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.
- KJV Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
- BSB Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are 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 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.
- Jer 32:40and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me.
- Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
- Ps 82:6–7I said, “You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High.
- Deut 2:25Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.”
- Acts 12:22–23The people shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!”
- Ps 76:12He will cut off the spirit of princes. He is feared by the kings of the earth.
- Ezek 30:13Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt.
- Ezek 28:9Will you yet say before him who kills you, I am God? but you are man, and not God, in the hand of him who wounds you.
- Exod 23:27I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
- Ezek 28:2Son of man, tell the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a god, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas; yet you are man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God —
- Exod 15:16Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone — until your people pass over, Yahweh, until the people pass over who you have 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.