At the end of his life, the apostle Paul could say that he’d “fought the good fight” (2 Timothy 4:7). The Christian life is often portrayed as a battle. We put on spiritual armour (Ephesians 6:11–17), break down strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:4), and take foolish thoughts captive (v. 5). In the Old Testament, the battles that God’s people fought were physical. But the New Testament transforms the physical into the spiritual. David’s psalm of praise and prayer gives us an example of how this can be.

David begins by praising God “who trains my hands for war” (Psalm 144:1). Before his ascendancy to the throne and as king of Israel, David spent much of his life fighting and winning wars. He defeated Goliath (1 Samuel 17). He subdued nations like the Philistines and Ammonites (2 Samuel 5, 8). God equips us similarly today with everything we need to live victoriously over the assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil—with instruments of spiritual victory like the Bible, prayer, and His Spirit.

Today, scientists are telling us that we’re finally winning the battle with one of our greatest enemies—ageing. A few may claim we’re developing treatments that can extend our lives, perhaps indefinitely. With just an injection every 10 years, perhaps we can keep on living. But even if we live for hundreds of years, we are like a momentary breath compared to the eternal God. David is amazed that the eternal God should care for someone whose life is here today and gone tomorrow (Psalm 144:3–4).

Then, drawing upon pictures of the powerful elements of creation, like smoking mountains, lightning, and mighty waters, David asks God to come down and fight for him (vv. 5–8). Incredibly, it was through the birth of a helpless baby in a manger in a tiny village that God answered David’s prayer. Through Jesus, God came down and delivered us.

Finally, David claims the promises of the rich blessings God would give His obedient people when they entered the promised land (see Deuteronomy 28:1–4). They would know full health, material prosperity, and peace from all their enemies. Jesus also foreshadowed all of that when He healed the sick, fed the hungry, stilled a storm, and raised the dead. But this marvellous picture of paradise will be ours fully only when Jesus brings the new heaven and the new earth (Revelation 21).

Psalm 144 is really the story of salvation, past, present, and future. God did come down in the person of Jesus to save us from sin and Satan, our greatest enemy. Today, Jesus still empowers us in our spiritual battles so we can endure. Then, when He comes again, He will bring to us all the blessings of our final salvation. Our right response, then, is the response of David: “I will sing a new song to you, my God . . . to the One who gives victory to kings” (vv. 9–10).