“Blessed be the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle—my lovingkindness and my fortress, my high tower and my deliverer, my shield and the one in whom I take refuge, who subdues my people under me.” Psalm 144:1-2
Blessing the Lord is an excellent way to begin one’s prayer. As we speak words of praise to God, we are reminded of just how great our God is and able He is to help us.
David uses various words to describe who God is to him. He blesses the Lord for being his rock, his trainer, his lovingkindness, his fortress, his deliverer, his shield, his refuge and the One who subdues those who rise up against him. David truly loved the Lord and worshipped Him.
In 1 Samuel 23:29, David hid himself in the strongholds at En-gedi. After that, in 2 Samuel 5:7-9, he dwelt in the fort. Yet David did not put his ultimate trust in certain geographical locations. He wrote, “Lord, You are my fortress and my high tower.” God’s love for us and promises to us are our greatest defense enemy attacks.
Elizabeth Cecilia Clephane wrote beautifully about the Lord’s grace to us in her hymn entitled, “Beneath the Cross of Jesus.” Here are some quotes from her hymn: “Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand. The shadow of a mighty rock within a weary land. A home within the wilderness. A rest upon the way, from burns beneath the noontide heat and burdens of the day. O safe and happy shelter! O refuge tried and sweet! O sacred place where Heaven’s love and Heaven’s justice meet! As to the exiled patriarch, that wondrous dream was given, so seems my Savior’s cross to me: a ladder up to Heav'n. I take, O cross, your shadow for my abiding place. I ask no other sunshine than the sunshine of His face. Content to let the world go by, to know no gain or loss. My sinful self my only shame, my glory all the cross.”
In Genesis 15:1, God was David’s forefather’s shield, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” God was David’s shield on battlefields as well.
God helped David to learn how to use a shepherd’s staff. He taught David to play a harp. Now, that David was at war, God taught David’s hands for war and his fingers for battle. [1]
Before the Lord made His calling known to me, I earned only average grades in school, but after He called me, He helped me graduate as the valedictorian at the Evangeline Booth College. He helped me to learn Biblical Greek and Hebrew, as well as Cantonese and Mandarin.
God subdued people under David’s leadership. At first, his older brother and his king doubted his ability to conquer a giant. Every man in Israel feared Goliath. But David ran toward Goliath in the Name of the Lord and in the Lord’s strength he defeated Goliath.
“Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him? Man is like a breath. His days are like a passing shadow.” Psalm 144:3-4
David was amazed that God dignified people, writing in Psalm 8:5, “You have crowned him with glory and honor.” These words are applied to Christ in Hebrews 2:6. [2] Jesus Christ took on human flesh. He lived a sinless life among us. He became a substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross for us who failed God. He is the ultimate statement of our worth to God.
“Bow down Your heavens, O Lord, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Flash forth lightning and scatter them. Shoot out Your arrows and destroy them. Stretch out Your hand from above. Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of foreigners, whose mouth speaks lying words, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.” Psalm 144:5-8
David wants God to make it clear to his enemies that heaven and earth belong to God alone. He envisions God touching the mountains and making them smoke. He sees God sending lightning bolts after them like arrows from heaven. He compares their lies to overwhelming waters that destroy everything in their path.
God’s right hand is a hand of truth because Jesus who speaks the truth is seated at God’s right hand. The right hand is usually the hand of promise by which deals are confirmed as being binding. David’s enemies were covenant breakers. David’s God was a covenant keeper.
Did God ever use thunder and lightning as weapons against armies? Yes, He did! In 1 Samuel 7:10, it is written, “Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel.” Lightning heats the air around it so fast that the air cannot expand normally, so it explodes, creating thunder. [3]
In Revelation 8:1-5, when an angel took a golden censer filled with fire, and threw it to the earth. The result was noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake on the earth.
“I will sing a new song to You, O God. On a harp of 10 strings, I will sing praises to You, the One who gives salvation to kings, who delivers David His servant from the deadly sword.” Psalm 144:9-10
David turned his attention from his enemies to God. He sang a new song to God on his harp. God inhabits the praises of His people. Worship welcomes God into one’s war, and God wins.
In 2 Chronicles 20:20-22, King Jehoshaphat appointed singers to the Lord to praise the beauty of His holiness. As they went out before the army, they sang, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.” “When they began to sing praises, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.”
God “gives salvation unto kings.” Kings may have bodyguards, armies, weapons, and every other means of protection, yet, in the end, it is God who gives them safety and deliverance. Rulers owe God a great debt of gratitude for every victory and every deliverance He gives them. [4]
“Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners, whose mouth speaks lying words, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood—that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth! That our daughters may be as pillars, sculptured in palace style! That our barns may be full, supplying all kinds of produce. That our sheep may bring forth 1,000’s and 10,000’s in our fields! That our oxen may be well laden! That there be no breaking in or going out. That there be no outcry in our streets.” Psalm 144:11-14
Dishonesty and covenant breaking destroys interpersonal relationships and national solidarity. David asked God to rescue Israel from such dirty dealers so that the nation’s children could grow up well. He wants sons to be productive plants rather than weeds. He wants daughters to be as polished pillars in a palace. Such daughters hold a family together as pillars keep a building from collapsing. If the people practice love for God and love for one another, God will bless their flocks and herds, or in today’s language their GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
God did not create us to hurt and destroy one another. May God’s love, joy and peace to prevail.
David prayed for honesty, prosperity and peace to prevail. He prayed against outcries (riots) in the streets! He wanted the people to have no reason to complain.
“Happy are the people who are in such a state. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!” Psalm 144:15
Honest and trustworthy interpersonal relationships are a great blessing. God helps people to love one another, and to consider others more important than themselves. Such goodwill among people yields great happiness. This happiness is the from the Lord.
[1-2, 4] Material developed and edited from Matthew Hemry’s Commentary
[3] Google sources
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