and deliver me from many waters,
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouth speaks falsely,
and their right hand is a false right hand.
O God, I will sing a new song to you.
With a lyre of ten strings I will sing praise to you,
10 who gives victory to kings,
who rescues David his servant
from the evil sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouth speaks falsely,
and whose right hand is a false right hand,
12 that our sons may be like plants,
full grown in their youth,
our daughters like corner pillars,
carved in the style of a palace,
13 that our granaries may be full,
providing produce of all kinds,[c]
that our sheep may produce by the thousands,
by the tens of thousands in our open fields,
14 that our cattle may be pregnant;
that there be no breach in our walls,
and no going out in exile,
and no outcry in our plazas.
15 Blessed are the people who have it thus.
Blessed are the people whose God is Yahweh.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 144:1 The Hebrew Bible counts the superscription as the first verse of the psalm
  2. Psalm 144:2 Reading with many Hebrew manuscripts and versions; MT reads “my people”
  3. Psalm 144:13 Hebrew “from kind to kind”