Studies in the Psalms - Psalm 144

War and armies are a theme that runs throughout scripture. One of the names God is given in the Bible is Lord of Hosts, which occurs some 237 times. The literal word used for hosts is army, thus it means God is Lord of an army. David, who wrote Psalm 144, was a man of war. David was a warrior. So are we. However, unlike David, our battleground and our war is fought on a spiritual battlefield.

Psalm 144:1-2

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

Life is hard and it is clearly a battle, but God has not left us to fend for ourselves. Ephesians, chapter six, is our guide for how to stand against our enemy.

Psalm 144:3-4
O LORD, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him?  Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

As great of a warrior as David was, He knew his strength was found in the Lord. He knew that as a man, he was simply nothing without God.

Psalm 144:5-8
 Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!  Flash forth the lightning and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them!  Stretch out your hand from on high; rescue me and deliver me from the many waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

David called out to God with humility, praying for God to be his salvation.

Psalm 144:9-11
I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword.  Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouths speak lies and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

David knew that in His appeals to God, he must come with praise and worship.

Psalm 144:12-14
May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace; may our granaries be full, providing all kinds of produce; may our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields; may our cattle be heavy with young, suffering no mishap or failure in bearing; may there be no cry of distress in our streets!

David knew that all good things come from God. David was a man who believed in the sovereignty of God, so it was from that perspective, David prayed.

Psalm 144:15
Blessed are the people to whom such blessings fall! Blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

Amen.