Psalms 144
1The Lord, my protector, ▼ deserves praise ▼▼ Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”
– the one who trains my hands for battle, ▼
and my fingers for war,
2 who loves me ▼ and is my stronghold,
my refuge ▼
▼ Or “my elevated place.”
and my deliverer, my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,
who makes nations submit to me. ▼
▼ Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”
3 O Lord, of what importance is the human race, ▼ that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind, ▼ that you should be concerned about them? ▼
4 People ▼
▼ Heb “man,” or “mankind.”
are like a vapor, their days like a shadow that disappears. ▼
5 O Lord, make the sky sink ▼
▼ The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.
and come down! ▼ Touch the mountains and make them smolder! ▼
▼ Heb “so they might smolder.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative.
6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter them!
Shoot your arrows and rout them! ▼
7 Reach down ▼
▼ Heb “stretch out your hands.”
from above! Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, ▼
▼ Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16–17).
from the power of foreigners, ▼
▼ Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
8 who speak lies,
and make false promises. ▼
▼ Heb “who [with] their mouth speak falsehood, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” The reference to the “right hand” is probably a metonymy for an oath. When making an oath, one would raise the hand as a solemn gesture. See Exod 6:8; Num 14:30; Deut 32:40. The figure thus represents the making of false oaths (false promises).
9 O God, I will sing a new song to you!
Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,
10 the one who delivers ▼
▼ Heb “grants deliverance to.”
kings, and rescued David his servant from a deadly ▼
▼ Heb “harmful.”
sword. 11 Grab me and rescue me from the power of foreigners, ▼
▼ Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”
who speak lies,
and make false promises. ▼
12 Then ▼
▼ Some consider אֲשֶׁר (’asher) problematic, but here it probably indicates the anticipated consequence of the preceding request. (For other examples of אֲשֶׁר indicating purpose/result, see BDB 83 s.v. and HALOT 99 s.v.) If the psalmist – who appears to be a Davidic king preparing to fight a battle (see vv. 10–11) – is victorious, the whole nation will be spared invasion and defeat (see v. 14) and can flourish. Some prefer to emend the form to אַשְׁרֵי (“how blessed [are our sons]”). A suffixed noun sometimes follows אַשְׁרֵי (’ashrey; see 1 Kgs 10:8; Prov 20:7), but the presence of a comparative element (see “like plants”) after the suffixed noun makes the proposed reading too awkward syntactically.
our sons will be like plants, that quickly grow to full size. ▼
▼ Heb “grown up in their youth.” The translation assumes that “grown up” modifies “plants” (just as “carved” modifies “corner pillars” in the second half of the verse). Another option is to take “grown up” as a predicate in relation to “our sons,” in which case one might translate, “they will be strapping youths.”
Our daughters will be like corner pillars, ▼
carved like those in a palace. ▼
▼ Heb “carved [in] the pattern of a palace.”
13 Our storehouses ▼
▼ The Hebrew noun occurs only here.
will be full, providing all kinds of food. ▼
▼ Heb “from kind to kind.” Some prefer to emend the text to מָזוֹן עַל מָזוֹן (mazon ’al mazon, “food upon food”).
Our sheep will multiply by the thousands
and fill ▼
▼ Heb “they are innumerable.”
our pastures. ▼ 14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce. ▼
▼ Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101–150 [WBC], 288).
No one will break through our walls,
no one will be taken captive,
and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares. ▼
▼ Heb “there [will be] no breach, and there [will be] no going out, and there [will be] no crying out in our broad places.”
How blessed are the people who experience these things! ▼
▼ Heb “[O] the happiness of the people who [it is] such to them.”
How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord!
Psalm 145
▼▼ Psalm 145. The psalmist praises God because he is a just and merciful king who cares for his people.
A psalm of praise, by David.
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