Add parallel Print Page Options

A song of David.

144 Praise the Lord!
    He is my Rock.
He prepares me for war.
    He trains me for battle.
He loves me and protects me.
    He is my safe place high on the mountain.
He rescues me.
    He is my shield.
I trust in him.
    He helps me rule my people.

Lord, why are people important to you?
    Why do you even notice us?
Our life is like a puff of air.
    It is like a passing shadow.

Lord, tear open the skies and come down.
    Touch the mountains, and smoke will rise from them.
Send the lightning and make my enemies run away.
    Shoot your “arrows” and make them run away.
Reach down from heaven and save me!
    Don’t let me drown in this sea of enemies.
    Save me from these foreigners.
They are all liars,
    even when they swear to tell the truth.

God, I will sing a new song[a] for you.
    I will play a ten-stringed harp and sing praise to you.
10 You are the one who gives victory to kings.
    You saved your servant David from the sword of his enemy.
11 Save me from these foreigners.
    They are all liars,
    even when they swear to tell the truth.

12 May our sons be as strong as trees
    and our daughters as beautiful as the carved columns of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled
    with crops of all kinds.
May our sheep produce so many lambs,
    that thousands of sheep will fill our fields.
14     And may our cows be heavy with calves.
May no enemy break through our walls
    or carry away any of our people.
    May there be no cries of pain in our streets.

15 How wonderful to have such blessings!
    Yes, great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 144:9 new song Whenever God did a new and wonderful thing for his people, they would write a new song about it.

Psalm 144

Of David.

Praise be to the Lord my Rock,(A)
    who trains my hands for war,
    my fingers for battle.
He is my loving God and my fortress,(B)
    my stronghold(C) and my deliverer,
my shield,(D) in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples[a](E) under me.

Lord, what are human beings(F) that you care for them,
    mere mortals that you think of them?
They are like a breath;(G)
    their days are like a fleeting shadow.(H)

Part your heavens,(I) Lord, and come down;(J)
    touch the mountains, so that they smoke.(K)
Send forth lightning(L) and scatter(M) the enemy;
    shoot your arrows(N) and rout them.
Reach down your hand from on high;(O)
    deliver me and rescue me(P)
from the mighty waters,(Q)
    from the hands of foreigners(R)
whose mouths are full of lies,(S)
    whose right hands(T) are deceitful.(U)

I will sing a new song(V) to you, my God;
    on the ten-stringed lyre(W) I will make music to you,
10 to the One who gives victory to kings,(X)
    who delivers his servant David.(Y)

From the deadly sword(Z) 11 deliver me;
    rescue me(AA) from the hands of foreigners(AB)
whose mouths are full of lies,(AC)
    whose right hands are deceitful.(AD)

12 Then our sons in their youth
    will be like well-nurtured plants,(AE)
and our daughters will be like pillars(AF)
    carved to adorn a palace.
13 Our barns will be filled(AG)
    with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
    by tens of thousands in our fields;
14     our oxen(AH) will draw heavy loads.[b]
There will be no breaching of walls,(AI)
    no going into captivity,
    no cry of distress in our streets.(AJ)
15 Blessed is the people(AK) of whom this is true;
    blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 144:2 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Dead Sea Scrolls, Aquila, Jerome and Syriac; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text subdues my people
  2. Psalm 144:14 Or our chieftains will be firmly established