Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary

The deeds of God which Ps 18 celebrates are here made an object of prayer. We see from Psa 18:10 that ותרד, Psa 144:5, has Jahve and not the heavens as its subject; and from Psa 18:15 that the suffix em in Psa 144:6 is meant in both instances to be referred to the enemies. The enemies are called sons of a foreign country, i.e., barbarians, as in Psa 18:45. The fact that Jahve stretches forth His hand out of the heavens and rescues David out of great waters, is taken verbatim from Psa 18:17; and the poet has added the interpretation to the figure here. On Psa 144:8 cf. Psa 12:3; Psa 41:7. The combination of words "right hand of falsehood" is the same as in Psa 109:2. But our poet, although so great an imitator, has, however, much also that is peculiar to himself. The verb בּרק, "to send forth lightning;" the verb פּצה in the Aramaeo-Arabic signification "to tear out of, rescue," which in David always only signifies "to tear open, open wide" (one's mouth), Psa 22:14; Psa 66:14; and the combination "the right hand of falsehood" (like "the tongue of falsehood" in Psa 109:2), i.e., the hand raised for a false oath, are only found here. The figure of Omnipotence, "He toucheth the mountains and they smoke," is, as in Psa 104:32, taken from the mountains that smoked at the giving of the Law, Exo 19:18; Exo 20:15. The mountains, as in Psa 68:17 (cf. Psa 76:5), point to the worldly powers. God only needs to touch these as with the tip of His finger, and the inward fire, which will consume them, at once makes itself known by the smoke, which ascends from them. The prayer for victory is followed by a vow of thanksgiving for that which is to be bestowed.