Psalm 144

Of David.

¹ Praise be to the Lord my Rock,who trains my hands for war,my fingers for battle.² He is my loving God and my fortress,my stronghold and my deliverer,my shield, in whom I take refuge,who subdues peoples^[a] under me.

³ Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,mere mortals that you think of them?⁴ They are like a breath;their days are like a fleeting shadow.

⁵ Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;touch the mountains, so that they smoke.⁶ Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;shoot your arrows and rout them.⁷ Reach down your hand from on high;deliver me and rescue mefrom the mighty waters,from the hands of foreigners⁸ whose mouths are full of lies,whose right hands are deceitful.

⁹ I will sing a new song to you, my God;on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,¹⁰ to the One who gives victory to kings,who delivers his servant David.

From the deadly sword¹¹ deliver me;rescue me from the hands of foreignerswhose mouths are full of lies,whose right hands are deceitful.

¹² Then our sons in their youthwill be like well-nurtured plants,and our daughters will be like pillarscarved to adorn a palace.¹³ Our barns will be filledwith every kind of provision.Our sheep will increase by thousands,by tens of thousands in our fields;

¹⁴     our oxen will draw heavy loads.^[b]There will be no breaching of walls,no going into captivity,no cry of distress in our streets.¹⁵ Blessed is the people of whom this is true;blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.