Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
Parallel translations
- WEB Put them in fear, Yahweh. Let the nations know that they are only men. Selah.
- BSB Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah
- NKJV Put them in fear, O Lord, That the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah
- NASB Put them in fear, Lord; Let the nations know that they are merely human. Selah
- NLT Make them tremble in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know they are merely human. Interlude
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 asks God to make the nations fear and know that they are only men. Human pride is answered by the reminder of human frailty before God.
Overview
The psalm closes by praying that the nations recognize their creaturely limits before God. To know they are 'only men' is to abandon the pride that defies the Creator. 'Selah' marks a pause to weigh this humbling truth, which all humanity must one day acknowledge before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 31:3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
- Jer 32:40And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Ps 82:6–7I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.
- Deut 2:25This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.
- Acts 12:22–23And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.
- Ps 76:12He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.
- Ezek 30:13Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
- Ezek 28:9Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
- Exod 23:27I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
- Ezek 28:2Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
- Exod 15:16Fear and dread shall fall upon them; by the greatness of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O LORD, till the people pass over, which thou hast purchased.
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 9:20 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.