Psalms 144

 Apparently there is a reference to Psalms 144:1 in the melee from the Epiphany assault on the US capitol. I see the shirt being used by militant groups. This is a misuse of the poem.

What does war signify - and is it of God or of the human? You have only to read this psalm to realize that war is not its subject, but rather music and kindness. 

This Psalm encompasses the whole of the Psalter. It is part of the grand chiasm defined by the 9 acrostic poems and those 7 poems that precede them. It is one of the two psalms that mention fingers, Psalms 8 and 144. And they don't mean trigger-fingers. Psalms 8 refers to the fingers of God that make the heavens where Psalms 144 abhors violence under the human fingers. Their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

The close-combat and war of this psalm does not lead to the destruction of an enemy through the futility of human vengeance. What is left open is the answer to the question: what does Yahweh teach? Yahweh teaches to set even David his servant free from a sword of evil. This psalm uses the phrase mh-adm... bn-anow in contrast to Psalm 8 which uses mh-anow ... ubn-adm. And the contrast in the results couldn't be more obvious - I added Psalm 8:5-6 to the poem below so you can compare them. Take note also of the use of hand throughout the psalm. (Search for it to make it easy to see.)

	spr thlim		Book of Psalms
	qmd		144
a	ldvid bruç ihvh xuri hmlmd idii lqrb, axbyotii lmlkmh.	1	Of David. Blessed is Yahweh my rock, the teacher of my hands to close combat, my fingers to war.
b	ksdi umxudti mwgbi umpl'ti-li, mgini ubo ksiti, hrodd ymi tktii.	2	My kindness and my fortress, my retreat and my security, mine, my shield, and in him I have taken refuge, wrapping my people under me.
qmd g	ihvh mh-adm vtdyhu, bn-anow vtkwbhu?	144 3	Yahweh, what is this humanity that you know it, a mortal child that you devised it?
d	adm lhbl dmh, imiv cxl yobr.	4	Humanity is like futility, its days as a shadow passing away.
h h	mh-anow ci-tzcrnu. ubn-adm ci tpqdnu,	8 5	What is a mortal? for you remember it. And a child of humanity? for you visit it,
v	vtksrhu my't malohim, vcbod vhdr ty'trhu.	6	And you make it a little less than God, and with glory and honour you crown it.
qmd h	ihvh h't-wmiç vtrd. gy bhrim viywnu.	144 5	Yahweh, bend your heavens and come down. Touch hills and they will smoke.
v	broq brq utpixm. wlk kixiç uthumm.	6	A lightning bolt and you will disperse them. Send out your arrows and you will confuse them.
z	wlk idiç mmrom. pxni vhxilni mmim rbim, mid bni ncr,	7	Send out your hands from on high. Set me free and deliver me from abundant waters, from the hand of the children of the alien,
k	awr pihm dibr-wva, viminm imin wqr.	8	whose mouths speak vanity, and their right hand a right hand of falsehood.
't	alohim wir kdw awirh lç. bnbl ywor azmrh-lç.	9	O God, a new song I will sing to you. On a ten-stringed lute I will sing a psalm to you.
i	hnotn twuyh lmlcim, hpoxh at-dvid ybdo mkrb ryh.	10	Giving salvation to kings, setting even David his servant free from a sword of evil.
ia	pxni vhxilni mid bni-ncr, awr pihm dibr-wva, viminm imin wqr,	11	Set me free and deliver me from the hand of the children of the alien, whose mouths speak vanity, and their right hand a right hand of falsehood,
ib	awr bninu cn'tiyim mgudlim bnyurihm, bnotinu czoviiot, mku'tbot tbnit hicl,	12	that our sons may be as plants developed in their youth, with our daughters as corner-stones, dressed in the manner of a temple,
ig	mzvvinu mlaim mpiqim mzn al-zn, xannu malipot mrubbot bkuxotinu,	13	so our granaries are full furnished from kind to kind, our sheep by thousands, to ten thousands in our streets,
id	alupinu msublim, ain-prx vain ioxat, vain xvvkh brkobotinu.	14	our droves bearing burdens, without breach without sally, without complaint in our piazzas.
'tv	awri hym wcch lo. awri hym wihvh alohiv.	15	Happy the people who are such to him. Happy the people who have Yahweh as their God.

And just for completing the problem of the question what is this mortal, I give you the third instance of the question in Job's context. I contrast the music for these three passages in a trio in the document at the end of the post. The trio begins on page 11.

	spr aivb		Book of Job
	z		7
a	hloa-xba lanow yli-arx, vcimi wcir imiv?	1	Is it not the press-gang for a mortal on earth, like the days of a mercenary, its days?
b	cybd iwaf-xl, ucwcir iqvvh poylo.	2	Like a slave, it sighs heavily for shade, and like a mercenary, it expects its work.
g	cn honklti li irki-wva, vlilot yml minu-li.	3	So for me, the torrent of vain moons, and nights of misery from him, for me.
d	am-wcbti vamrti mtii aqum umidd-yrb? vwbyti ndudim ydi-nwf.	4	If I lie down, then I say, When will I arise and gloaming be fled? And I am sated with fleeing beyond twilight.
h	lbw bwri rimh vguw ypr, yori rgy viimas.	5	Clothed is my flesh, maggot and grimy lump, my naked skin uneasy and repugnant.
v	imii qlu mni-arg, viclu baps tqvvh.	6	My days are fleeter than a weaver's shuttle, and they are consumed at the termination of a wait.
z	zcor ci-ruk kii. la-twub yini lraot 'tob.	7	Remember that but a wisp is my life. My eye will not return back to see good.
k	la-twurni yin roai. yiniç bi vainni.	8	The eye of my watcher will not see me. Your eyes to me and there is no me.
't	clh ynn vilç, cn iord waol la iylh.	9	A cloud consumes and he walks away, so one descending to Sheol will not ascend.
i	la-iwub yod lbito, vla-icirnu yod mqomo.	10	He will no longer return to his house, and his place will no longer recognize him.
ia	gm-ani la akwoç pi. adbrh bxr ruki. awikh bmr npwi.	11	Also I myself will not resist my mouth. I speak in the straits of my spirit. I ponder in the bitterness of my being.
ib	him-ani am-tnin, ci-twim ylii mwmr?	12	Am I the sea or a dragon, that you put a guard over me?
ig	ci-amrti tnkmni yrwi. iiwa bwiki mwcbi.	13	For I said, My bed will comfort me. My lying down will take away my pondering.
id	vkittni bklomot, umkzionot tbytni.	14	Then you dismay me with dreams, and with visions you alarm me.
'tv	vtbkr mknq npwi, mvvt myxmotii.	15	Then my throat would choose strangling, death over my bones.
'tz	masti la-lyolm akih. kdl mmni ci-hbl imii.	16	I refuse. I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are futility.
iz	mh-anow ci tgdlnu, vci-twit aliv libç?	17	What is a mortal that you make him great, and that you impose on him your heart?
ik	vtpqdnu lbqrim. lrgyim tbknnu.	18	And you visit him in the mornings. At every moment you test him.
i't	cmh la-twyh mmni, la-trpni yd-blyi ruqi?	19	How long till you not look at me, or desist from me, even as I swallow my spit?
c	k'tati mh apyl lç noxr hadm? lmh wmtni lmpgy lç, vahih ylii lmwa?	20	I have sinned. How will I work for you, observer of the human? Why have you set me as your butt, so that I am a liability to myself?
ca	umh la-tiwa pwyi vtybir at-yvoni? ci-yth lypr awcbn vwikrtni vainni. {p}	21	And why do you not assume liability for my transgression and go beyond my iniquity? For now in the dust I will lie down and early you will seek me and there is no me. P

Unleashing Leviathan, Day 6.