Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar;

Psalms 118:9 “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.”

That verse pretty much goes without question.  Still there is more to this than meets the eye.

For one thing the word “better” is “tov.”  It is in harmony with God to trust in Jehovah. There are two different words in this verse which both mean trust.  The first is “chasuth.”

The second is “betach.”  Both can be translated as trust but “betach is your standard word for trust.  This has the idea of clinging to or being welded to.  When we say “trust in the Lord,”  we mean be “welded to the Lord.”

Odd but that is the word used in this verse in relation to prince or man.  It is better to trust in the Jehovah than to weld  yourself to princes.  The word used for trust in Jehovah is “chasuth” which means to take refuge in or confide in.  In it’s primitive state is means to find shelter in the presence of God.  It is better to find shelter or refuge in the presence of God than to weld yourself to princes.

So where do you find a prince to weld yourself to?  Actually, the word for prince is “nadav” which basically means free will, voluntary.  The word prince comes out of this from the sense of nobility.  Nobility has the idea of voluntarily giving of yourself for a cause.  If someone stops to assist you with a flat tire you would say: “That is really noble of you.”   In other words, you are doing something you really don’t have to do.  Hence, in this verse the prince you will weld yourself to is anyone or thing that voluntarily helps you out.

Is that such a bad thing to accept the offer of help from someone? Obviously not, and God often uses noble gestures from human sources to get us out of a jamb.  Getting help from someone who is voluntarily offering his services can be a good thing.  What the writer here is saying that trusting in those with the best intentions, is no match for the refuge that God can provide.

When we get into a fix, we do crave something tangible, that we can see and feel.  Yet, God may or may not use a tangible source to delivery us. That is why our refuge must always be from Him and if it comes from a tangible source we give God the thanks for providing this source of protection.

My study partner came up with a different twist.  Does the word prince have to mean a person?  Since the word “nadav” means a “noble gesture” or “free will”  it is possible the writer was saying that it is in harmony with God to find refuge in Jehovah than  in your “noble gestures” or acts of your will.  I would tend to “Amen” this.   We will trust or “weld” or “cling” to our good works or our noble effects to find our refuge.  We go to church, we sing nice songs, we don’t drink or smoke or all those non-Christian things and then we expect God to say: “Oy and what good things you’ve done for me Bunkie, come, come I should now answer all your prayers.”  Yet, all our righteousness is as filthy rags Isaiah 64:6.  God is not impressed with our works. That is not what pleases him.  Though I speak with tongues of men and angels, have the gift of prophecy, understand all mysteries, bestow all my goods to feed the poor or give my body up to be burned, if I do not love God and let His love shine upon others, then it is not tov (in harmony with God). {I Corinthians 13).

We must find our refuge in Jehovah and not in all our noble gestures.

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