The Meaning of Psalms 144:7 Explained

Psalms 144:7

KJV: Send thine hand from above; rid me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of strange children;

YLT: Send forth Thy hand from on high, Free me, and deliver me from many waters, From the hand of sons of a stranger,

Darby: Stretch out thy hands from above; rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, from the hand of aliens,

ASV: Stretch forth thy hand from above; Rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, Out of the hand of aliens;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Send  thine hand  from above;  rid  me, and deliver  me out of great  waters,  from the hand  of strange  children; 

What does Psalms 144:7 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 144:1-15 - God's People Are Happy
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 that all his need would be met. The names he gives to God indicate that all-sidedness which becomes the complement of every conceivable necessity on our part.
What a striking conception opens in Psalms 144:4! Saul was but a "breath"! r.v., margin. The persecuting bands were as the shadows that pass across the hills! From them all he appealed to God to bow the heavens and come, to touch the mountains, and to rescue him from the rising waters. And when the storm has passed he sings his new glad song, Psalms 144:9. Psalms 144:12-15 were probably added at a later time, when David was established in his kingdom. They describe a summer afternoon of prosperity, when sons have grown from plants to trees, and daughters resemble the carved figures which support the beams of a palace. No breaking in of the foe, no need to go forth to fight, no outcry of oppression or want; but the halcyon sunset of a well-spent life. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 144

1  David blesses God for his mercy both to him and to man
5  He prays that God would powerfully deliver him from his enemies
9  He promises to praise God
11  He prays for the happy state of the kingdom

What do the individual words in Psalms 144:7 mean?

Stretch out Your hand from above Rescue me and deliver me out of waters great from the hand of foreigners
שְׁלַ֥ח יָדֶ֗יךָ מִמָּ֫ר֥וֹם פְּצֵ֣נִי וְ֭הַצִּילֵנִי מִמַּ֣יִם רַבִּ֑ים מִ֝יַּ֗ד בְּנֵ֣י נֵכָֽר

שְׁלַ֥ח  Stretch  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: שָׁלַח  
Sense: to send, send away, let go, stretch out.
יָדֶ֗יךָ  Your  hand 
Parse: Noun, fdc, second person masculine singular
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
מִמָּ֫ר֥וֹם  from  above 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מָרֹום  
Sense: height.
פְּצֵ֣נִי  Rescue  me 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: פָּצָה  
Sense: to part, open, separate, set free.
וְ֭הַצִּילֵנִי  and  deliver  me 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Imperative, masculine singular, first person common singular
Root: נָצַל  
Sense: to snatch away, deliver, rescue, save, strip, plunder.
מִמַּ֣יִם  out  of  waters 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine plural
Root: מַיִם  
Sense: water, waters.
רַבִּ֑ים  great 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural
Root: רַב 
Sense: much, many, great.
מִ֝יַּ֗ד  from  the  hand 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: יָד  
Sense: hand.
נֵכָֽר  foreigners 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֵכָר  
Sense: foreign, alien, foreignness, that which is foreign.