Praise to the LORD Who Preserves and Prospers

Psalms 144:1-15 

A Psalm of David.

1 Blessed be the LORD my Rock,
Who trains my hands for war,
And my fingers for battle—

2 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.

3 LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?
4 Man is like a breath;
His days are like a passing shadow.

5 Bow down Your heavens, O LORD, and come down;
Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Shoot out Your arrows and destroy them.

7 Stretch out Your hand from above;
Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters,
From the hand of foreigners,
8 Whose mouth speaks lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

9 I will sing a new song to You, O God;
On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
10 The One who gives salvation to kings,
Who delivers David His servant
From the deadly sword.

11 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—

12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth;
That our daughters may be as pillars,
Sculptured in palace style;

13 That our barns may be full,
Supplying all kinds of produce;
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
And ten thousands in our fields;

14 That our oxen may be well laden;
That there be no breaking in or going out;
That there be no outcry in our streets.

15 Happy are the people who are in such a state;
Happy are the people whose God is the LORD!

Such a song of praise to the LORD who prospers and preserves His people!  David the beloved psalmist and anointed of the LORD knew these things very well, and he put them to music for His people to sing along and be encouraged as he was by God’s words of promise and comfort.  God is our solid Rock on which we are founded and stand upon, who trains us to fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 4:7), just as David fought physical battles.  He is our fortress of our soul’s protection, stones having been founded on solid rock (Matthew 7:24, 16:18, 1 Peter 2:5), our high tower to keep watch over our souls as the enemy advances on our position to deliver us, and our shield whose living word gives us refuge and victory (Jeremiah 16:19, 1 Corinthians 15:57, Hebrews 6:18-19).  As repeated from Psalm 8:4-5, here the psalmist reminds us that there is nothing in what we do which makes us significant or acceptable to the Lord, but God’s love and care in grace which causes Him to be for instead of against us.  Our lives fly ever so swiftly past from cradle to grave, and appear as a fleeting shadow like a mist blowing by, yet He cares for His creations because we are made in His image as precious jewels (1 Peter 2:5) to build upon.  God demonstrates His sovereign power to us in the nature in His hands, bringing lightning, thunder, and even smoking volcanoes which dwarf our own imagined strength and control of this world.  These things put us in awe of Him!  By this power He delivers His people from our enemies and their slanderous lying against us.  Like the psalmist, we therefore also sing a new song (Psalm 40:3, Revelation 5:9) to our Lord God Almighty, with praises for saving and sustaining us, rescuing from lies and deceit from that first time in Eden’s paradise (Genesis 3:1, 4-5) to this present day through those children whose father of lies is the devil (John 8:44).  Yes, God delivers us as He did David, that we might be fruitful and multiply as is our mandate from the beginning, but has narrowed the focus from bodies filling the earth to souls filling the heavenly New Jerusalem!  May our barns be full of disciples from our spiritual prosperity.  Happiness is eternal for such people whose God is the LORD (John 15:11) and in His salvation to prosper (Psalm 126:5-6).  Amen!  It is so.