Psalms 60:11

60:11 Give us help against the enemy,

for any help men might offer is futile. ¹ 

Psalms 62:8

62:8 Trust in him at all times, you people!

Pour out your hearts before him! ² 

God is our shelter! (Selah)

Psalms 118:8-9

118:8 It is better to take shelter ³  in the Lord

than to trust in people.

118:9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord

than to trust in princes.

Psalms 124:1-3

Psalm 124 ⁴ 

A song of ascents, ⁵  by David.

124:1 “If the Lord had not been on our side” –

let Israel say this! –

124:2 if the Lord had not been on our side,

when men attacked us, ⁶ 

124:3 they would have swallowed us alive,

when their anger raged against us.

Psalms 127:1

Psalm 127 ⁷ 

A song of ascents, ⁸  by Solomon.

127:1 If the Lord does not build a house, ⁹ 

then those who build it work in vain.

If the Lord does not guard a city, ¹⁰ 

then the watchman stands guard in vain.

Psalms 146:3

146:3 Do not trust in princes,

or in human beings, who cannot deliver! ¹¹ 

Isaiah 2:2

2:2 In the future ¹² 

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ¹³ 

as the most important of mountains,

and will be the most prominent of hills. ¹⁴ 

All the nations will stream to it,

Jeremiah 17:5

Individuals Are Challenged to Put Their Trust in the Lord ¹⁵ 

17:5 The Lord says,

“I will put a curse on people

who trust in mere human beings,

who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength, ¹⁶ 

and whose hearts ¹⁷  have turned away from the Lord.

[60:11]  ¹ tn Heb “and futile [is] the deliverance of man.”

[62:8]  ² tn To “pour out one’s heart” means to offer up to God intense, emotional lamentation and petitionary prayers (see Lam 2:19).

[118:8]  ³ tn “Taking shelter” in the Lord is an idiom for seeking his protection. Seeking his protection presupposes and even demonstrates the subject’s loyalty to the Lord. In the psalms those who “take shelter” in the Lord are contrasted with the wicked and equated with those who love, fear, and serve the Lord (Pss 5:11-12; 31:17-20; 34:21-22).

[124:1]  ⁴ sn Psalm 124. Israel acknowledges that the Lord delivered them from certain disaster.

[124:1]  ⁵ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[124:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “rose up against us.”

[127:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 127. In this wisdom psalm the psalmist teaches that one does not find security by one’s own efforts, for God alone gives stability and security.

[127:1]  ⁸ sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[127:1]  ⁹ sn The expression build a house may have a double meaning here. It may refer on the surface level to a literal physical structure in which a family lives, but at a deeper, metaphorical level it refers to building, perpetuating, and maintaining a family line. See Deut 25:9; Ruth 4:11; 1 Sam 2:35; 2 Sam 7:27; 1 Kgs 11:38; 1 Chr 17:10, 25. Having a family line provided security in ancient Israel.

[127:1]  ¹⁰ sn The city symbolizes community security, which is the necessary framework for family security.

[146:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in a son of man, to whom there is no deliverance.”

[2:2]  ¹² tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.

[2:2]  ¹³ tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[2:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.

[17:5]  ¹⁵ sn Verses 5-11 are a collection of wisdom-like sayings (cf. Ps 1) which set forth the theme of the two ways and their consequences. It has as its background the blessings and the curses of Deut 28 and the challenge to faith in Deut 29-30 which climaxes in Deut 30:15-20. The nation is sinful and God is weary of showing them patience. However, there is hope for individuals within the nation if they will trust in him.

[17:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “who make flesh their arm.” The “arm” is the symbol of strength and the flesh is the symbol of mortal man in relation to the omnipotent God. The translation “mere flesh and blood” reflects this.

[17:5]  ¹⁷ sn In the psychology of ancient Hebrew thought the heart was the center not only of the emotions but of the thoughts and motivations. It was also the seat of moral conduct (cf. its placement in the middle of the discussion of moral conduct in Prov 4:20-27, i.e., in v. 23).