Psalms 144:1

Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight: Psalms 144:1.-Blessed be Yahweh, my strength, in subduing my enemies (Psalms 144:1). How marvelous that thou shouldest regard frail man! (; ). Bow thy heavens and come down to save me (Psalms 144:5). I will praise thee already for salvation anticipated by faith (Psalms 144:9). Rid me from strange children who speak vanity, that our children may be as vigorous plants and as...

1._Blessed be Jehovah, my strength _(257) It is very evident that David, since he celebrates the favor of God in such high terms, had not only obtained the kingdom, but gained signal victories. When he calls God _his strength_, he acknowledges that any courage he had was given him from above, not only because he had been made from a country shepherd a mighty warrior, but because the constancy and perseverance he had shown was signally a gift from God. This term answers better than were we to translate it rock; for, by way of explanation, he adds immediately afterwards, that he had been formed under God’s teaching for war. The words certainly imply an acknowledgment, that though of a warlike spirit, he was not born for warlike enterprises but needed to undergo a change. What kind of a commencement, for example, did he show in the case of Goliah? That attempt would have been preposterous o...

1-8 When men become eminent for things as to which they have had few advantages, they should be more deeply sensible that God has been their Teacher. Happy those to whom the Lord gives that noblest victory, conquest and dominion over their own spirits. A prayer for further mercy is fitly begun with a thanksgiving for former mercy. There was a special power of God, inclining the people of Israel to be subject to David; it was typical of the bringing souls into subjection to the Lord Jesus. Man's days have little substance, considering how many thoughts and cares of a never-dying soul are employed about a poor dying body. Man's life is as a shadow that passes away. In their highest earthly exaltation, believers will recollect how mean, sinful, and vile they are in themselves; thus they will be preserved from self-importance and presumption. God's time to help his people is, when they are s...

PSALM CXLIV _The psalmist praises God for his goodness_, 1, 2. _Exclamations relative to the vanity of human life_, 3, 4. _He prays against his enemies_, 5-8; _and extols God's mercy for the temporal blessings enjoyed by_ _his people_, 9-15. NOTES ON PSALM CXLIV The _Hebrew_, and all the _Versions_, attribute this Psalm to _David_. The _Vulgate, Septuagint, AEthiopic_, and _Arabic_, term it, _A Psalm_ _of David against Goliath_. The _Syriac_ says, "A Psalm of David when he slew Asaph, the brother of Goliath." _Calmet_ thinks, and with much probability, that it was composed by Davi

BLESSED BE THE LORD MY STRENGTH - Margin, as in Hebrew, “my rock.” See the notes at Psalms 18:46, where the same expression occurs in the Hebrew. WHICH TEACHETH MY HANDS TO WAR - Hebrew, “To the war.” See the notes at Psalms 18:34. The Hebrew is not precisely alike, but the sense is the same. AND MY FINGERS TO FIGHT - Hebrew, my fingers to the fight. That is, he teaches my fingers so that I can skillfully use them in battle. Probably the immediate reference here is to the use of the bow - placing the arrow, and drawing the string....

EXPOSITION A PSALM in which praise and prayer are commingled. Almost certainly Davidic: 1. From the title. 2. From the style. 3. From the way in which David is mentioned in Psalms 144:10 (comp. Psalms 61:6; Psalms 63:11; and especially Psalms 18:50). PSALMS 144:1 BLESSED BE THE LORD MY STRENGTH; or, "my rock" (comp. Psalms 18:2

BLESSED [BE] THE LORD MY STRENGTH,.... The author and giver of his natural strength of body, and of the fortitude of his mind, and of all the spiritual strength he had, to exercise grace, to bear up under afflictions and trials, to perform duty, and withstand enemies. It may be applied to Christ, the antitype of David, the man of God's right hand, he has made strong for himself. It may be rendered, "my rock" c; to whom the psalmist fled for shelter, when in distress and overwhelmed; and on whom he built his faith, and hope of eternal salvation, as well as depended on him for all supplies of grace and strength, and for help and succour in all times of need. The Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Ethiopic, and Arabic versions, render it, "my God": and so the word "rock" is used for God, Deuteronomy 32:30; WHICH TEACHETH MY HANDS TO WAR, [AND] MY FINGERS TO FIGHT; he took h

A Psalm of David. No doubt written after some great victory, and also before another severe struggle. The Christian man seldom escapes from one difficulty without falling into another. Thanks be unto God, he that is with us in six troubles will not forsake us in the seventh! Psalms 144:1. _Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hand to war, and my fingers to fight:_ David does not ascribe any honour to himself. Human strength is from within, from the nerves, and sinews, and muscles, but the believer's strength is from without: «Blessed be Jehovah my strength.» Now, if Jehovah be our strength, then nothing can be too difficult for us, for he whose strength is the omnipotence of God can do all things. «Which teacheth my hands to war:» just as the young soldier was, as it were, bound apprentice to the old warrior, went out to learn the drill, and afterwards w

PSALM 143-145 In Psalms 143:1 the enemy is mentioned again, the enemy who pursued David. “For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has smitten my life down to the ground; he has made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have long been dead.” How this again reminds us of the death experience of the pious remnant when the man of sin, the Antichrist will rule in Israel's land. Prayer for deliverance follows. Hear me speedily--Hide not Thy face from me--Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness--Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies, I flee unto Thee to hide me! The next Psalm riseth higher. Faith lays hold on God. Israel, as David did, will look in faith to Him who has the power to deliver His trusting ones. “My Goodness, and my Fortress; my high tower and my deliverer; my shield and He in whom I trust; who subdueth the peoples under me” (literal translation). They acknowledge before

CXLIV. Ascribed by LXX and also by T. to David against Goliath, but without any shadow of reason. Psalms 144:1 is really a mosaic chiefly taken from Psalms 18, but also from Psalms 8, 33, 104. It is a song of anticipated triumph. The Psalmist is in conflict with foreign enemies (strangers (Psalms 144:7) can only mean foreigners). God teaches his fingers to fight, for it is the fingers which grasp the bow and subdue peoples (not my people) under him. He prays that a display in storm and lightning may discomfit his foes. They can be bound by no treaty, for the right hand (Psalms 144:8), which is raised in taking an oath, is false and treacherous. But the Psalmist's triumph is secure. David ...