Give us help against the enemy, For deliverance by man is worthless.
Parallel translations
- WEB Give us help against the enemy, for the help of man is vain.
- KJV Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
- BSB Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
- NKJV Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless.
- NLT Oh, please help us against our enemies, for all human help is useless.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David pleads for God's help against the enemy, for human help is worthless.
Overview
Recognizing the vanity of mere human aid, David appeals to God as the only true deliverer. The futility of relying on man drives him to depend wholly on the LORD. This lesson runs throughout Scripture and finds its fullness in the gospel, where salvation comes not by human effort but by God's grace in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 17:5–8Yahweh says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from Yahweh.
- Ps 146:3–5Don’t put your trust in princes, each a son of man in whom there is no help.
- Lam 4:17Our eyes still fail, looking in vain for our help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.
- Isa 2:22Stop trusting in man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for of what account is he?
- Isa 31:3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When Yahweh stretches out his hand, both he who helps shall stumble, and he who is helped shall fall, and they all shall be consumed together.
- Isa 30:3–5Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.
- Ps 20:1–9For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David. May Yahweh answer you in the day of trouble. May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high,
- Job 16:2“I have heard many such things. You are all miserable comforters!
- Job 9:13“God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 108:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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