Read
Psalm 144:5
Part your heavens, LORD, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
3LORD, what is man, that you care for him? Or the son of man, that you think of him?
4Man is like a breath. His days are like a shadow that passes away.
5Part your heavens, LORD, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
6Throw out lightning, and scatter them. Send out your arrows, and rout them.
7Stretch out your hand from above, rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters, out of the hands of foreigners,
Notice
Mountains smoke at YHWH’s touch, giving this plea for him to come down a force that can unsettle small, tame expectations of God.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What would you want to name before God after praying, “Part your heavens, LORD, and come down”?
Write on thisHow does the mountains’ response to God’s touch compare with the way you tend to picture his power?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Exodus 19:18All of Mount Sinai smoked, because the LORD descended on it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.Both texts join the LORD’s descent with a smoking mountain; Exodus describes this happening at Mount Sinai.
Psalm 104:32He looks at the earth, and it trembles. He touches the mountains, and they smoke.Both texts describe mountains smoking at God’s touch, showing the earth’s response to his power.
Psalm 115:16The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but he has given the earth to the children of men.Both identify the heavens as the LORD’s; Psalm 144 asks him to part what belongs to him.
Psalm 18:9He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.Psalm 144 asks the LORD to part the heavens and descend; Psalm 18 describes him bowing the heavens and coming down.
2 Samuel 22:10He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.Both connect the heavens with God’s descent, though Psalm 144 makes a request and Samuel recounts an action.
Habakkuk 3:3–6God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.Both speak of God coming and mention the heavens; Habakkuk names Teman and Mount Paran, while Psalm 144 names no location.
Exodus 19:11and be ready for the third day; for on the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people on Mount Sinai.Both speak of the LORD coming down; Exodus announces his descent on Mount Sinai before the people.
Deuteronomy 32:22For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire.Both portray mountains affected by God’s power; Psalm 144 speaks of smoke, while Deuteronomy describes fire kindled by his anger.
Nahum 1:3–6The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. The LORD has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and …Both portray the LORD’s power through the natural world, with mountains smoking in the psalm and storms marking his way in Nahum.
Isaiah 64:1–2Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence—Both ask God to open the heavens and come down, describing mountains responding to his touch or presence.
Hebrews 12:18For you have not come to a mountain that might be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness, darkness, storm,Both use mountain imagery involving smoke or fire; Hebrews distinguishes its readers’ approach from coming to that burning mountain.
Amos 9:5For the Lord, the GOD of Armies, is he who touches the land and it melts, and all who dwell in it will mourn; and it will rise up wholly like the River, and …Both describe God’s touch changing the earth: mountains smoke in Psalm 144, and the land melts in Amos.
Where this verse fits
Fear for the future. injustice and anger. wanting a steady prayer habit.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
This plea rises amid danger and a request for enemies to be scattered. It sets no timetable for rescue. YHWH being addressed has power to make mountains smoke.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).