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This is a song that David wrote.

God is strong and we praise him

144 Lord, I praise you!
    You are my strong Rock!
You teach me how to fight well.
    You show me how to use my weapons.
You always love me.
    You are the strong place where I am safe.
    You save me from the power of my enemies.
You are like a shield for me.
    I know that I am safe with you.
You give me power over nations.[a]

Lord, why do you even think about men and women?
    Why do you take care of humans?
People soon pass away, just like a breath.
    Their life is like a shadow that soon goes.
Lord, open up the heavens!
    Leave your home and come down to earth!
Touch the mountains so that they burn with smoke.
Send bright lightning to frighten your enemies.
Shoot your arrows at them
    so that they run away.[b]
Put your hand down from heaven,
    and pick me out from the deep water.[c]
Save me from the power of foreign people.
Their mouths speak lies.
Even when they make a promise,
    they are deceiving people.

I will sing to you a new song, God.
    I will make music to you on my harp.[d]
10 You help kings to win against their enemies.
You also save me, your servant David, from my enemies,
    when they try to kill me with their dangerous swords.
11 Keep me safe from the power of foreign people.
    They speak lies.
    Even when they make a promise, it is false.
12 When our sons are young,
    may they grow quickly, like strong plants.
May our daughters become tall and beautiful,
    like the beautiful pillars in a king's house.
13 May our homes have plenty of different kinds of food.
May our sheep have thousands of lambs,
    so that there is no space in our fields.
14 May our cows become fat.[e]
I pray that our enemies will never knock down our city's walls.
I pray that none of us will become their prisoners.
I pray that nobody will cry in our city's streets because they are afraid.
15 When God does that for a nation,
    he has surely blessed those people!
If people know that the Lord is their God,
    then God has blessed them!

Footnotes

  1. 144:2 ‘power over nations’ or ‘power over my people’.
  2. 144:6 The lightning is like arrows that come from God.
  3. 144:7 David feels like he is in deep and dangerous water, because his enemies are giving him a lot of trouble.
  4. 144:9 David prays for help (maybe against Goliath and the Philistines). If God saves David from death by the sword, David will make music to the Lord.
  5. 144:14 ‘May our cows become fat’ or ‘May our cows give birth to many babies’ or ‘May our bulls have heavy loads of food to carry’.

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