Commentary - Psalm 144:9-11

Bird's-eye view

This section of Psalm 144 marks a pivot. Having begun with a robust declaration of God as his strength and trainer for war, and having pleaded for a dramatic, divine intervention against his enemies, David now anticipates the victory God will grant. This anticipation is not wishful thinking; it is covenanted confidence. The response to God's deliverance is rightly praise, and not just any praise, but a "new song." This newness is tied to a fresh act of salvation. God's deliverance of His anointed king is not a private affair; it is a public testimony to the God who gives salvation to all kings who look to Him. The psalm then circles back to the petition, repeating the plea for deliverance from treacherous foreigners. This repetition underscores the persistent nature of the threat and the unwavering nature of David's reliance on God alone. The whole movement is a beautiful picture of the Christian life: we fight from a position of promised victory, we praise God for deliverances we have not yet fully seen, and we continue to pray for His help against the very real and deceptive enemies that surround us.

The core of these verses is the relationship between God's action and our reaction. God delivers, therefore we sing. God gives salvation, therefore we trust. God is faithful, therefore we cry out to Him to act against the faithless. This is not a transaction, but a covenant relationship in motion. David, as the king, understands that his personal battles have national and even cosmic implications. His deliverance is the deliverance of his people, and a testimony to the nations of the God who truly reigns.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 144 is a royal psalm, a prayer of King David. It is a composite psalm, drawing heavily on themes and even direct language from other psalms, particularly Psalm 18. This is not plagiarism, but rather a mature saint steeping his own prayers in the language of Scripture. The psalm begins by blessing God the warrior-maker (vv. 1-2), reflects on the frailty of man in contrast to God's majesty (vv. 3-4), and then calls for a theophany, a mighty appearance of God to scatter the enemy (vv. 5-8). Our passage (vv. 9-11) forms the bridge between this call for deliverance and the description of the blessings of peace and prosperity that will follow (vv. 12-15). The structure shows a king who knows how to fight, how to pray, and how to praise, and he understands that all three are intertwined. The praise of verse 9 is promised on the basis of the deliverance prayed for in the preceding verses. This psalm fits squarely within the Psalter's broader teaching on God's covenant faithfulness to His anointed king and, by extension, to His people.

Key Issues

A Song Before the Dawn

There is a robust confidence in David's prayer here that we must not miss. He begins to compose the victory song while the battle is still raging. This is not presumption; it is faith. He is so certain of God's character and God's promises that he can vow to sing a "new song" before the specific "new" deliverance has fully manifested. This is what it means to live by faith. We do not wait until all threats are neutralized and all enemies are vanquished before we begin to praise God. We praise Him on the basis of His pledged word. The new song is the fruit of a new mercy, a fresh intervention of God in history. The history of redemption is a history of God giving His people new reasons to sing. From the song of Moses at the Red Sea to the song of the redeemed in Revelation, God's mighty acts demand new music. David is here participating in that grand tradition. He is saying, "Lord, what you are about to do is so significant that the old songs, wonderful as they are, will not be quite sufficient. This victory will require a fresh composition."

Verse by Verse Commentary

9 O God, I will sing a new song to You; Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

David makes a vow. The deliverance he has prayed for in the previous verses is so certain in his mind that he pledges the result. And the result of deliverance is always worship. A "new song" in Scripture is a song that arises from a new act of divine salvation. When God does something unprecedented, it requires fresh praise. The old hymns are glorious, but they commemorated past deliverances. David anticipates a fresh deliverance, and so he gets a new song ready. This is not just an emotional outburst; it is formal, liturgical worship. He specifies the instrument: a harp of ten strings. This is premeditated, skillful praise. He is preparing to pull out all the stops in the national worship of God. This teaches us that our praise should be both heartfelt and thoughtful, both spontaneous and skillfully prepared. The greatness of God's coming salvation deserves our very best artistic and musical offerings.

10 Who gives salvation to kings, Who sets David His servant free from the evil sword.

Here David grounds his confidence. Why is he so sure God will deliver him? Because this is what God does. It is His character. He is the one "who gives salvation to kings." Notice the scope. David is not saying God only gives salvation to Israelite kings. God is sovereign over all geopolitical realities. He raises up kings and He brings them down. Any king anywhere who experiences any kind of deliverance owes it to the God of Israel, whether he acknowledges it or not. But there is a particularity here as well. This God who is sovereign over all kings has a special, covenantal relationship with "David His servant." The general grace of God to all rulers is the foundation for pleading the specific, covenantal grace promised to David and his line. God has set him free before "from the evil sword," and that past faithfulness is the bedrock for present confidence. God is not fickle. What He has done before, He can and will do again for His servant.

11 Set me free and deliver me out of the hand of the sons of a foreigner, Whose mouth speaks worthlessness And whose right hand is a right hand of lying.

After the pinnacle of praise in verses 9 and 10, David drops right back into petition. This is not a lack of faith, but the very expression of it. Praise and petition are two sides of the same coin of dependence on God. He repeats, almost word for word, the request from verse 8. The enemy is still present, the threat is still real. He identifies them as "sons of a foreigner," which in this context means those outside of God's covenant with Israel. Their defining characteristic is deceit. Their "mouth speaks worthlessness," or vanity. Their words are empty, full of lies, false promises, and godless boasts. Their "right hand is a right hand of lying." The right hand was the hand of oaths, of covenants, of sworn testimony. For them, it is an instrument of falsehood. You cannot make a treaty with them. You cannot trust their word. Their entire mode of operation is treachery. David is not just fighting men with swords; he is fighting a worldview of deceit. He is praying for deliverance from the world of the lie, and for the establishment of the world of God's truth.

Application

We are not all kings with literal armies and evil swords threatening us. But we are all servants of the great King, the Lord Jesus, and we all face enemies. Our primary battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. And like David's enemies, their native language is the lie. The world system, the flesh, and the devil all speak worthlessness. They promise satisfaction and deliver emptiness. Their right hand is a right hand of falsehood, offering deals that lead to death.

So what do we do? We do what David did. First, we recognize that God is the one who trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle. We must be skilled in the fight, which for us means being skilled in the Word of God, in prayer, and in faith. Second, we pray with specificity. We ask God to deliver us from the hand of the sons of a foreigner, from the lies of our culture, from the deceit of our own hearts. We bring the specific threats before Him. Third, we praise Him in advance of the full deliverance. Because Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, the ultimate victory is secure. He is the great King who received the ultimate salvation from the evil sword of death itself. Because of His victory, we can and must sing a "new song." Every time God delivers us from a temptation, heals a relationship, or provides for a need, it is a fresh act of salvation that calls for a new song. Our worship should not be a stale repetition, but a vibrant, growing testimony to the ongoing, active grace of God in our lives. Let us, therefore, take up our ten-stringed harps, whatever they may be, and make a joyful, skillful noise to the God who gives salvation to kings, and who has delivered us, His servants, in the person of His Son.