The Meaning of Psalms 144:9 Explained

Psalms 144:9

KJV: I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.

YLT: O God, a new song I sing to Thee, On a psaltery of ten strings I sing praise to Thee.

Darby: O God, I will sing a new song unto thee; with the ten-stringed lute will I sing psalms unto thee:

ASV: I will sing a new song unto thee, O God: Upon a psaltery of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

I will sing  a new  song  unto thee, O God:  upon a psaltery  [and] an instrument of ten strings  will I sing praises  unto thee. 

What does Psalms 144:9 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 144:9 mean?

God a song new I will sing to You On a harp of ten [strings] I will sing praises to You
אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֗ים שִׁ֣יר חָ֭דָשׁ אָשִׁ֣ירָה לָּ֑ךְ בְּנֵ֥בֶל עָ֝שׂ֗וֹר אֲזַמְּרָה־ לָּֽךְ

אֱ‍ֽלֹהִ֗ים  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
שִׁ֣יר  a  song 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: שִׁיר  
Sense: to sing.
חָ֭דָשׁ  new 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: חָדָשׁ  
Sense: new, new thing, fresh.
אָשִׁ֣ירָה  I  will  sing 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: שִׁיר 
Sense: song.
לָּ֑ךְ  to  You 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular
בְּנֵ֥בֶל  On  a  harp 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular construct
Root:  
Sense: a skin-bag, jar, pitcher.
עָ֝שׂ֗וֹר  of  ten  [strings] 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עָשֹׂור  
Sense: ten, decade.
אֲזַמְּרָה־  I  will  sing  praises 
Parse: Verb, Piel, Imperfect Cohortative, first person common singular
Root: זָמַר  
Sense: to sing, sing praise, make music.
לָּֽךְ  to  You 
Parse: Preposition, second person feminine singular