Commentary - Psalm 146:3-4

Bird's-eye view

In these two sharp, incisive verses, the psalmist delivers a foundational piece of biblical wisdom: do not place your ultimate trust in mortal man. This is not a cynical jab at human incompetence, but a theological statement of fact. The warning is directed against trusting in "nobles" and the "son of man," which covers the entire spectrum of human power and potential, from the highest corridors of political authority to the basic reality of human existence. The reason for this prohibition is stark and simple: there is no "salvation" in man. He is frail, his life is a vapor, and all his grand schemes and blueprints for the future die with him. This passage serves as a crucial negative preparation for what follows, clearing the ground of all false hopes in order to establish the only true and lasting hope in the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

The logic is unassailable. Man is a creature of dust, animated by a spirit that is not his own to keep. When God recalls that spirit, the man returns to the dust from which he was made, and all his ambitions, strategies, and five-year plans evaporate. To build your life's hope on such a foundation is to build on a sandbar in a hurricane. This is a bucket of cold, bracing, theological water in the face of all humanistic utopianism. It forces the reader to look away from the creature and toward the Creator, the only one whose plans do not perish and in whom there is true salvation.

Outline

Context In Psalms

Psalm 146 is the first of the final five "Hallelujah" psalms (146-150) that form a grand doxological conclusion to the entire Psalter. Each of these psalms begins and ends with "Praise the Lord!" (Hallelujah). This psalm sets the tone for this final crescendo of praise by establishing the fundamental contrast between the frailty of man and the eternal, covenant-keeping power of Yahweh. After the psalmist's personal resolution to praise God for life (vv. 1-2), he immediately turns to this stark warning against misplaced trust. This is not random advice; it is the necessary ground-clearing before true worship can be established. You cannot praise God as you ought if your trust is secretly invested elsewhere. The rest of the psalm (vv. 5-10) then unpacks the blessedness of the one who trusts in the Lord, detailing His creative power and His redemptive actions. Verses 3-4, therefore, function as the essential negative counterpart to the glorious positive description of God that follows.

Key Issues

The Great De-platforming

In our day, we are obsessed with platforms. Political platforms, social media platforms, personal platforms. We are constantly encouraged to build our platform, to leverage our platform, to trust in the platforms of others. Men make grand promises from their platforms, whether they are in Washington D.C. or Silicon Valley. They present themselves as the solution, the fix, the way forward. This psalm comes to us as a divine de-platforming. It tells us to stop looking to the stages and podiums of men, no matter how influential or impressive they seem.

The Bible is not anti-government or anti-leadership. God establishes authorities for our good (Rom. 13:1). But He is absolutely against us giving to any human leader the ultimate trust and allegiance that belongs to Him alone. When we look to a politician, a CEO, or any human institution as our ultimate savior, we have committed idolatry. The psalmist here is a realist. He is not just saying that men are morally fallible, though they certainly are. He is making a much more fundamental point: they are mortal. Their best-laid plans are subject to a heartbeat. To trust in them for "salvation", for ultimate deliverance, security, and well-being, is the height of folly. God here is graciously wrecking all our false political and humanistic hopes so that we might build on the only foundation that cannot be shaken: the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse by Verse Commentary

3 Do not trust in nobles, In merely a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.

The command is direct and absolute: Do not trust. The object of this forbidden trust is specified in two ways that cover all the bases. First, "nobles" or princes. This refers to those in positions of power, influence, and authority. These are the people who make promises during election cycles, the ones who command armies, the ones who write the laws. They are the very ones the world tells us we must trust in for societal stability and progress. The Bible says, don't do it. Don't place your ultimate hope there. Second, he generalizes to "a son of man." This is a Hebrew idiom for a human being, any human being. It emphasizes man's creatureliness and frailty. So, do not trust in the powerful, and do not trust in common humanity. Do not trust in the elites, and do not trust in populism. Why? Because in man, there is no salvation. The word for salvation here is broad; it means deliverance, help, safety, victory. Man, no matter how powerful or well-intentioned, cannot provide ultimate deliverance from our deepest problems, sin, death, and the wrath of God. He can't even guarantee deliverance from temporal problems. He is not the source of salvation; he is in need of it himself.

4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his plans perish.

This verse provides the stark, biological, and theological reason for the prohibition in verse 3. It is a miniature theology of human mortality. What is man? He is a composite being of spirit and earth. His life depends on the presence of his "spirit" or breath (ruach), which is on loan from God. When God recalls it, the man's life is over. That is the first clause: His spirit departs. The second clause tells us what happens to the physical part: he returns to the earth. This is a direct echo of the curse in Genesis 3:19, "for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Man's body decomposes and goes back to its constituent elements. The final clause draws the devastating conclusion for anyone who was trusting in this man: In that very day his plans perish. All his schemes, his policies, his ambitions, his promises, his threats, they all die with him. The Hebrew word for "plans" refers to his thoughts, his designs, his purposes. They evaporate. The great man dies, and the next day there is a funeral, and the day after that his successors are already undoing his legacy. To build your hope on a man is to build on a puff of smoke.

Application

The application of this passage is profoundly counter-cultural, especially in a politically charged age. It commands us to repent of our political idolatries, whether of the left or of the right. When we find ourselves despairing because our candidate lost, or becoming messianic because our candidate won, we are demonstrating that our trust is in nobles. This psalm calls us to a radical God-centeredness in every area of life, and especially in our public and civic life. We are to be good citizens, we are to pray for our leaders, and we are to participate in the civic process. But our hope is not in the process or the people. Our hope is in the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

This passage also drives us directly to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The central problem identified here is that there is no salvation in a "son of man" because he dies and his plans perish. But what has God done? He has provided a Son of Man in whom there is salvation. Jesus Christ is the true Son of Man, yet He is also the eternal Son of God. His spirit departed on the cross, and He returned to the earth in the tomb. But unlike every other son of man, His plans did not perish. On the third day, He took up His life again, demonstrating that death had no ultimate power over Him. His plans for the salvation of His people and the restoration of all things did not perish; they were accomplished. Therefore, we are commanded not to trust in mere men, so that we might place all our trust in the one Man who is also God, the Lord Jesus. He is the only Prince whose kingdom will never end, and the only Son of Man who has the power of an indestructible life.