1441 Blessed be Jehovah my rock, Who teacheth my hands to war, [And] my fingers to fight: 2 My lovingkindness, and my fortress, My high tower, and my deliverer; My shield, and he in whom I take refuge; Who subdueth my people under me. 3 Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him? 4 Man is like to vanity: His days are as a shadow that passeth away. 5 Bow thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down: Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. 6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them; Send out thine arrows, and discomfit them. 7 Stretch forth thy hand from above; Rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, Out of the hand of aliens; 8 Whose mouth speaketh deceit, And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 144:1-8
Commentary on Psalm 144:1-8
(Read Psalm 144:1-8)
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 sinking, and all other helps fail.