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Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary

Psalms 144:5

Come down, to help me, before it be too late, remembering what a frail and perishing creature I am. And they shall smoke; or, that they may smoke; or, and let them smoke, as Sinai did at thy glorious appearance, Exodus 19:18. This is a figurative and poetical description of God's coming to take vengeance upon his enemies, which is continued in the next verse.

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See also Psalms 144:5 in other biblical comments:

  • Adam Clarke Bible Commentary

    Verse Psalms 144:5. _BOW THY HEAVENS_] Psalms 18:9....

  • Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary

    BOW THY HEAVENS, O LORD ... - Come to my aid “as if” the heavens were bent down; come down with all thy majesty and glory. See the notes at Psalms 18:9 : “He bowed down the heavens also, and came down...

  • Annotated Bible by A.C. Gaebelein

    PSALM 143-145 In Psalms 143:1 the enemy is mentioned again, the enemy who pursued David. “For the enemy has persecuted my soul; he has smitten my life down to the ground; he has made me to dwell in da...

  • Arthur Peake's Commentary on the Bible

    CXLIV. Ascribed by LXX and also by T. to David against Goliath, but without any shadow of reason. Psalms 144:1 is really a mosaic chiefly taken from Psalms 18, but also from Psalms 8, 33, 104. It is a...

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    The descriptions of Psalms 18:9; Psalms 104:32 are turned into prayer....

  • Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

    Prayer that God will appear in His majesty and deliver the Psalmist from his treacherous enemies....

  • Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

    BOW THY HEAVENS— See 2 Samuel 8 and 2 Samuel 22:10. The images here are taken from the promulgation of the law on mount Sinai....

  • College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

    PSALMS 144 DESCRIPTIVE TITLE From David's Psalms are Selected Strains, by one of his Sons, Emboldening him to Plead for Deliverance from Foreigners. An Appendix anticipates Happy Times. ANALYSIS St...

  • Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

    Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. BOW THY HEAVENS, O LORD, AND COME DOWN - from : cf. ; borrowed from the same source. What Yahweh has shown Himself...

  • Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible

    This Ps. consists mainly of thoughts and quotations from earlier Pss., e.g. 8 and 18. Psalms 144:12 are, however, quite unlike anything else in the Psalter, and some suppose them to be a quotation fro...

  • EasyEnglish Bible Commentaries

    Psalms 107:150 _GORDON CHURCHYARD_ WE *BLESS GOD AND GOD *BLESSES US! PSALMS 144 Jesus said, "(God will) *bless people that are good. They will see God" ...

  • Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

    COME DOWN. — The theophany for which the psalmist prays is described in the classic language for such manifestations taken from Psalms 18:9; Psalms 18:13; Psalms 18:16;...

  • ETCBC data on Hebrew bible

    יְ֭הוָה הַט ־שָׁמֶ֣יךָ וְ תֵרֵ֑ד גַּ֖ע בֶּ

  • Expositor's Bible Commentary (Nicoll)

    Psalms 144:1 THE force of compilation could no further go than in this psalm, which is, in the first eleven verses (Psalms 144:1)simply a _ rechauffe_ of known psalms, and in Psalms 144:12 is most pro...

  • Frederick Brotherton Meyer's Commentary

      GOD'S PEOPLE ARE HAPPY Psalms 144:1-15 This psalm savors of the rocky caverns from which David and his men emerged to fight. Each day the chieftain asked God to teach him to fight, and realized t...

  • G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

    This is a song of triumphant assurance. Its placing at this point in the book suggests the invincible experience of trusting souls. In order to appreciate all its value, the nine psalms immediately pr...

  • Geneva Study Bible Commentary

    (d) Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. (d) He desires God to continue his graces, and to send help for the present need....

  • George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

    _And shall. Hebrew, "and I shall relate the words of thy wonders," (St. Jerome) or "shall meditate on," &c. (Pagnin) (Haydock) --- Yet our version is more followed. (Calmet)_...

  • Hawker's Poor man's commentary

    In every sense this prayer is striking, and beautiful in whatever sense it be considered; whether as the prayer of the church for the Lord to come down in the power of the Spirit, to bruise Satan, and...

  • John Calvin's Bible Commentary

    5._O Jehovah! bow thy heavens_. After extolling, as was due, the great goodness of God, he requests him to furnish such help for the preservation of the kingdom as was necessary in the present exigenc...

  • John Darby's Synopsis

    THE FOLLOWING COMMENTARY COVERS PSALMS 140 THROUGH 144. The five following psalms go over ground which we have trodden over in detail: only they apply to a restored Israel, still in conflict, and not...

  • John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

    BOW THY HEAVENS, O LORD, AND COME DOWN,.... The heavens, which the Lord has made, and where he dwells; and which are under his influence, and he can cause to incline or bow at his pleasure: and which...

  • John Trapp Complete Commentary

    Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. Ver. 5. _Bow thy heavens, O Lord_] Come to my help suddenly and seasonably, as it were out of an engine, εκ της μηχα...

  • Jonathan Edwards' Notes On The Scriptures

    Psa. 144:5. "Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down." This was never so remarkably fulfilled as in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, when heaven and earth were as it were brought together. Heaven itsel...

  • Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    _Bow thy heavens and come down_ To help me before it be too late, remembering what a frail and perishing creature I am. “David having celebrated his victories over some of his enemies, and extolled th...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE. A psalm of David, in which he praises God for help experienced in the past and confidently implores His assistance against the enemies of the nation, as well...

  • Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible

    Bow Thy heavens, O Lord, bringing them nearer, as it were, for speedy help, AND COME DOWN, manifesting His almighty power; TOUCH THE MOUNTAINS, with the hand of His majesty extended from the heights o...

  • Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible

    1-8 When men become eminent for things as to which they have had few advantages, they should be more deeply sensible that God has been their Teacher. Happy those to whom the Lord gives that noblest v...

  • Patchworkid's Personal Study Bible Notes

    Psalms 144:5 down H5186 (H8685) heavens H8064 LORD H3068 down H3381 (H8799) Touch H5060 (H8798) mountains...

  • Spurgeon's Bible Commentary

    A Psalm of David. No doubt written after some great victory, and also before another severe struggle. The Christian man seldom escapes from one difficulty without falling into another. Thanks be unto...

  • Summarized Bible Commentary

    CONTENTS: Acknowledgment of the great goodness of God and prayer for the prosperity of the kingdom. CHARACTERS: God, David. CONCLUSION: Happy is the people whose God is the Lord, for even when they...

  • Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

    This, and the six following psalms, are all eucharistical, and seem to have been composed when David's sorrows were changed to joys. He here praises God for past mercies, and asks grace for the future...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke._ THE KINDLING OF THE HEART It must be striking indeed to any one living in the neighbourhood of a chain of volcanoes to see those mountains which have long...

  • The Biblical Illustrator

    _Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight._ THE LORD TEACHING US TO FIGHT I do not know what that “Book of the Wars of the Lord” was which is referred...

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 144:1. This royal psalm asks God to give victory to the reigning heir of David. The “I” in vv. Psalms 144:1 is the Davidic king. God’s p

  • The ESV Global Study Bible's Study Notes

    PSALM—NOTE ON PSALMS 144:5 The psalm moves on to request: RESCUE ME AND DELIVER ME... FROM THE HAND OF FOREIGNERS. This suggests that the psalm is especially suited to a time when the king must lead t...

  • The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary

    INTRODUCTION “This is a singularly composite Psalm. The earlier portion of it, to the end of Psalms 144:11, consists almost entirely of a cento of quotations, strung together from earlier Psalms; and...

  • The Pulpit Commentaries

    EXPOSITION A PSALM in which praise and prayer are commingled. Almost certainly Davidic: 1. From the title. 2. From the style. 3. From the way in which David is mentioned in Psalms 144:10 (comp. Psa...

  • Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith

    Blessed be the LORD my strength, which (Psalms 144:1) Now this is a psalm of David, and of course, some people get upset with this psalm because David thanks God for making him such a tough fighter....

  • Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

    Exodus 19:18; Habakkuk 3:3; Hebrews 12:18; Isaiah 64:1; Isaiah 64:2;...

  • Wesley's Explanatory Notes

    Come — To help me. Smoke — As Sinai did at thy glorious appearance, Exodus 19:18. This is a figurative and poetical description of God's coming to take vengeance upon his enemies....

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