Psalms 144:5

“Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down, etc.] The heavens, which the Lord has made, and where he dwells; and which are under his influence, and he can cause to incline or bow at his pleasure: and which literally may be said to bow, particularly the airy heavens, when these are filled with clouds heavy with rain, and hang low, ready to fall upon the earth, and being rent, let down showers on it: and mystically may design storms of wrath gathering over the heads of ungodly men, and revealed from heaven against them. Or rather, as connected with the phrase, “and come down”, denotes some appearance or manifestation of God; either for the help and assistance of his people; or in a way of…”

“Bow thy heavens, O Lord ... - Come to my aid “as if” the heavens were bent down; come down with all thy majesty and glory. See the notes at Psalms 18:9 : “He bowed down the heavens also, and came down.” What it is there declared that the Lord “had” done, he is here implored to do again. Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke - See the notes at Psalms 104:32 : “He toucheth the hills, and they smoke.” It is there affirmed as a characteristic of God that he “does” this; here the psalmist prays that, as this belonged to God, or was in his power, he “would” do it in his behalf. The prayer is, that God would come to his relief “as if” in smoke and tempest - in the fury of the storm. return to…”

“Come - To help me. Smoke - As Sinai did at thy glorious appearance, Exo 19:18. This is a figurative and poetical description of God's coming to take vengeance upon his enemies. Psalms 144:7”

“144:5-8 The psalmist prays for God’s intervention against his enemies (cp. 18:7-19).”

“Bow: Psa 18:9; Isa 64:1, Isa 64:2 touch: Psa 104:32; Exo 19:18; Nah 1:3-6; Hab 3:3-6; Heb 12:18 Psalms 144:6”

“The deeds of God which Ps 18 celebrates are here made an object of prayer. We see from Psa 18:10 that ותרד, Psa 144:5, has Jahve and not the heavens as its subject; and from Psa 18:15 that the suffix em in Psa 144:6 is meant in both instances to be referred to the enemies. The enemies are called sons of a foreign country, i.e., barbarians, as in Psa 18:45. The fact that Jahve stretches forth His hand out of the heavens and rescues David out of great waters, is taken verbatim from Psa 18:17; and the poet has added the interpretation to the figure here. On Psa 144:8 cf. Psa 12:3; Psa 41:7. The combination of words "right hand of falsehood" is the same as in Psa 109:2. But our poet, although so…”