Psalm 144 · a question people ask
Who are "the foreigners" in 144:7 and 144:11?
The psalm doesn't name them. It says only what they are like: "whose mouths speak deceit, whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood" (144:8), and it says the same again in 144:11. In Hebrew foreigners is benei nekhar, which Brown-Driver-Briggs gives under nekhar, "that which is foreign, foreignness" (tap foreigners). Psalm 18 has the same two words: "The foreigners shall submit themselves to me" (Psalm 18:44). The title names David (144:1), and 144:10 speaks of the LORD "who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword", but neither says when, or from whom. These notes don't name them either, and don't apply the psalm's words to any people today.
The verses
“By David. Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands to war, and my fingers to battle—”
“Stretch out your hand from above, rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak deceit, whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”
“You are he who gives salvation to kings, who rescues David, his servant, from the deadly sword. Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hands of foreigners, whose mouths speak deceit, whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”
“As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.”