Life Means Trusting God (vv. 3-6). Most people trust in “flesh and blood,” themselves and others, instead of trusting the Lord to use “flesh and blood” to accomplish His will (118:5-9; 44:4-8). What nobody else can do, God can do for us and through us. These verses suggest that the psalmist was concerned that Israel’s leaders not enter into ungodly alliances, but that they turn to God for help. Beginning with Abraham (Gen. 12:10ff.) and the exodus generation (Ex. 14:10-14; 16:1-3; Num. 14:1-10), the people of Israel turned to Egypt for help instead of trusting the Lord, and this was true even during the days of Isaiah (Isa. 31) and Jeremiah (Jer. 2:18; 37:1-10; 42–43). To trust in human wisdom and strength is to depend on that which cannot last, for all people die, and the brilliant ideas of one leader are replaced by the not-so-brilliant ideas of a new leader. In the Hebrew text, “man” is adam, which comes from the word adamah, which means “earth.” We came from the earth and return to the earth (Gen. 3:19).

“But will the Lord help me, as weak and failing as I am?” many believers ask. Well, He is “the God of Jacob” (v. 5), a title used at least a dozen times in the Psalms. (See 20:1; 24:6; 46:7, 11.) Jacob was far from being perfect, yet God honored his faith and helped him in times of need. Jacob trusted God’s promises, for his hope was in the Lord, but too often he depended on his own schemes to see him through. The beatitude in verse 5 is the last of twenty-five in the book of Psalms, starting with 1:1. But Jehovah is not only the God of Jacob, He is also the “God who made heaven and earth” (v. 6; 115:15; 121:2; 124:8; 134:3; Ezra 5:11) and has the power to act on behalf of His people. When we pray, we come to the throne of the universe to ask our Father for what we need. Finally, He is the God who “keeps faith forever” (v. 6 nasb). Israel knows Him as the God of the covenant, and Christian believers today know Him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who initiated a new covenant by giving His life on the cross. Jehovah is a God who can be trusted to keep His Word.