It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in man;
Psalm 118 gives thanks for a rescue, and its centre holds one comparison: the Lord against man. It reads like a settled conclusion, so what experience produced it, and why is it so hard to learn?
The words are not detached advice. They close a section that begins with a cry and an answer. (Older translations read "trust in the LORD" where the ESV has "take refuge.") One writer explains why one man's story stands for the whole nation.
(verses 5-9) The reason for the praise is the deliverance of Israel. The Holy Spirit uses the experiences of one delivered man to stand for God's way of stepping in for the nation. This godly man called on the Lord in his distress, and the Lord answered and brought him into a large place.
The lesson came while the distress was still on him.
So in his distress he learned that the Lord was on his side and taking his part. And if the Lord is for him, who can be against him? He asks, "What can man do to me?" He also learns that it is better to trust in the Lord than in man, or in the great ones of the earth.
Some have counted this verse as the middle verse of the whole Bible. One writer finds that position fitting.
Their confidence in man, even in princes, has broken down. They see that it is better to trust in the Lord. Some say verse 8 is the middle verse of the Bible. If so, it is very fitting. It states one of the greatest facts the Bible teaches: the central fact on which everything for us turns. How quickly we put confidence in man; how slowly we trust in the Lord! Yet Israel has to learn to give up man and trust in God. And we have to learn it too.
"Man" here is not only other people. One man tempts each of us more than the rest.
It is a fact beyond dispute that each of us knows one man we are strongly tempted to trust. We are more likely to trust him than all other men put together. The man you are likely to trust is yourself. The man I am likely to trust is myself. Yet, "Whoever trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Prov. 28:26).
Israel once asked for a king because Samuel's sons had failed them. One writer turns the question on us.
Why did it not occur to the elders of Israel that as Samuel's sons had proved a disappointment to them, the King might be no better? Is a change of government, whether in times ancient or modern, a necessary cure for every ill? Why turn from flesh in one form to flesh in another? Are we not sometimes as foolish as they when difficulties arise?
One man in the same story took the other path. Jonathan went up against the Philistines with almost nobody behind him.
It really is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Jonathan proved it in the happiest way. He went up against the Philistines in the power of that word, "Nothing can stop the Lord from saving by many or by few." It was "the Lord" who filled his soul. Having Him, "many or few" made no difference. Faith does not count on circumstances, but on God.
Rulers fall short too, and not always because they are dishonest.
No matter how well meaning and honest they may be, they cannot untangle the world's problems. This is because God is not the start of their plans, and His glory is not the goal of their policies… but if the Christian trusts in the Lord, the Lord will keep him in peace. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."
Two prisoners make the comparison sharp. Joseph asked Pharaoh's cupbearer to remember him and was forgotten; a dying criminal asked Jesus to remember him and was answered at once.
Joseph put his confidence, for the moment, in man, and he was disappointed… The dying criminal also put his confidence in a Man. But that Man was the Messiah, David's Son and David's Lord, so he was not put to shame… It is useless to try, as Joseph was tempted to do, to bring the Lord's deliverance about by human means.
- Distress teaches it. The verse is the conclusion of a man who cried out in distress; the Lord answered him and brought him into a large place.
- Deliverance proves it. Once the Lord takes your part, one question is left: "What can man do to me?"
- Self is the last idol. The man we are most tempted to trust is ourselves — yet whoever trusts his own heart is a fool.
- Swapping men solves nothing. Israel traded Samuel's failed sons for a king. We repeat that mistake whenever trouble comes.
- One Man is safe. The dying criminal trusted a Man — the Messiah — and that Man did not fail him. This comparison may well stand at the very centre of the Bible.
It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in nobles.
Psalm 118 is the song of a people brought out of deep trouble, and verses 8 and 9 record the conclusion they draw from it. Verse 8 has already set aside confidence in ordinary men. Verse 9 goes further. It names the people with real power to help, and still puts them below the Lord. The writers quoted below use an older translation, which reads "trust in Jehovah" where the ESV has "take refuge in the LORD."
These words are not abstract advice. A man cried out in trouble. God answered him. This is what he learned, and his experience stands for the whole nation's.
He learned in his distress that the Lord was on his side and taking his part. And if the Lord is for him, who can be against him? He asks, "What can man do to me?" He learns moreover that it is better to trust in the Lord than in man, or the great ones of the earth.
The "princes" of the verse are the great ones of the earth: rulers with rank and reach. Verses 8 and 9 mark a turn from one confidence to another.
Here they express full and grateful confidence and joy in Him (verses 8, 9). This stands in contrast with their old, empty and fruitless reliance on created things. All of it now brings praise to the glory of His grace, for He had shown them light.
The verse is not a complaint about corrupt leaders. Sincerity is not the issue.
To whom can we go but to Him? "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes." No matter how well meaning and honest they may be, they cannot untangle the world's problems. And this is because God is not the start of their plans, and His glory is not the goal of their actions.
One writer tests the verse against Israel's demand for a king.
Why did it not occur to the leaders of Israel that, since Samuel's sons had disappointed them, the king might be no better? Is a change of government, whether in ancient or modern times, a necessary cure for every ill? Why turn from flesh in one form to flesh in another? Are we not sometimes as foolish as they when difficulties arise? "It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in princes" (Psalm 118:8-9). Have both reader and writer learned this simple lesson?
Israel had the king they asked for and still trembled before their enemies.
Jonathan proved how much better it is to trust the Lord. He went up against the Philistines trusting the word, "Nothing can stop the Lord from saving by many or by few." It was "the Lord" who filled his soul. Having Him, "many or few" made no difference. Faith does not count on circumstances, but on God.
One writer notes where this verse sits in the Bible, and how much rests on it.
Their confidence in man, even in princes, is broken. They recognize it is better to trust in the Lord. Some have said that verse 8 is the middle verse of the Bible. If so, it is very fitting. It states one of the greatest facts the Bible teaches. Everything for us turns on it. How quickly do we put confidence in man; how slowly do we trust in the Lord! Yet Israel has to learn to stop leaning on man and to trust in God. And we have to learn it too.
There is a nearer prince than any ruler, and he is the hardest to give up.
Beyond dispute, each of us knows one man we are strongly tempted to trust. We are more likely to trust in him than in all other men put together. The man you are likely to trust is yourself. The man I am likely to trust is myself. Yet, "He that trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Prov. 28:26).
The verse says one thing is better, so what does the better choice secure? Ebed-melech pulled the prophet Jeremiah out of a pit, and God promised to spare him because he had trusted in the Lord.
Trust in the Lord is never wasted. Ebed-melech's trust was so small that only He could see it. It is better, then, to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in princes. He has all power and might against the enemy, and His grace toward us knows no limits.
- Better, learned — This is not a theory. In distress, a rescued man found the Lord on his side and stopped counting on the great ones of the earth.
- Better than the best — Honest, well meaning rulers still fail. God is not the start of their plans, and His glory is not the goal of their actions.
- Better than a change of rulers — Israel asked for a king and gained nothing. Turning from flesh in one form to flesh in another is no cure.
- Better than yourself — The man each of us is most tempted to trust is the one in the mirror. Scripture calls that trust foolish.
- Better, always — Trust in the Lord is never wasted, even when only He can see it. He has all power against the enemy, and His grace toward us knows no limits.