Psalms 144:1-2

Psalm 144 ¹ 

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 

Psalms 22:1

Psalm 22 ⁸ 

For the music director; according to the tune “Morning Doe;” ⁹  a psalm of David.

22:1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? ¹⁰ 

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 28:6

28:6 He will give discernment to the one who makes judicial decisions,

and strength to those who defend the city from attackers. ¹² 

Isaiah 45:1

45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen ¹³  one,

to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold ¹⁴ 

in order to subdue nations before him,

and disarm kings, ¹⁵ 

to open doors before him,

so gates remain unclosed:

[144:1]  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.

[144:1]  ² tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.

[144:1]  ³ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”

[144:1]  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.

[144:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).

[144:2]  ⁶ tn Or “my elevated place.”

[144:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “the one who subdues nations beneath me.”

[22:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 22. The psalmist cries out to the Lord for deliverance from his dangerous enemies, who have surrounded him and threaten his life. Confident that the Lord will intervene, he then vows to thank the Lord publicly for his help and anticipates a time when all people will recognize the Lord’s greatness and worship him.

[22:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “according to the doe of the dawn.” Apparently this refers to a particular musical tune or style.

[22:1]  ¹⁰ sn From the psalmist’s perspective it seems that God has abandoned him, for he fails to answer his cry for help (vv. 1b-2).

[22:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “far from my deliverance [are] the words of my groaning.” The Hebrew noun שְׁאָגָה (shÿ’agah) and its related verb שָׁאַג (sha’ag) are sometimes used of a lion’s roar, but they can also describe human groaning (see Job 3:24 and Pss 32:3 and 38:8.

[28:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and [he will become] a spirit of justice for the one who sits [i.e., presides] over judgment, // and strength [for] the ones who turn back battle at the city gate.” The Lord will provide internal stability and national security.

[45:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”

[45:1]  ¹⁴ sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.

[45:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”