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?
A Conclusion Drawn From Rescue
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.
The Central Fact
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.
The Man Hardest To Give Up
"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).
Swapping One Man For Another
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.
Why Even Good Leaders Fall Short
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."
The One Man Who May Be Trusted
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.
Summary
- 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.