The chat will start when you send the first message.
1The Lord , my protector, deserves praise –[#tn Heb “my rocky summit.” The Lord is compared to a rocky summit where one can find protection from enemies. See Ps 18:2.; #tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord, my rocky summit.”]
the one who trains my hands for battle,
and my fingers for war,
2who loves me and is my stronghold,[#tn Heb “my loyal love,” which is probably an abbreviated form of “the God of my loyal love” (see Ps 59:10, 17).]
my refuge and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,
who makes nations submit to me.
3O Lord , of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?[#tn Heb “What is mankind?” The singular noun אֱנוֹשׁ (’enosh) is used here in a collective sense and refers to the human race. See Ps 8:5.]
Of what importance is mankind, that you should be concerned about them?
4People are like a vapor,[#tn Heb “man,” or “mankind.”]
their days like a shadow that disappears.
5O Lord , make the sky sink and come down![#tn The Hebrew verb נָטָה (natah) can carry the sense “to [cause to] bend; to [cause to] bow down.” For example, Gen 49:15 pictures Issachar as a donkey that “bends” its shoulder or back under a burden. Here the Lord causes the sky, pictured as a dome or vault, to sink down as he descends in the storm. See Ps 18:9.; #tn Heb “so you might come down.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The same type of construction is utilized in v. 6.]
Touch the mountains and make them smolder!
6Hurl lightning bolts and scatter them!
Shoot your arrows and rout them!
7Reach down from above![#tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”]
Grab me and rescue me from the surging water,
from the power of foreigners,
8who speak lies,
and make false promises.
9O God, I will sing a new song to you!
Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,
10the one who delivers kings,[#tn Heb “grants deliverance to.”]
and rescued David his servant from a deadly sword.
11Grab me and rescue me from the power of foreigners,[#tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”]
who speak lies,
and make false promises.
12Then our sons will be like plants,[#tn Some consider אֲשֶׁר (’asher) problematic, but here it probably indicates the anticipated consequence of the preceding request. (For other examples of אֲשֶׁר indicating purpose/result, see BDB 83 s.v. and HALOT 99 s.v.) If the psalmist – who appears to be a Davidic king preparing to fight a battle (see vv. 10-11) – is victorious, the whole nation will be spared invasion and defeat (see v. 14) and can flourish. Some prefer to emend the form to אַשְׁרֵי (“how blessed [are our sons]”). A suffixed noun sometimes follows אַשְׁרֵי (’ashrey; see 1 Kgs 10:8; Prov 20:7), but the presence of a comparative element (see “like plants”) after the suffixed noun makes the proposed reading too awkward syntactically.]
that quickly grow to full size.
Our daughters will be like corner pillars,
carved like those in a palace.
13Our storehouses will be full,[#tn The Hebrew noun occurs only here.]
providing all kinds of food.
Our sheep will multiply by the thousands
and fill our pastures.
14Our cattle will be weighted down with produce.[#tn Heb “weighted down.” This probably refers (1) to the cattle having the produce from the harvest placed on their backs to be transported to the storehouses (see BDB 687 s.v. סָבַל). Other options are (2) to take this as reference to the cattle being pregnant (see HALOT 741 s.v. סבל pu) or (3) to their being well-fed or fattened (see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 [WBC], 288).]
No one will break through our walls,
no one will be taken captive,
and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares.
15How blessed are the people who experience these things![#tn Heb “[O] the happiness of the people who [it is] such to them.”]
How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord !