That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; our daughters as corner-columns, sculptured after the fashion of a palace
The psalm has been praying for rescue. Now it pictures what rescue produces: sons growing strong and daughters like the carved pillars of a palace. Is this blessing for family life now, or for a coming day?
This verse is a request. It names what the psalmist hopes will come out of the rescue he has just prayed for. One writer reads the whole closing section as the settled result of that rescue, and takes each image in turn:
This is still prophetic. The psalmist asks for rescue from the hand of foreigners (v. 11), which almost repeats verses 7 and 8. But verses 12 to 15 stress the result: the great, rich blessing given to them in the millennium. Their sons will be like plants grown up in their youth, well developed while still young. Their daughters will not be wanderers. They will be like pillars, stable and solid, a credit to proper family life, "sculptured in palace style" — that is, shaped by the forming power of the Spirit of God, fit to be homes for the King (v. 12).
Scripture elsewhere speaks of times when having children is a burden and a sorrow. One writer sets this verse against those times. Here children mark blessing that has arrived, not trouble on the way:
It was not "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days," for the Lord had built the city, the sons grew up like plants, and their daughters like the polished corners of the temple. It was no longer the time to say, "Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore." The full blessing had come in. He made "the barren woman keep house, and be a fruitful mother of children." Nor was it the prosperity of worldliness, as in Psalm 49, in the due time of sorrow. It was the blessing from the Lord in the time of blessing, when the city was built, and the streets of Jerusalem, where the Lord was, would be full of boys and girls playing, themselves a blessing from the Lord.
The verse compares the daughters to cut stone. Older translations render the phrase "polished after the similitude of a palace." One writer takes that image and applies it to believers, whom God shapes through teaching and through suffering. He pictures each believer as a stone cut out of the world and built into God's house:
Then these stones must be "polished after the similitude of a palace." This is the work of the teacher, who opens up the mysteries of God and leads souls upward, onward, Godward, into closer conformity to Christ. The present world is God's workshop, where there is fellowship in the work. The Lord Jesus uses not only the gifts of the Spirit, but also the trials and temptations that come on Christians. All things are under His skilful hand, and so "all things work together for good to those who love God."
Commentators differ here. Some apply the shaping to the daughters themselves. Others apply it to every believer God builds into His house.
Psalm 144 covers much the same ground as Psalm 18, but it does not stop with the king. One commentator explains why this psalm comes so late in the book. It ties the king's rescue to the happiness of a whole people:
Ps. 18 is part of a series (16 – 24) connected with the Lord. It describes the victorious career of the king, and only that. Ps. 144, on the other hand, ties millennial blessing for the earthly people (11-14) to the king's deliverance. So it rightly finds its place in the collection near the close of the Psalms. And while the eighteenth Psalm ends with the thought of everlasting prosperity for David and his seed, Ps. 144 ends with the thought of the nation's happiness.
The blessings here are visible and material. One writer accepts that, yet insists their root is not material at all:
There is no need to insist on the earthly character of the blessedness described here. But it is the fruit and lasting effect of a righteousness which comes from above. Divine righteousness in Christ is the sole basis of the kingdom of God, which will then be set up in triumph on earth.
- Rescue first. The verse follows a plea for rescue from foreigners. Strong sons and settled daughters are what that rescue produces, not where it starts.
- Rescue raises a generation. Sons are like well-grown plants and daughters like solid pillars. They are "well developed while still young," shaped by the Spirit of God.
- Rescue reaches the streets. In days of trouble, children were a sorrow. Here the Lord has built the city, and its streets are full of boys and girls at play.
- Rescue polishes. The palace stonework pictures God's patient work through teaching and trials. It brings souls into closer conformity to Christ.
- Rescue rests on righteousness. The blessings are earthly and visible. Their sole basis is divine righteousness in Christ. And the psalm ends with the happiness of a whole nation, not of one king.
Our granaries full, affording all manner of store; our sheep bringing forth thousands, ten thousands in our pastures;
Psalm 144 is a battle psalm. From verse 12 it turns to what the psalmist expects once the fighting is over: verse 13 pictures that peace in farming terms — full storehouses and flocks multiplying in the fields.
The "may our…" of this verse belongs to a prayer that starts in verse 12. The psalmist asks God to rescue him, then looks past the battle to what victory will bring.
This Psalm follows on from the one before it. At the close of that psalm the one praying had asked for the destruction of the enemy. Here he speaks as one who is sure that God would be his strength, his shield, and his victory in the battle. So he longs for the day of conflict, because he expects to win. And beyond that, he expects its fruit and joy in the kingdom: all human prosperity, children and wealth and settled peace.
The prayer also names who stands in the way of that blessing.
Think how little man is — Adam, who is like a breath, the son of frail man, not worth a thought. These men are foreigners as well. Their mouth speaks empty lies, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood. Why should such people be allowed to block the blessing of Jehovah's people?
A dictionary of Bible words gives the plain sense.
The same as "granary," a storehouse for threshed grain and for the fruits of the earth.
A close rendering of the Hebrew brings out the two halves of the picture — storehouses supplying every sort of produce, and flocks increasing beyond counting.
Our granaries full, affording from kind to kind; our sheep bearing thousands, bearing ten thousands in our fields.
Commentators read the closing verses as a coming age on earth, once Israel is free of her enemies.
So, rid of all their enemies, the godly will reach the earthly blessing of millennial days. Men will be blessed in their children and prospered in their circumstances. You will hear no more complaints or discontent among a people made happy by acknowledging the Lord as their God.
These blessings are plainly earthly. One writer shows what they rest on.
The closing verses describe the happiness of Israel. At last they are brought inside the bond of everlasting righteousness, and they become the honoured, richly supplied vessel of Jehovah's goodness on the earth. He will be their God. There is no need to insist that the blessing described here is earthly. But it is the fruit and lasting effect of a righteousness that comes from above. Divine righteousness in Christ is the only basis of the kingdom of God, which will then be set up in triumph on earth.
Another writer reads the full barns and multiplying flocks as a picture of what the Lord gives His people now.
Their barns will be full, because the Lord will have given them steadily good harvests (v. 13). This pictures the spiritual abundance with which the Lord blesses His people today. The same is true of the sheep producing by thousands. That stands for the fruitfulness of the gospel, bringing thousands of souls to a knowledge of salvation in Christ.
But the psalm's hope and the Christian's hope are not the same. The psalm waits for God to judge its enemies.
This psalm blesses Jehovah in confidence and bright expectation. Why should man — Adam, son of frail and fainting humanity — hold back the blessing that comes through God's judgment? For this is always what Israel expects, whatever mercy there is as well. The Christian stands in grace and looks into heaven, where he belongs as in Christ. This psalm looks for judgment, not the gospel.
- Rescue first. The psalmist prays for rescue first, and only then for full storehouses. He expects victory, then its fruit — children, wealth and settled peace.
- Gift, not achievement. A granary is a storehouse for grain and fruit. The flocks bring forth thousands and ten thousands. Every item named is something God supplies, not something man wins.
- Righteousness underneath. The plenty is earthly, but it grows out of a righteousness from above. Divine righteousness in Christ is the only basis of the kingdom that brings it.
- Reach. As a picture, the full barns and multiplying flocks speak of spiritual abundance. They also speak of the gospel's fruitfulness, bringing thousands to salvation.
- Result. A people blessed in their children and prospered in their circumstances, with complaint and discontent gone — happy because the Lord is their God. Yet the Christian's hope differs: this psalm looks for judgment, while the Christian stands in grace and looks into heaven.
Our kine laden [with young]; no breaking in and no going forth, and no outcry in our streets.
The closing lines of Psalm 144 turn from war to the farm and the street: cattle bearing safely, and no cry of alarm outside the door. Commentators read this as settled peace and plenty that comes only after the enemy is gone. So when is such a scene true, and what is it built on?
The psalm's prayer for rescue does not stop at rescue. One writer follows it straight into the kingdom that comes next.
So here the one who prays knows that this longed-for deliverance will lead directly into the joy of the days of the Messiah, that is, the kingdom (verses 11-15). In the same way, creation knows that her release from her present bondage to decay will be into glorious liberty. And the saints can and do sing, "those whom He justified He also glorified" (Romans 8:21, 30). For when the blessed God makes a way of escape for sinners or captives, in His love He will carry them into more than liberty.
The ESV speaks of cattle heavy with young and bearing without mishap. An older English translation reads "that our oxen may be strong to labour." Either way the ox carries the nation's food supply. One commentator sets this line beside a proverb on the ox and a farm's wealth.
Oxen and donkeys are the means of labour, which is the chief source of wealth. "Much increase is by the strength of the ox" (Proverbs 14:4); "That our oxen may be strong to labour" (Psalm 144:14).
The older wording describes a settlement no one raids and no one leaves. One writer sets that beside life today, where enemies press in and people slip away. He then looks to the millennium, the coming kingdom on earth.
Oxen speak of those who labour for the Lord, bearing their burdens well, to protect against any "breaking in or going out" (verse 14). Those who would break in are enemies trying to get in among believers to damage their testimony. But those who will be within at that time will be kept from "going out." Today, though, some seem to be the Lord's yet show their falsehood by "going out" (see 1 John 2:19). Also, today we see outcries in our streets all the time, protesting against almost everything. But what a relief in the millennium, when there will be no outcry in the streets: "Happy are the people who are in such a state."
Another writer reads the silence in the streets as the end of grumbling itself, and ties it to the reason given in the next verse.
Rid of all their enemies in this way, the godly will reach the earthly blessing of millennial days, when men will be blessed in their children and prospered in their circumstances. Complaints and discontent will no longer be heard among a people made happy by owning the Lord as their God.
The blessings listed here are plainly material — crops, herds, safe streets. One commentator agrees, but says these visible gifts rest on something unseen that comes first.
The closing verses describe the happiness of Israel when, brought at last within the bond of everlasting righteousness, they become the honoured and richly supplied vessel of Jehovah's goodness in the earth. He will be their God. No one needs to argue that the blessedness described here is earthly. But it is the fruit and lasting effect of a righteousness which is from above. Divine righteousness in Christ is the sole basis of the kingdom of God, which will then be set up in triumph on the earth.
Why should God care about a nation's cattle and streets? Because, one writer says, their prosperity under His direct rule shows the watching world what He is like.
His other purpose was to show His character through the prosperity of this people under His own direct government. He would show it so plainly that all men might understand: "Happy is that people that is in such a case; yes, happy is that people whose God is the Lord" (Psalm 144:15). Israel will then be a sample, a specimen, before all nations, of the happiness of a people under the immediate government of God.
The order in this verse has not arrived. One writer says how to live in the meantime.
"Blessed are the people that are in such a case!" Blessed to look forward to a state of order — moral, holy, gracious order. The power of God's presence keeps it. These Scriptures both promise such order and picture it in advance. Until this age of order comes, it is good for us, dear friends, if we can pass through the confusion now around us in something of the light and purity of the mind of Christ.
- Rescue first. The blessing of verse 14 comes after the rescue. God does not stop at freeing captives. He carries them into more than liberty.
- Then plenty. Strong, fruitful cattle carry the working wealth of the land. Much increase comes by the strength of the ox.
- Then safety. No breaking in, no going out, no cry in the streets. No enemy raids them, no one slips away, no one protests.
- Righteousness underneath. The prosperity is earthly, but it grows from a righteousness given from above. Divine righteousness in Christ is the sole basis of the kingdom.
- Happiness on show. Commentators read the scene as still future. Israel's visible well-being will show God's character to every nation. Until then, believers walk through today's confusion in the light of the mind of Christ.
Blessed the people that is in such a case! Blessed the people whose God is Jehovah!
Psalm 144 prays for rescue, then pictures full barns, strong sons and quiet streets. It ends with a verdict on what makes a nation happy. That verdict has two halves: a people who enjoy such blessings, and a people whose God is the LORD.
This is the expectation of a man who has asked God for victory and now looks past the battle.
He desires the day of conflict, expecting victory. And beyond that, he expects its fruit and joy in the kingdom: all human prosperity, children and wealth and settled peace. He expects too the shared verdict of the whole world, that "happy is that people whose God is the Lord."
The verses just before fill in the picture: full storehouses, growing flocks, no cry of distress in the streets. Older versions render the line "happy is that people that is in such a case," and the writers quoted here follow that wording. One writer reads the sons and daughters of that scene closely.
Their sons will be like plants grown up in their youth, well developed while still young. Their daughters will not be wanderers. They will be like pillars — stable and solid, a credit to proper family life, "sculptured in palace style." That is, the forming power of the Spirit of God works on them to make them fit as residences for the King.
These blessings are what the law had announced. The psalm ties them instead to God stepping in Himself.
The psalm ends by describing the portion of Israel as the people of Jehovah. It begins with Jehovah stepping in with power for them — righteously, because of the character of their enemies. This would bring them into the full earthly blessing that the law announced. But the law itself could never put them in possession of it.
The verse could have stopped at the harvest and the peace. Instead it moves from what God gives to who God is.
All that a person has comes from the bounty of God, but God is greater than all He gives. It is Himself, and not just what He gives, that makes a person's cup of happiness overflow. True happiness is found in knowing and enjoying God Himself. So that His creature might find that happiness here, He has made Himself known in His beloved Son. In Him we find God, and in Him we are brought to the fountain of all blessing.
God had more than one aim in setting Israel apart as His own people.
His other object was to show His character through the prosperity of this people, under His own direct government. He would show it so plainly that all men might understand that "Happy is that people that is in such a case; yes, happy is that people whose God is the Lord." It is in the future reign of Christ that this purpose of God will be accomplished. Israel will then be a sample, a specimen, before all nations, of the happiness of a people under the direct government of God.
The happiness pronounced here does not stay a statement about the people. In the psalm that follows, it becomes their own voice.
Psalm 144:15 has just pronounced the Jewish people of the coming kingdom happy, and here they express their happiness. It is as if others had said, "the Lord has done great things for them." They now reply, "the Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad."
The full picture waits for a future day. But the second half of the verse turns on a relationship. Trust is how anyone enters it. So writers apply these words to life now, at its worst moments too.
Faith cures the trembling heart; it rises above fear as oil floats above water. To trust in God makes Him to be a God to us. God will turn all evils to our good. Joseph's imprisonment was the means of his advancement. Out of the bitterest medicine He will distil His glory and our salvation. In short, He will be our guide to death, our comfort in death, and our reward after death. "Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord."
- Case — The blessing named here is the scene of the verses just before: sons like well-grown plants, daughters like carved pillars, full barns, quiet streets.
- Cause — That prosperity is not earned by the nation. It is the fruit of God stepping in for them, delivering what the law announced but could not hand over.
- Giver — The verse moves past the gifts to the Giver. God is greater than all He gives, and He alone makes the cup overflow.
- Display — God's aim in this was public. A people prospering under His direct government would show His character to all men.
- Chorus — Psalm 144 calls this people happy; in Psalm 145 they say it of themselves. The verdict over them becomes their own praise. Trust is what puts anyone inside that verdict today.