Psalm 144 Devotional

The Blessing Beneath the Blessings

“Blessed are the people of whom this is so; blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.”Psalm 144:15 (BSB)

Psalm 144 begins with a warrior's praise. David blesses the LORD as his Rock, who trains his hands for battle, and calls him his fortress, deliverer, and shield (144:1-2). Then, in the middle of all that strength, he stops to wonder why God would take notice of a human being at all. People are like a breath, their days like a passing shadow (144:3-4). The God who trains David for war also stoops to pay attention to someone so brief.

David asks God to come down and rescue him from deceitful enemies (144:5-11), and then pictures what peace would look like: sons growing strong, daughters graceful as carved pillars, full storehouses, multiplying flocks, unbroken walls, and no cries of grief in the streets (144:12-14). The psalm calls a people with such abundance blessed, but it ends by naming the deeper blessing, having the LORD as their God (144:15). Full barns are good gifts. Belonging to God is the blessing beneath them all, and it still holds in lean years.

To think about: If some of your outward blessings were taken away, what would it mean to you that the LORD is still your God?