Psalm 144

God makes his people strong

¹Lord , I praise you!

You are my great Rock !

You teach me how to fight well.

You show me how to use my weapons .

²You always love me.

You are the strong place where I am safe.

You rescue me from the power of my enemies.

You are like a shield for me.

I know that I am safe with you.

You give me power over nations .

³Lord , why do you even think about men and women?

Why do you take care of humans?

⁴People soon pass away, just like a breath .

Their life is like a shadow that soon disappears .

⁵Lord , open up the heavens !

Leave your home and come down to earth!

Touch the mountains so that they burn with smoke.

⁶Send bright lightning to frighten your enemies.

Shoot your arrows at them

so that they run away.

⁷Put your hand down from heaven,

and lift me up from the deep water.

Save me from the power of foreign people.

⁸Their mouths speak lies .

Even when they make a promise,

they are deceiving people.

⁹I will sing to you a new song, God.

I will make music to you on my harp .

¹⁰You help kings to win against their enemies.

You also save me, your servant David, from my enemies,

when they try to kill me with their dangerous swords .

¹¹Keep me safe from the power of foreign people.

They speak lies.

Even when they make a promise, it is false.

¹²When our sons are young,

may they grow quickly, like strong plants.

May our daughters become tall and beautiful,

like the beautiful pillars in a king's house.

¹³May our homes have plenty of different kinds of food.

May our sheep have thousands of lambs ,

so that there is no space in our fields.

¹⁴May our cows give birth to many babies.

May our enemies never knock down our city's walls.

May none of us become their prisoners .

May nobody cry in our city's streets because they are afraid.

¹⁵When God does that for a nation,

the people are truly happy!

If people know that the Lord is their God,

they are truly happy!