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Davidic

A Song for God’s Provision

144 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
    who trains my hands for battle
        and my fingers for warfare,
he is my gracious love and my fortress,
    my strong tower and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I find refuge,
    who subdues[a] peoples[b] under me.

Lord, what are human beings,
    that you should care about them,
or mortal man,
    that you should think about him?
The human person is a mere empty breath;
    his days are like a fading shadow.

Bow your heavens, Lord, and descend;[c]
    touch the mountains, and they will smolder.
Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy,[d]
    shoot your arrows and confuse them.
Reach down your hand from your high place;
    rescue me and deliver me from mighty waters,
        from the control of foreigners.[e]
Their mouths speak lies,
    and their right hand deceives,[f]

God, I will sing a new song to you.
    On a harp of ten strings I will play to you—
10 to you who gives victory to kings,
    rescuing his servant David from cruel swords.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
    from the control of foreigners,[g]
whose mouths speak lies,
    and whose right hand deceives.[h]

12 May our sons in their youth be like full-grown plants,
    and our daughters like pillars
        destined to decorate a palace.
13 May our granaries be filled,
    storing produce in abundance;
may our sheep bring forth thousands,
    even tens of thousands in our fields.
14 May our cattle grow heavy with young,
    with no damage or loss.
May there be no cry of anguish in our streets!

15 Happy are the people to whom these things come;
    happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 144:2 So LXX; the Heb. lacks subdues
  2. Psalm 144:2 So DSS 11QPsa Sebir Aquila Syr Targ Hieronymus; cf. Psa 18:48; 2 Sam 22:48; LXX reads subdues my people
  3. Psalm 144:5 So MT (imperfect verb); LXX, DSS 11QPsa read and descend!; i.e. a verb of command
  4. Psalm 144:6 Lit. scatter them
  5. Psalm 144:7 Lit. the hand of the sons of strangers
  6. Psalm 144:8 I.e. they swear to false oaths
  7. Psalm 144:11 Lit. the hand of the sons of strangers
  8. Psalm 144:11 I.e. they swear to false oaths

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”