Psalms 118 · Verse 9

Psalms 118:9

It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.
Psalms 118:9, King James Version

Psalms 118:9 in other translations

BSBIt is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
WEBIt is better to take refuge in the LORD, than to put confidence in princes.
ASVIt is better to take refuge in Jehovah Than to put confidence in princes.
YLTBetter to take refuge in Jehovah, Than to trust in princes.
DARBYIt is better to trust in Jehovah than to put confidence in nobles.
BBEIt is better to have faith in the Lord than to put one's hope in rulers.
WebsterIt is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

What does Psalms 118:9 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Psalms 118:8-9

8-9. Even the most powerful men are less to be trusted than God.

Read the full comment on Psalms 118:8-9 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 9 In princes - Men of high estate are generally proud, vainglorious, self-confident, and rash: it is better to trust in God than in them. Often they cannot deliver, and often they will not when they can. However, in the concerns of our salvation, and in matters which belong to Providence, they can do nothing.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Psalms 118:1-18

The account the psalmist here gives of his troubles is very applicable to Christ: many hated him without a cause; nay, the Lord himself chastened him sorely, bruised him, and put him to grief, that by his stripes we might be healed. God is sometimes the strength of his people, when he is not their song; they have spiritual supports, though they want spiritual delights. Whether the believer traces back his comfort to…

Read the full comment on Psalms 118:1-18 →

Psalms 118:9 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

ט֗וֹבTov[is] goodH2896
לַחֲס֥וֹתla.cha.Sotto take refugeH2620
בַּיהוָ֑הba.Yah.wehin YahwehH3068
מִ֝בְּטֹ֗חַmi.be.To.achmore than to trustH982
בִּנְדִיבִֽים\׃bin.di.Vimin noble [people]H5081

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Psalms 118:9

  • Psalms 146:3-5

    Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God:

  • Ezekiel 29:7

    When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.

  • Isaiah 31:1

    Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!

  • Isaiah 30:2-3

    That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

  • Isaiah 31:8

    Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited.

  • Isaiah 30:15-17

    For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not. But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.

  • Isaiah 36:6-7

    Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him. But if thou say to me, We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
than to put.
146:3-5; Isa 30:2,3,15-17; 31:1,8; 36:6,7; Eze 29:7

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Psalms 118:8

    It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.

  • Psalms 118:9

    It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

  • Psalms 118:10

    All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them.

Read all of Psalms 118

Psalms 118:9 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Mejor es esperar en Jehová que esperar en príncipes.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Mieux vaut mettre sa confiance en l’ Éternel que de se confier dans les principaux.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Es ist besser, auf Jehova zu trauen, als sich zu verlassen auf Fürsten.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		In quo corrigit adolescentior viam suam? in custodiendo sermones tuos.