144:6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter them!
Shoot your arrows and rout them! 1
144:7 Reach down 2 from above!
Grab me and rescue me from the surging water, 3
from the power of foreigners, 4
1 sn Arrows and lightning bolts are associated in other texts (see Pss 18:14; 77:17-18; Zech 9:14), as well as in ancient Near Eastern art (see R. B. Chisholm, “An Exegetical and Theological study of Psalm 18/2 Samuel 22” [Th.D. diss., Dallas Theological Seminary, 1983], 187).
2 tn Heb “stretch out your hands.”
3 tn Heb “mighty waters.” The waters of the sea symbolize the psalmist’s powerful foreign enemies, as well as the realm of death they represent (see the next line and Ps 18:16-17).
4 tn Heb “from the hand of the sons of foreignness.”