Commentary - Psalm 118:5-9

Bird's-eye view

Psalm 118 is the capstone of the Hallel Psalms (113-118), which were sung at the great Jewish festivals, most notably the Passover. This psalm is therefore saturated with the gospel, a triumphant celebration of a victory won through the midst of great trial. It is a psalm about the Messiah, the King, who calls out in distress, is answered by God, and is made the head of the corner. Our text, verses 5-9, sets the stage for this triumph by establishing the bedrock foundation of all Christian confidence. The psalmist, representing both the King and His people, declares the fundamental antithesis of Scripture: either you trust in Yahweh, or you trust in man. The choice is that stark, and the results are worlds apart. One leads to a "large place" of freedom and victory, the other to the vanity of leaning on a broken reed.

The movement is simple and powerful. It begins with a personal testimony of deliverance (v. 5), moves to a bold declaration of fearlessness based on God's presence (v. 6), builds to an assurance of victory over enemies (v. 7), and culminates in two of the most potent summary statements in all the Bible about the nature of true faith (vv. 8-9). This is the logic of faith: because God has acted, we can be confident, and because we are confident in Him, we must place our trust nowhere else.

Outline

Context In Psalms

As the last of the Hallel psalms, Psalm 118 was almost certainly the hymn that our Lord sang with His disciples after the Last Supper, just before they went out to the Mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30). This places the psalm on the very lips of Jesus as He walked toward the ultimate "distress" of Gethsemane and the cross. The confidence expressed here is therefore not a cheap bravado, but the hard-won, covenantal faithfulness of the Son of God Himself. He is the one who called upon Yah in His distress, and He is the one who was set in the largest place of all, the right hand of the Majesty on High. When we read these verses, we are not just reading the words of a generic psalmist; we are reading the battle cry of our King, and because we are in Him, it becomes our battle cry as well.

Key Issues

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 5 From my distress I called upon Yah; Yah answered me and set me in a large place.

The Christian life begins here. It does not begin in a large place, but rather in a tight spot, a place of distress. The word for distress here means a narrow, constricted place. Sin, fear, and death hem us in. The natural man has no room to move. And from that tight place, the only sane thing to do is call out. Notice the psalmist doesn't say he reasoned his way out, or mustered up his own strength. He "called upon Yah." This is the prayer of faith, the cry of dependence. And the result? Yah answered. God is not deaf. He hears the cries of His people. The answer is not just a removal of the distress, but a dramatic reversal. He sets the psalmist "in a large place." This is the glorious liberty of the children of God. It is salvation, justification, and adoption all rolled into one. From the constriction of sin to the wide-open spaces of grace.

v. 6 Yahweh is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?

This is the logical and spiritual consequence of the previous verse. Because God has answered, the believer can now make this audacious declaration. "Yahweh is for me." This is the language of covenant. God is not a neutral, disinterested observer. He has taken our side. He is on our team. And if the God who spoke the galaxies into existence is on your side, what is there left to fear? The answer is nothing. Therefore, "I will not fear." This is not a suggestion, but a conclusion. Fear is irrational for the one who has God. The psalmist then throws down the gauntlet with a rhetorical question: "What can man do to me?" The author of Hebrews picks this very line up and applies it to all Christians (Heb. 13:6). Man can threaten, persecute, and even kill the body. But he cannot touch the soul; he cannot separate us from the love of God. In the ultimate sense, man is impotent. His greatest threat is a pinprick in the light of eternity. This is not whistling in the dark; it is standing in the noon-day sun of God's favor and seeing every shadow for the flimsy thing it is.

v. 7 Yahweh is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me.

The psalmist clarifies God's help. God is not just for him in some abstract, ethereal sense. He is for him "among those who help me." God works through means. He provides allies, friends, and brothers in arms. But the ultimate confidence is not in the helpers themselves, but in Yahweh who is among them. He is the captain of the host. Because of this divine alliance, the outcome is certain. "Therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me." This is not vindictive gloating. It is the calm assurance of ultimate victory. In Christ, we are more than conquerors. The battle may be fierce, but the war has already been won. We can look upon our spiritual enemies, sin, death, and the devil, with the settled knowledge that their defeat is guaranteed. We see the end from the beginning, and the end is triumph.

v. 8 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh Than to trust in man.

Here we have the central thesis, the distilled wisdom of the entire passage. In fact, this is the middle verse of the entire Bible, and it is fitting that it should be so. It presents the great antithesis. There are only two places to put your trust. You can take refuge in Yahweh, or you can trust in man. There is no third option. To take refuge in Yahweh is to run to Him as a strong tower, to hide in His strength, to rely on His character. To trust in man is to lean on a creature, a finite, fickle, and fallen being. The psalmist says it is "better" to trust in God. This is a classic biblical understatement. It is not just marginally better, like choosing one brand of bread over another. It is infinitely, eternally, and categorically better. To trust in man is to build your house on the sand. To trust in God is to build on the rock.

v. 9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh Than to trust in nobles.

Lest we think the previous verse only applied to trusting in the common man, the psalmist now raises the stakes. What about the powerful? What about princes, nobles, presidents, and CEOs? Surely they are more reliable? The answer is a resounding no. The principle holds, no matter how high up the ladder you go. "It is better to take refuge in Yahweh than to trust in nobles." Princes have armies, treasuries, and influence. But they are still just men. They die. They make mistakes. They sin. Their power is derivative and fleeting. To place your ultimate hope in a political leader or any human institution is the height of folly. They cannot save. Only Yahweh can. This psalm systematically dismantles every false object of trust, leaving us with only one place to stand, one refuge in the storm: the Lord Himself.

Application

The application of this passage is direct and cuts to the very heart of our daily lives. Every time anxiety begins to rise in your heart, you are standing at the crossroads described in verses 8 and 9. Your fear is a spiritual indicator, telling you that you are beginning to trust in man, or in yourself, rather than in God. The solution is not to try harder, but to repent of your misplaced trust and flee again to your only true refuge.

When you are in distress, your first instinct must be to call upon Yah. Do not ruminate, do not despair, do not strategize on your own. Cry out to God. He specializes in taking people from tight spots and setting them in large places. And when He does, you must preach verse 6 to your own soul. If God is for you, who can be against you? Let this truth silence your fears. Man, in all his bluster, cannot derail the purposes of God for your life. Your enemies will be defeated. Look upon them in faith, seeing their end, and do not be intimidated by their present noise.

Finally, make it your life's mission to live out the truth of the Bible's central verse. In your finances, in your parenting, in your politics, in your health, consciously and deliberately refuse to place your ultimate trust in man, and instead, take refuge in the Lord. This is the path of peace, courage, and ultimate triumph.