Psalm 144

1  Blessed be the Lord my rock, •
   who teaches my hands for war and my fingers for battle;
2  My steadfast help and my fortress,
      my stronghold and my deliverer,
      my shield in whom I trust, •
   who subdues the peoples under me.
3  O Lord, what are mortals that you should consider them; •
   mere human beings, that you should take thought for them?
4  They are like a breath of wind; •
   their days pass away like a shadow.
5  Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; •
   touch the mountains and they shall smoke.
6  Cast down your lightnings and scatter them; •
   shoot out your arrows and let thunder roar.
7  Reach down your hand from on high; •
   deliver me and take me out of the great waters,
      from the hand of foreign enemies,
8  Whose mouth speaks wickedness •
   and their right hand is the hand of falsehood.
9  O God, I will sing to you a new song; •
   I will play to you on a ten-stringed harp,
10  You that give salvation to kings •
   and have delivered David your servant.
11  Save me from the peril of the sword •
   and deliver me from the hand of foreign enemies,
12  Whose mouth speaks wickedness •
   and whose right hand is the hand of falsehood;
13  So that our sons in their youth
      may be like well-nurtured plants, •
   and our daughters like pillars
      carved for the corners of the temple;
14  Our barns be filled with all manner of store; •
   our flocks bearing thousands,
      and ten thousands in our fields;
15  Our cattle be heavy with young: •
   may there be no miscarriage or untimely birth,
      no cry of distress in our streets.
16  Happy are the people whose blessing this is. •
   Happy are the people who have the Lord for their God.