The Bible Commentaries and Others: Psalms 144 v 1

Posted by Psalms on Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Psalms 144:1

A Psalm of David. Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:

144:1. Blessed be the LORD my strength. He bursts at once into a loud note of praise. When the heart is in a right state it must praise God. We ought not to receive strength to resist evil, to defend truth, and to conquer error without knowing who gave it to us, and rendering to him the glory. God is full of power, and he becomes the power of those who trust him. It may be read “My Rock,” but this hardly so well consorts with the following words: Which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. The word “rock” is the Hebrew way of expressing strength. If we have strength we are not much the better unless we have skill also. Untrained force is often an injury to the possessor, and even becomes a danger to those round about, and therefore the psalmist blesses the Lord as much for teaching as for strength. Let us also bless Jehovah if he has in anything made us efficient. The instruction mentioned was not so much of the brain as of the hands and fingers. People with little scholastic education should be grateful for deftness and skill in their handicrafts. To a fighting man the education of the hands is of far more value than mere book-learning. People are too apt to fancy that a worker’s efficiency is to be ascribed to himself, but this is a popular fallacy. A clergyman may be supposed to be taught of God, but people do not allow this to be true of weavers or workers in brass; yet these callings are specially mentioned in the Bible as having been taught to holy women and earnest men when the tabernacle was set up. All wisdom and skill are from the Lord. David was eminently successful in his battles; he does not trace this to his good generalship or valor, but to his being taught and strengthened for the war. If the Lord deigns to have a hand in such unspiritual work as fighting, surely he will help us to proclaim the Gospel and win souls.

Jehovah is now his strength, and is still teaching him; we ought to make a point of presenting praise while yet the blessing is on the wing. The verse is also preeminently practical. Some of us who are grievously tormented with rheumatism might cry, “Blessed be the Lord, my Comforter, who teaches my knees to bear in patience, and my feet to endure in resignation.” Others who are on the look-out to help young converts might say, “Blessed be God who teaches my eyes to see wounded souls, and my lips to cheer them.” David has his own especial help from God, and praises him accordingly. This tends to make the harmony of heaven perfect when all the singers take their parts; if we all followed the same score, the music would not be so full and rich.

Excerpt from:

The Treasury of David by Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)