By David.
144:1 The Lord, my protector, 2 deserves praise 3 –
the one who trains my hands for battle, 4
and my fingers for war,
144:2 who loves me 5 and is my stronghold,
my refuge 6 and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,
who makes nations submit to me. 7
144:3 O Lord, of what importance is the human race, 8 that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind, 9 that you should be concerned about them? 10
144:4 People 11 are like a vapor,
their days like a shadow that disappears. 12
1 sn Psalm 144. The psalmist expresses his confidence in God, asks for a mighty display of divine intervention in an upcoming battle, and anticipates God’s rich blessings on the nation in the aftermath of military victory.
2 tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The
3 tn Heb “blessed [be] the
4 sn The one who trains my hands for battle. The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enablement (see Ps 18:34). Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, The Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.
5 tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).
6 tn Or “my elevated place.”
7 tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”
8 tn Heb “What is mankind?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race. See Ps 8:5.
9 tn Heb “and the son of man.” The phrase “son of man” is used here in a collective sense and refers to human beings. For other uses of the phrase in a collective or representative manner, see Num 23:19; Ps 146:3; Isa 51:12.
10 tn Heb “take account of him.” The two imperfect verbal forms in v. 4 describe God’s characteristic activity.
11 tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”
12 tn Heb “his days [are] like a shadow that passes away,” that is, like a late afternoon shadow made by the descending sun that will soon be swallowed up by complete darkness. See Ps 102:11.