The king is not saved by the multitude of [his] forces; a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.
The psalm has just described God reviewing every person alive and weighing what they do. Now it says where safety is not found — not in armies, not in muscle — and leaves one question: if strength cannot save, what can?
The verse is not a stray proverb. It is the conclusion of a survey, and one writer traces where that survey lands:
From this safe harbour the world of living men is now reviewed. Jehovah Himself takes notice of them. He does not only see them; He examines them closely. He is the One who made them, and He knows everything they do. But the result only shows once more that man is nothing. The host that surrounds a king cannot save him, nor the strength of a hero. Nor can the strength of a horse be enough to deliver him, even to escape. But this is only the necessary prelude to another witness to God Himself.
History proves it. Ben-hadad, king of Syria, brought a huge army against an Israel that looked tiny:
The Syrians "filled the country," while Israel encamped "like two little flocks of goats" (1 Kings 20:27). The Lord told Israel He would deliver the great army into their hand (v. 28). Israel killed 100,000 foot soldiers. So his own great army did not save Ben Hadad, king of Syria — far from it. He went into an inner room to hide (v. 30). This is only one of many occasions that prove the truth of this verse.
A king can also trust his horses. Solomon wrote the truth about that in Proverbs, then forgot it:
In Proverbs 21:31 Solomon himself says, "The horse is made ready for the day of battle." Then he adds what he later forgot completely: "but the victory belongs to the LORD." So horses were used for war in his time... but David wrote before Solomon began to reign, "The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue" (Psalm 33:17).
The verse denies that numbers save. It does not say that few are holier than many. That correction matters, because a small group can be just as proud as a large one:
We must not despise numbers. Pride may lurk in the hearts of a few, as well as among the many.
Jonathan showed the opposite. He went up against the Philistines because numbers do not limit God:
He goes up against the Philistines in the power of that word: "nothing can hinder 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 reckon on circumstances, but on God.
The danger is rarely a loud rejection of God. It is a slow shift of confidence toward something visible. One writer measures it precisely:
Nothing is more certain than this. When a believer puts any degree of confidence in man, or in himself, he takes that much of his trust away from "the living God."... But faith alone can use the weapons of our warfare, and when faith fails, we always turn in practice to the world and its strength and wisdom for help.
One writer reads the verse forward to the end. When the nations finally gather against Israel, this psalm gets its closing proof:
Then the final lesson will appear. No king is saved by the size of his army. No mighty man is delivered by great strength. No horse can give safety. Israel at last are poor in spirit, and Jehovah brings the counsel of the nations to nothing, while His counsel stands for ever.
- Weighed. The verse follows God's survey of every person alive. He made them and knows all they do, and the result shows that man is nothing.
- Not saved. The biggest army cannot save a king. The strongest man cannot deliver himself. The horse cannot rescue by its might.
- Proved. Ben-hadad's huge army left him hiding in an inner room. Solomon filled his stables and forgot his own proverb.
- Not numbers. Pride can hide in a few as well as in a crowd. Faith does not count circumstances; it counts on God, so "many or few" makes no difference.
- Transferred. Confidence put in man is trust taken away from the living God. At the end, the nations' plan comes to nothing and His counsel stands for ever.
The horse is a vain thing for safety; neither doth he deliver by his great power.
Psalm 33 praises a God whose word made the heavens and whose plan outlasts every human one. Then it looks at what people lean on instead. Verse 17 names the strongest weapon an ancient army could own and says it cannot rescue anyone. So what can?
In the world of the psalm, the horse meant military power. One writer shows what God told His people about it:
Especially in those ancient days, and in the East, people used the horse mainly in war. God warned His people not to put their trust in this mighty instrument of war: "The war horse is a false hope for salvation." "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God" (Ps. 20:7). It is He who "has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea" (Ex. 15:1). Jehovah is infinitely exalted above all His creatures… Deliverance must come, not from horses, but from the Lord on high.
David wrote this psalm before Solomon became king. Solomon repeated the same lesson in one of his proverbs, and then forgot it.
Solomon himself tells us in Proverbs 21:31 that "The horse is made ready for the day of battle." Then he adds what he afterwards completely forgot: "but the victory belongs to the LORD."… But David wrote before Solomon began to reign, "The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue" (Psalm 33:17). And again, Jehovah's "delight is not in the strength of the horse" (Psalm 147:10). In days of danger Jehovah is worth more to His people than regiments of cavalry.
(Older translations read "safety is of Jehovah" in Proverbs 21:31 and "a vain thing for safety" in this verse. That shared word is why Fereday links them.)
The horse has gone; the instinct behind it has not. One writer puts the war horse beside a man's own strength, and beside every other defence people choose:
A mighty man trusts his own strength, and in the long run it fails him. He may trust the strength of a war horse in the same way. But this is a vain hope. In the end he will find even the great strength of the horse failing him. So people choose many methods of self-defence. These prove useless to protect them, because they are not depending on their Creator. But we all seem very slow to learn this most basic lesson. The strength of the creature, in any form, is pathetically weak. We need the strength of God to keep us safe.
One writer sees the same lesson taught one last time, when God brings the plans of the nations to nothing:
Then one final lesson will appear. No king is saved by the size of his army. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength. And the war horse is a false hope for salvation. Israel at last are poor in spirit. Jehovah brings the counsel of the nations to nothing, while His counsel stands for ever.
The psalm does not stop at this dead end. One writer shows what changes at verse 18, and why:
Though no deliverance is found in verses 16 and 17, how blessed is the change in the verses that follow. Why? Because "the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him" (v. 18). This is the fear that drives them into His presence. His eye of perfect discernment both inspires and approves them. Their hope is not in His justice, but in His mercy… He delights in the confessed weakness and failure of a believing heart, and He extends His mercy to them in full.
One writer names what a nation's weapons cannot reach, and what does reach it:
The sword is in the hands of the governing authorities, to punish the one who does evil. But the sword is no protection against spiritual powers… Yes, we may, we must pray. Prayer brings God in. It is the recognition of His supremacy and of our dependence upon Him; it is the right attitude of man towards God.
- Strength named. The horse was the strongest weapon of its day. God warned His people not to trust it.
- Strength forgotten. Solomon wrote that victory belongs to the LORD, and then forgot his own words. The warning is easy to quote and hard to keep.
- Strength exposed. Every kind of created strength fails in the end, and we are slow to learn it.
- Strength surrendered. Verses 16–17 find no rescue at all. Verse 18 finds the eye of the LORD on those who hope in His mercy, not on those who deserve His justice.
- Strength replaced. No weapon reaches spiritual powers. Prayer does, because it recognises His supremacy and our dependence on Him.