Psalm 144, Peace and Prosperity

Of David.

David praises God for His deliverance, victory and eventual national prosperity.

Psalm 144:1-2, Rock and shield

Praise be to the LORD my Rock, 

who trains my hands for war, 

my fingers for battle.

 He is my loving God and my fortress, 

my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, 

in whom I take refuge, 

who subdues peoples under me.

David expresses a number of martial, military images as he regards YHWH as his "rock", "fortress", "shield", etc.. YHWH is both a refuge and a power for David. Much of this passage echoes Psalm 18:2.

Psalm 144:3-4, Breath and brief shadow

 O LORD, what is man that you care for him,

 the son of man that you think of him?

 Man is like a breath; 

his days are like a fleeting shadow.

"Why do you even pay attention to us?" asks David. "Our lives are so short!" (The first half of this portion echoes Psalm 8:4.)

Psalm 144:5-8, Part the heavens

 Part your heavens, O LORD, and come down;

 touch the mountains, so that they smoke.

 Send forth lightning and scatter [the enemies]; 

shoot your arrows and rout them.

 Reach down your hand from on high; 

deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, 

from the hands of foreigners

 whose mouths are full of lies, 

whose right hands are deceitful.

YHWH is asked to tilt or part the heavens, so that He can come down and intervene in human affairs. Portions of this stanza echo parts of Psalm 18:9-17. (A number of verses in this psalm overlap with phrases from Psalm 18.)

In verse 6, God is asked to "shoot" His arrows; in verse 7 He is to "reach down" His hand. In both cases, the verb is shalach (שָׁלַח, send, shoot, push away.) 

Where the NIV translates "Send forth lightning," the Hebrew of verse 6 begins bə·rō·wq bā·rāq, a rippling alliteration that sounds like the crack of lighting (notes Alter.)

Psalm 144:9-11, New song of victory

 I will sing a new song to you, O God;

on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

 to the One who gives victory to kings, 

who delivers his servant David 

from the deadly sword.

 Deliver me and rescue me 

from the hands of foreigners 

whose mouths are full of lies, 

whose right hands are deceitful.

God, who gives victory to kings, is worth worshiping with a new song and a ten-stringed lyre. It is God who delivers David, from both physical enemies and deceitful foreigners. (Psalm 33:1-3 also sings a new song with a ten-stringed lyre.)

Psalm 144:12-14, Pleasant peace

 Then our sons in their youth 

will be like well-nurtured plants, 

and our daughters will be like pillars 

carved to adorn a palace.

 Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision.

 Our sheep will increase by thousands, 

by tens of thousands in our fields;

 our oxen will draw heavy loads.

There will be no breaching of walls, 

no going into captivity, 

no cry of distress in our streets.

The result of victory will be a pleasant time of peace, with strong young men and women (sons like strong green plants, daughters like ornate colorful pillars in the palace) and barns full of grain and seed. The flocks will be plentiful and fields full of oxen. This is the pastoral paradise of the ancient Near East, a hint of Eden.

Psalm 144:15, Abundancy from YHWH

Blessed are the people of whom this is true; 

blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

The pastoral setting described earlier is the blessing of those who rely on YHWH as their God and protector.

Some Hebrew Vocabulary

The verb shalach 

שָׁלַח

means to send, shoot, push away.

First published November 29, 2025; updated November 29, 2025

Psalm 143, Mercy and Safety

A psalm of David.

In this psalm David makes a standard supplication, longing for God, seeking mercy and safety.

Psalm 143:1-2, Mercy not judgment

  O LORD, hear my prayer, 

listen to my cry for mercy; 

in your faithfulness and righteousness 

come to my relief.

 Do not bring your servant into judgment, 

for no one living is righteous before you.

This psalm has been marked as a penitential psalm (says Kidner, along with 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, and 130) but this last line, admitting that no living being is righteous before God, is the only indication of a need for mercy and repentance. The rest of the psalm is supplication, a request for YHWH love and protection.

C. S. Lewis says that we all ask for justice, but what we really need is mercy. David asks for mercy here, over justice and judgment.

Psalm 143:3-4, Crushed, in darkness

 The enemy pursues me, 

he crushes me to the ground; 

he makes me dwell in darkness 

like those long dead.

 So my spirit grows faint within me; 

my heart within me is dismayed.

David is thrown down, crushed, lying in darkness, faint with despair. 

The last half of verse 3 is repeated in Lamentations 3:6.

Psalm 143:5-6, Thirsty land

I remember the days of long ago; 

I meditate on all your works 

and consider what your hands have done.

I spread out my hands to you; 

my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Selah.

David remembers good days of the past and, meditating on God's past actions, spreads out his hands before God. As one longing for rain in the thirsty desert, so David longs for God. (See also 42:1.)

Psalm 143:7, Please don't hide

Answer me quickly, O LORD; 

my spirit fails. 

Do not hide your face from me 

or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

David begs for an answer; he begs for YHWH to not hide from him.

The "pit" (also in 28:1) is Sheol, the place of the dead.

Psalm 143:8-9, In the morning

 Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, 

for I have put my trust in you. 

Show me the way I should go, 

for to you I lift up my soul.

 Rescue me from my enemies, 

O LORD, for I hide myself in you.

The morning will come. In the darkness before dawn, David declares his commitment to God. In three parallel statements, David repeats his need to be lifted up.

Psalm 143:10, Lead me to level ground

 Teach me to do your will, 

for you are my God; 

may your good Spirit lead me 

on level ground.

God's ways are straight and level.

Psalm 143:11-12, Servant and safety

 For your name's sake, O LORD,

 preserve my life;

 in your righteousness, 

bring me out of trouble.

 In your unfailing love, 

silence my enemies; 

destroy all my foes, 

for I am your servant.

The psalm ends with a declaration of both commitment and safety. The first three sets of parallel lines express commitment and then a request for safety and victory; the last set reverses the request, beginning with victory over his enemies and ending with commitment to God.

First published November 28, 2025; updated November 28, 2025

Psalm 142, Imprisoned in a Cave

A maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.

Strong's concordance gives maskil (maskiyl) as a "contemplation", a didactic, teaching poem. In 1 Samuel 22:1-2 David flees from Saul and hides in a cave. (See also 1 Samuel 24 and Psalm 57.)

 

Psalm 142:1-2, Cry aloud

 I cry aloud to the LORD;

I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.

I pour out my complaint before him; 

before him I tell my trouble.

David immediately launches into his fears. He pleads for mercy and safety. The cry is emphasized as a chiasmus: 

my complaint, 

before him, 

before him, 

my trouble.

Psalm 142:3-4, Hidden snares

When my spirit grows faint within me, 

it is you who know my way. 

In the path where I walk 

men have hidden a snare for me.

 Look to my right and see; 

no one is concerned for me. 

I have no refuge; 

no one cares for my life.

Like the previous psalm, David walks past hidden snares. And on David's right hand (where he should find power and support) there is no one. David is abandoned.

Psalm 142:5-6, My refuge

I cry to you, O LORD; 

I say, "You are my refuge, 

my portion in the land of the living."

 Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; 

rescue me from those who pursue me,

for they are too strong for me.

Abandoned by human friends, David's only refuge is YHWH. David repeats, rapidly, his cries for help.

Psalm 142:7, Prison

 Set me free from my prison,

 that I may praise your name.

 Then the righteous will gather about me

because of your goodness to me.

Closed in by danger on all sides, David is imprisoned and longs for freedom.

As Kidner points out, the scene in the cave (and subsequent flights from Saul) is the nadir in David's life. Soon his family gathers around him and then an army and he begins his rise to the kingdom.

First published November 27, 2025; updated November 27, 2025

Psalm 141, Even My Words and Thoughts

A psalm of David.

David sings an evening song of supplication and commitment.

Psalm 141:1-2, Incense and lifted hands

O LORD, I call to you;

 come quickly to me. 

Hear my voice when I call to you.

 May my prayer be set before you like incense;

 may the lifting up of my hands 

be like the evening sacrifice.

David's prayer is urgent and emotional -- and he desires that his prayer and uplifted hands will be like incense in the evening sacrifice. In many places, prayer is viewed as equivalent to a fragrant incense to God. (In the New Testament, see for example Revelation 5:8 and 8:3-4.)

Psalm 141:3-4, Words and meditations

 Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;

keep watch over the door of my lips.

 Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil, 

to take part in wicked deeds with men who are evildoers; 

let me not eat of their delicacies.

David asks not ask just for righteous actions but that his thoughts and speech be righteous. He wants his heart and lips to be guarded. This echoes another request of David in Psalm 19:14.

Psalm 141:5a, Rebuke and oil

 Let a righteous man strike me--it is a kindness; 

let him rebuke me--it is oil on my head. 

My head will not refuse it. 

This passage, and the next few verses, are crabbed and difficult (Alter, Kidner.) The sense of the Hebrew seems to be that being watched, even rebuked, by righteous people is a gift (like fragrant oil on one's head; as in Psalm 133, oil serves as a valuable and uplifting perfume.)

Psalm 141:5b-7, Thrown from the cliffs

Yet my prayer is ever against the deeds of evildoers;

 their rulers will be thrown down from the cliffs, 

and the wicked will learn that my words were well spoken.

 [They will say,] "As one plows and breaks up the earth, 

so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of the grave."

The Hebrew text is still difficult (Alter calls it "baffling") and the NIV attempts to create a consistent interpretation here. It is unclear as to whose bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol; one interpretation is that David may be afraid that the bones of him and his compatriots are in trouble. The NIV (see the text in braces) assumes that the bones are those of David's enemies.

Psalm 141:8-10, Fixed on you

 But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign LORD;

in you I take refuge--do not give me over to death.

 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, 

from the traps set by evildoers.

 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, 

while I pass by in safety.

Fixing his eyes on YHWH, David expects to be saved from the traps all around him. He will pass through the minefields while his enemies are caught.

First published November 26, 2025; updated November 26, 2025

Psalm 140, In the Face of Violence

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

The Hebrew word chamas, "violence", appears six times in Habakkuk and fourteen times in the psalms, three of those times here, in verses 1, 4 and 11. The Arabic version of the word, hamas, was chosen as a name by the Palestinian group controlling the Gaza strip, the violent group which committed the atrocities of October 7, 2023 in Israel. Violence is an intrinsic part of human nature. Here David seeks salvation from it.

Psalm 140:1-3, Poisonous tongues

 Rescue me, O LORD, from evil men; 

protect me from men of violence,

 who devise evil plans in their hearts 

and stir up war every day.

 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent's;

 the poison of vipers is on their lips.

Selah.

Evil men are described as desiring violence and war. They are men with sharp and poisonous tongues.

Psalm 140:4-5, Hidden snares

 Keep me, O LORD, 

from the hands of the wicked; 

protect me from men of violence 

who plan to trip my feet.

 Proud men have hidden a snare for me; 

they have spread out the cords of their net 

and have set traps for me along my path.

Selah.

David asks for protection from those who plant snares and traps.  The words "trip", "snare", "cords", "traps" all point to devious predators seeking to bring David down.

Psalm 140:6-8, Strong deliverer

 O LORD, I say to you, "You are my God." 

Hear, O LORD, my cry for mercy.

 O Sovereign LORD, my strong deliverer, 

who shields my head in the day of battle--

 do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; 

do not let their plans succeed, 

or they will become proud.

Selah.

After laying out the attacks against him, David pleads for help from YHWH, seeking from Him security and protection. David is committed to YHWH mercy and righteousness and so seeks His help.

Psalm 140:9-11, Falling coals

 Let the heads of those who surround me 

be covered with the trouble their lips have caused.

 Let burning coals fall upon them; 

may they be thrown into the fire, 

into miry pits,

 never to rise.

 Let slanderers not be established in the land; 

may disaster hunt down men of violence.

After pleading for help, David asks that his enemies be pulled down, destroyed, thrown into the fire, with burning coals poured upon them. This natural imprecatory passage is a response to the many attempts the violent have made on his life.

Psalm 140:12-13, Justice and righteousness

 I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor 

and upholds the cause of the needy.

 Surely the righteous will praise your name

 and the upright will live before you.

At the end of the psalm, David leans on the righteousness of God and allies himself with justice and the poor. The righteous will, of course, live with YHWH and praise Him.

First published November 25, 2025; updated November 25, 2025

Psalm 139, All Knowing, Ever Present

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

Psalm 139 is a powerful song about God's sovereignty and care.  The 24 verses break into four stanzas, reflecting on God's omniscience, omnipresence, creativity and righteousness. Each passage gives important insight into the relationship of God with his people. Alter calls this "one of the most remarkably introspective psalms" and Kidner calls this psalm "intensely personal." According to Kidner, the Gelineau translation gives this psalm the heading, "The Hound of Heaven."

Psalm 139:1-4, Completely known!

O LORD, you have searched me 

and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; 

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; 

you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue 

you know it completely, O LORD.

The words used in this passage are strong and vivid. The Hebrew word reba (רֶבַע) is translated "lying down." It appears only here in the Old Testament. Alter argues that it is a rare word that one might associate with an animal's lair, a place for an animal to rest. Another vivid word in verse 3 is zarah (זָרָה), translated "discern" by the NIV, but meaning "to analyze." Alter argues that the word is an agricultural term, "to winnow." 

Psalm 139:5-6, Behind and before

You hem me in‑‑behind and before; 

you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, 

too lofty for me to attain.

The phrase "laid your hand upon me," is a comforting phrase, reminiscent of the potter's molding hand on the clay (Alter.) The guidance of God's comforting hand is beyond understanding, says the psalmist.

Psalm 139:7-10, Omniscience

Where can I go from your Spirit? 

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; 

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, 

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me, 

your right hand will hold me fast.

Even if David could fly with the sun, rising in the east at dawn and traversing westward across the world, to set into the sea, even there, God is with David. The sea, possibly meant to be the Mediterranean Sea to the far west of Israel, might also, in the culture of the ANE, represent the chaos of Sheol.

The passage echoes, in a much more positive way, the omniscience described in Amos 9:2. Not only is God omniscient, but His knowledge is personal, focused on the psalmist. In the New Testament, Paul offers similar wonder in Romans 8:35‑39.

David's claim, in verse 10, that God guides him (nachah, נָחָה, to lead, guide) reappears as a final request in the final verse of the song.

Psalm 139:11-12, Even in darkness

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

 and the light become night around me,"

even the darkness will not be dark to you; 

the night will shine like the day, 

for darkness is as light to you.

Darkness is an undercurrent of this psalm, sometimes explicit (as in these verses), sometimes subtly in the background. We will see that in verses that follow. Darkness is often, in ANE culture, a metaphor for death and Sheol.

Psalm 139:13-16, Knit in the womb

For you created my inmost being; 

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

your works are wonderful, 

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you 

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together

 in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body. 

All the days ordained for me were written in your book 

before one of them came to be.

The dark chaotic sea of verse 9 was a safe place; here David described being formed in the darkness of his mother's womb, in "the secret place", in the depths of the earth." The "depths of the earth" might merely be a metaphor for the womb but it also hints at Sheol and darkness.

Job also expresses, as part of a lament (see Job 10), his awareness that God has shaped him in detail.

Psalm 139:17-18, Your thoughts and nearness

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! 

How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them,

they would outnumber the grains of sand. 

When I awake, I am still with you.

Now David's psalm turns to God's personal interaction with David. The God who never sleeps (Psalm 121:3-4) is still thinkgin about David when David awakes in the morning.

Psalm 139:19-22, I hate those who hate you!

If only you would slay the wicked, O God! 

Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!

They speak of you with evil intent; 

your adversaries misuse your name.

Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD, 

and abhor those who rise up against you?

I have nothing but hatred for them; 

I count them my enemies.

The sudden anger at the wicked is typical of the psalms. Although these "imprecatory" passages are disquieting to some, I think David's energetic rejection of evil is a natural part of his prayer. (See this blogpost on imprecatory psalms.)

The Hebrew word for God in verse 19 is eloah (אֱלוֹהַּ), an unusual term which, says Alter, "occurs only in poetry and is especially common in Job."

Psalm 139:23-24, Lead me!

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

Verse 23 echoes the request in verse 1, to be searched and known. The guidance of verse 10 becomes a particular request to be led along God's righteous way.

Some Hebrew Vocabulary 

The Hebrew word nachah, 

נָחָה

is a verb to lead, to guide.

Some Random Thoughts

Jan and I memorized this psalm around 1975, when we were dating. Later, with friend Tina Elacqua, we led a four-week study of this psalm at Mt. Pleasant Community Church in January 1996. Each class period focused on a stanza of six verses.

I remember, when Jan and I were dating (and reciting this psalm) of being especially impressed that my girlfriend was wonderfully made (verse 14)! Maybe it took some faith to believe I was wonderfully made, but Jannie's beauty was pretty obvious to me. (Still is.)

First published November 24, 2025; updated November 24, 2025

Discussion and Study Questions for Psalm 139

Psalm 139 is a powerful song about God's sovereignty and care.  The 24 verses break into four stanzas, reflecting on God's omniscience, omnipresence, creativity and righteousness.  Each passage gives important insight into the relationship of God with his people.

         

Jan and I memorized this psalm around 1975, when we were dating. Later, with friend Tina Elacqua, we led a four-week study of this psalm at Mt. Pleasant Community Church in January 1996. Each class period focused on a stanza of six verses. 

Here are some questions and notes that went with that study.

Some discussion questions on Psalm 139:1-6

• The characteristic of God revealed in this passage is                                                               .
• How are the words "search" or "scrutinize" stronger than "know"?
• What does it mean for God to "enclose us" (vs. 5)?
• What does it mean for God to lay His hand on us?  Does He lay his hand on
• everyone?
• What should be our reaction to God's knowledge?
• What does it mean to "attain" to this knowledge?  Why can't we attain it? Should we try?

Many mistakes we make as Christians is due to our lack of understanding of God and His power.  Look at these passages:

        Matt 10: 29, 30  (Look at your fingernails...)

        Matt 6:8, Col 1: 15‑20, Psalm 147: 4,5,  Matt 6:25‑33, Ps 33:6‑22

For next time:  Read verses 7‑12 several times (& memorize or meditate on them.)  Can you think of a Biblical figure who forgot the truth of this passage?

Some discussion questions on Psalm 139:7-12

• The characteristic of God revealed in this passage is                                                .
• Why would one flee from God?  Can you think of an example of a believer fleeing God?  (Examples ‑‑ from your experiences or from the Bible.)
• What is Sheol?  (See Amos 9:2, Psalms 88:5, Isaiah 38:18.  Compare with Job 26 and Psalm 88:10-11.)
• Have you ever taken the wings of the dawn?  What does it mean to go to the remotest part of the sea?
• What areas in your life do you think you can hide from God?
• What does the darkness represent?  How is God there, even in darkness?
• Have you ever had times where you wished you could see in the dark?
• What hints do you see that indicate the psalmist has dealt with despair, depression, fear?
• Compare with Romans 8:35‑39.
• You don’t see the words “love” or “care” in Psalms 139: 7‑12 but still the passage conveys that message.  How?
• My reaction to this passage is                                                           .

Omnipresence: See Prov 15: 3, Jer 23:23, 24, Act 17: 27. 28, Rom 10: 6 ‑ 8, Heb 4:13.

           

For next time: Read verses 13‑18.  Think about the following questions.

            What other places do you see God's creative works?

            Why does the psalmist include these 6 verses within a passage that describes God's omniscience, omnipresence, and righteousness? 

            How do you feel knowing that God knew all about you even before the first day you were born?

            The last two verses are different from our first four here.  In what way?

            Do any of the verses provide us with an indication of where we should derive our self-esteem?

Some discussion questions on Psalm 139:13-18.

• What is the main idea of the next section (verses 13 to 18)?
• What is the characteristic of God that is revealed in this passage?
• What work of art is being discussed in this passage?
• What other places do you see God's creative works?
• Why does the psalmist include these 6 verses within a passage that describes God's omniscience, omnipresence, and righteousness? 
• Does God see you as a unique individual while being formed in your mother's womb?
• What does it mean for God to form our "inward parts" (vs.13)?
• What is the "soul?"
• What does it mean to be "fearfully and wonderfully made" (vs. 14)?
• What are the "depths of the earth" (vs. 15)?  Do we have a lack of understanding of biology here?
• What is God's book?  What does it mean for our days to be written there?
• From eternity past, did God know the day of your birth?  The day of your death?  Of all your great-great grandchildren?
• How do you feel knowing that God knew all about you even before the first day you were born?
• The last two verses are different from our first four here. In what way?
• Do any of the verses provide us with an indication of where  we should derive our self-esteem?
• Why does the psalmist "awake" (vs. 18)?  What is that about?
• The characteristic of God revealed in this passage is                                                                                      .
• Compare with Micah 5:2.
• The last two verses are different from the first four here.  In what way?
• Why does the psalmist "awake"?  What is that about?

See also Micah 5:2, Gal 4:4, Mt 6:25‑33, Ps 33:6‑22

Some discussion questions on Psalm 139:19-24.

The characteristic of God revealed in this passage is                                                .

Why does this passage suddenly appear?  How does it fit with the rest of the psalm?

What are your reactions to David's anger?

A.  On Evil

These verses of Psalm 139 are an “imprecatory” or “cursing”  passage.  Other imprecatory passages in the psalms are:

         Psalm 69:16-28,

         Psalm 109 (all of it -- but read, say, the first ten verses)

         Psalm 137: 7-9

Read these passages.  Summarize the passages you read in one or two sentences (for the rest of the class).  Then answer the following questions:

1.  Is it wrong to hate?  To ask God to slay people?  Are God's enemies your enemies?

2.  How are we to react to evil?

3.  Suppose you were the parent of an 11-year-old killed by a child molester.  What might you want to say to the judge before the criminal is sentenced?

4.  Can you think of other places in the Bible where this imprecatory attitude (“kill the wicked”) occurs?

5.  Do you agree with the “imprecatory” approach to evil?

B.  On loving your enemies

         Exodus 23:4-5.

         Matthew 5:38 - 48? 

Read these passages.  Summarize the passsages you read in one or two sentences (for the rest of the class).

Then anwer following questions:

1.  How are we to treat our enemies?

2.  Is there ever a time to hate them?

3.  Read Acts 4: 29 - 31.  What was the reaction of the early church to those who hated God’s anointed?

4.  Suppose you were the parent of an 11-year-old killed by a child molester.  What might you want to say to the judge before the criminal is sentenced?

C.  On Justice & Judgement:

Read Matthew 25: 31 - 46

         II Thessalonians 1: 5 - 10

Summarize these in a sentence or two (for the class).  Then answer the following questions:

1.  What does God reward?  What does God punish?

2.  If God chooses to punish our enemies, should we be pleased?

3.  Are we to forgive our enemies or curse them?  How are we to act toward our enemies?

4.  Suppose you were the parent of an 11-year-old killed by a child molester.  What might you want to say to the judge before the criminal is sentenced?

D.  How did David react to evil?

         I Samuel 24: 1 - 13

         I Samuel 26: 6 - 12

         II Samuel 4: 8 - 12

         II Samuel 16:5 - 14

Read these passages.  Then summarize them in just one sentence or two to give the class later.

1.  Can you find any general principles about David’s approach to

• evil,
• vengeance,
• justice,
• killing?        

2.  Suppose you were the parent of an 11-year-old killed by a child molester.  What might you want to say to the judge before the criminal is sentenced?

A story

         Once upon a time there was a couple, Fred and Clare.  Clare was a church goer and a Christian.  Fred was a hard worker and a good man, but he saw no need for “that religion stuff” and refused to go to church.  Clare asked her pastor and some other men at church to pray for Fred.

         Fred and Clare owned a small house on the edge of town.  Their children had grown and moved on.  One night two men broke into the home, held up Fred and Clare at gunpoint, tied them up and stole rifles from Fred’s gun case.  The men were caught by police shortly afterward and convicted of their crime and went to jail.  (It turned out they had broken into the wrong house; they had been looking for someone who supposedly sold drugs.)

         During the trial, one of the men of the church (Carlos) began visiting the two criminals.  Eventually one of the crooks (Joe) came to Christ.  Soon Carlos and his pastor were going to the jail regularly, leading Joe in a Bible Study.  They continued to minister to Joe until Joe was shipped downstate to a state prison.

         The pastor was excited about God’s work in Joe, but he soon discovered that both Fred and Clare were not happy.  Fred didn’t appreciate that the pastor visited those crooks who pointed a pistol at him late one night in the privacy of his home.  Fred had worked hard all his life and when two bums robbed him, thepastor had visited the bums!

         Clare was not happy that through all of this, Fred had not become a Christian.  How could God do this?  She (and others) had prayed for Fred; they get robbed, and one of the robbers had come to Christ!  This was not right!  How could God claim to eventually send Fred to hell and Joe to heaven?

What would be your response, as pastor, to this problem?  (By the way...  I know the pastor in this story.)

Where is evil in this story and who should the righteous hate?

After the anger against those who hate God, what is the psalmist's reaction about himself?

Let’s talk more about “esteem”.

Summary (What does this psalm say about God? About you?)

First published November 23, 2025; updated November 23, 2025

Psalm138, Above All Things

Of David.

We now begin a sequence of eight psalms (138-145) attributed to David.

Psalm 138:1-2, Exalted above all things

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; 

before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

 I will bow down toward your holy temple 

and will praise your name

 for your love and your faithfulness, 

for you have exalted above all things 

your name and your word.

YHWH is praised in the temple, "before the gods", as being greater than all things. The Hebrew word elohim, often translated "God" when addressed to YHWH, is plural and can mean "gods". The NIV puts the words in quote marks -- does David believe there are other gods, all inferioro to YHWH? Or is this a "polemic gesture" (Alter) praising YHWH before the empty set of all the gods in whom others believe?

Psalm 138:3-5, You made me bold

 When I called, you answered me; 

you made me bold and stouthearted.

 May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, 

when they hear the words of your mouth.

 May they sing of the ways of the LORD, 

for the glory of the LORD is great.

With YHWH's support, David is confident and bold. Indeed, he calls on all the kings of the earth to praise God and sing of His power and righteousness.

Psalm 138:6-7, Looks upon the lowly

 Though the LORD is on high, 

he looks upon the lowly, 

but the proud he knows from afar.

 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, 

you preserve my life; 

you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, 

with your right hand you save me.

From high up, the mighty God watches even the lowly and humble. He is close to them, but far from the proud. And He works for David's success and security.

Psalm 138:8, Forever

 The LORD will fulfill [his purpose] for me; 

your love, O LORD, endures forever-- 

do not abandon the works of your hands.

God's love endures forever (see the constant refrain in Psalm 136) and so David calls on God to continue His mighty purpose in David. The last word of this psalm is raphah, meaning to relax, to release, let go slack. The image (says Alter) is of a hand relaxing and dropping something precious. "Don't let go of me!" cries David.

First published November 22, 2025; updated November 22, 2025

Psalm 137, By the Waters of Babylon

Refugees from Jerusalem, now living in Babylon, recall their homeland and the worship there. This psalm was probably composed just after the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of 586 BC.

Psalm 137:1-3, Weeping by the rivers

 By the rivers of Babylon we sat 

and wept when we remembered Zion.

 There on the poplars we hung our harps,

 for there our captors asked us for songs, 

our tormentors demanded songs of joy; 

they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

Jewish refugees, along the rivers (canals) of Babylon, sit down and weep. Their captives ask for songs of their homeland (either in curiosity or as taunts) but the people of Judah cannot sing. Indeed, they have discarded their lyres amongst the trees.

Psalm 137:4-6, How can we sing?

 How can we sing the songs of the LORD 

while in a foreign land?

 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, 

may my right hand forget [its skill].

 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth

if I do not remember you, 

if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

The refugees grieve. How can they sing? They can only remember the beauty that they have lost. They cannot play their instruments or sing their songs.

In Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh there was apparently a wall panel of three prisoners playing lyres as they march, followed by a guard. This picture is now in the British Museum. (See here.)

Psalm 137:7, Please remember

 Remember, O LORD, 

what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. 

"Tear it down," they cried, 

"tear it down to its foundations!"

The people remember in the taunts of the neighboring Edomites who joyfully watched Babylon's destruction of Jerusalem. (Obadiah 1:10-14 describes this apathy, even delight of the people of Edom at this time. The short book of Obadiah is a prophecy against Edom, giving the consequences of their opposition to Judah.)

Psalm 137:8-9, Please remember

 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, 

happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us--

 he who seizes your infants 

and dashes them against the rocks.

In anger, the Jewish exiles call on Babylon to be destroyed; the grieving refugees call even for the infants of Babylon to be killed. (Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 51, says that yes, indeed Babylon will be punished for her assault on Judah and Jerusalem.)

Some Random Thoughts

The last line, an obvious imprecatory (cursing) statement bothers some. Surely this violence should not be in scripture! But I find it to merely be an example of the psalmists beliefs that every plea, every thought can be brought to God. It is one thing to say, angrily to God, "Kill even their children." It is quite another thing to set up a program of murder. 

When Hamas brutally slaughtered innocent citizens (including children) of Israel on October 7, 2023, anyone who saw the aftermath of the massacre surely felt deep anger. "Kill everyone in the Gaza Strip," was a natural human reaction. But one who takes that angry thought to God will eventually ask for justice and not murder.

First published November 21, 2025; updated November 21, 2025