Psalm 144
Of David.
Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight,
My hope and my fortress, my stronghold and deliverer, my defender in whom I trust, who subdues the peoples under me.
O Lord, what is man, that you have shown such respect to him, or the son of man, that you so regard him?
Man is like a thing of nought; his time passes away like a shadow.
Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
Cast forth your lightning and scatter them; shoot out your arrows and consume them.
Send down your hand from above; deliver me, and take me out of the great waters, from the hand of strangers,
Whose mouth talks of vain things, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
I will sing a new song unto you, O God, and sing praises unto you upon a ten-stringed lute.
You have given victory to kings, and have delivered David your servant from the peril of the sword.
Save me, and deliver me from the hand of strangers, whose mouth talks of vain things, and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood;
That our sons may grow up as young plants, and that our daughters may be as the polished corners of the temple,
That our storehouses may be full and plenteous with all manner of grain, that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields,
That our oxen may be strong to labor, that there be no decay, no leading into captivity, and no outcry in our streets.
Happy are the people of whom this is so; indeed, blessed are the people who have the Lord for their God.
© Anglican Church in North America. Used by permission.