Bible Strands
Psalms 144:5
Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the LORD directly, shifting from the preceding meditation on human frailty to a plea for divine intervention. The request occurs within a corporate prayer for deliverance and military victory.
The words — The Hebrew verb הַט־ (hat-) literally means "bend down" or "part," describing the action of moving the heavens. The verb גַּע (ga') means "touch," indicating direct physical contact with the mountains.
The thread — This imagery of God descending through the heavens appears in Psalms 18:9, while the motif of mountains smoking upon divine contact echoes Psalms 104:32 and Exodus 19:18. These passages collectively depict theophanic descent accompanied by natural upheaval.
Why it lands — The verse demands recognition of God's sovereign power to intervene directly in creation and human history. It calls the reader to acknowledge that divine presence transforms the natural order and brings judgment or deliverance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Bow thy heavens, O Lord, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
Cross-references
- Psalms 18:9 He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
- Psalms 104:32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smolder.
- Exodus 19:18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.
- Habakkuk 3:3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah His glory covered the heavens, and His praise filled the earth.
- Isaiah 64:1 If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger and great in power; the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His path is in the whirlwind and storm, and clouds are the dust beneath His feet.
- Hebrews 12:18 For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm;