Psalms 33:17

Psa 33:17 An horse [is] a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver [any] by his great strength.

Ver. 17. An horse is a vain thing] And yet a warlike creature, full of terror {See Trapp on "Psa 32:9"} and so swift in service, that the Persians dedicated him to the sun (Pausan.). See Job 41:20 Pro 21:31, {See Trapp on "Job 41:20"} {See Trapp on "Pro 21:31"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ver. 17. An horse is a vain thing for safety. Military strength among the Orientals lay much in horses and scythed chariots, but the psalmist calls them a lie, a deceitful confidence. Surely the knight upon his gallant steed may be safe, either by valour or by flight? Not so, his horse shall bear him into danger or crush him with its fall. Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Thus the strongest defences are less than nothing when most needed. God only is to be trusted and adored. Sennacherib with all his calvary is not a match for one angel of the Lord, Pharaoh's horses and chariots found it vain to pursue the Lord's anointed, and so shall all the leaguered might of earth and hell find themselves utterly defeated when they rise against the Lord and his chosen.

Ver. 17. An horse. If the strength of horses be of God, or be his gift Job 39:19, then trust not in the strength of horses: use the strength of horses, but do not trust the strength of horses. If you trust the strength which God hath given to horses, you make them your god. How often doth God forbid trusting in the strength of horses, as knowing that we are apt to trust in anything that is strong, though but a beast. An horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. As if God had said, you think a horse can save you, but know he is a vain thing. And when the psalmist saith, "A horse is a vain thing, "he doth not mean it of a weak horse, but of a horse of the greatest strength imaginable; such a horse is a vain thing to save a man, neither can he deliver any by his strength; and therefore the Lord, when he promised great deliverances to his people, lest they should expect it by the strength of horses, saith Ho 1:7, "I will save them by the Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses, nor by horsemen; "as if he had told them, do not look after creature strength to be saved by; a horse will be a vain thing to save you, and I can save you effectually without horses, and I will. Joseph Caryl.

Ver. 17-20. Man is sensible of his want of earthly blessings, and will never cease, with excessive care, diligence, and vexation, to hunt after them, till he come to know that God will provide for him. When one hath great friends which they are known to lean upon, we say of them, such need take no care, they know such and such will see to them. On the contrary, come to one who knows no end of toiling and caring, ask him, Why will you thus tire yourself out? He will answer, I must needs do it, I have none but myself to trust to. So Christ followeth his disciples' carefulness to this door, their unbelief, which did not let them consider our heavenly Father cared for them. No present estate, though never so great, can free the heart from distraction, because it is subject to decay and vanishing; we shall never cast the burden of care off our own shoulders, till we learn by faith to cast it upon the Lord, whose eye is over us for good. He will never renounce carnal supports who make not God the stay of his soul for outward things. He will trust in the abundance of his riches, wisdom, friends, or strength, that makes not God his strength. The heart of man, being aware of his inability to sustain himself if he be not underset, will seek out some prop, true or false, sound or rotten, to lean unto. They will 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, who look not to the Holy One of Israel, and seek not the Lord. John Ball.

Ver. 17-20. See Psalms on "Ps 33:17" for further information.

Ver. 17-20. See Psalms on "Ps 33:17" for further information.

Ver. 17-20. See Psalms on "Ps 33:17" for further information.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. (Psa 33:17) A lie (is) the horse for salvation, and by the greatness of his strength he shall not deliver. This is a mere specification of the general statement in the sixteenth verse. The horse meant is the war-horse, and is singled out as one of the elements of military strength in which the ancients were especially disposed to trust. See above, on Psa 20:8 (7), and compare Isa 31:1-3. A lie, a falsehood, i.e. something which deceives and disappoints the confidence reposed in it. The deliverance and salvation here referred to are deliverance and salvation from the perils of war.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

On the war horse (compare Job 39:19-25).

a vain thing--a lie, which deceives us.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. A horse is a vain thing for safety] Even the horse, with all his fleetness, is no sure means of escape from danger: the lion or the tiger can overtake him or he may stumble, fall, and destroy his rider.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. A horse is a deceitful thing for safety. In this verse, the Psalmist, by the figure synecdoche under the name of horse, is to be understood as meaning any kind of help. The sense is, that in general those who conceive that their life is well protected by earthly means, are commonly disappointed at the very crisis of danger, and are miserably beguiled to their utter undoing, so that God therein clearly shows them their folly. It is true, that kings are not armed with the sword in vain, nor is the use of horses superfluous, nor are the treasures and resources which God furnishes to defend men’s lives unnecessary, provided a right method of employing them be observed. But as the greater part of men the more they are surrounded with human defences, withdraw themselves the farther from God, and by a false imagination persuade themselves that they are in a haven safe from all disturbance, God acts most justly in disappointing this madness. This is the reason why his gifts often pass away without effect, because the world, by separating them from the giver, is also justly deprived of his blessing.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(17) Safety.—Better, victory. (Comp. Hab_3:8.) The allusion is to the war-horse.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. A horse—to the Israelites cavalry seemed the most formidable part of an army—is but a vain thing—lit. a lie, a delusion—for safety—for victory (Psa_21:1): neither can it give escape by the greatness of its power: it cannot even secure its rider’s escape in case of defeat. Cp. Pro_21:31.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A horse is a vain thing for safety,.... Though it is prepared for the day of battle, and is a very warlike creature, and of great service in war, yet safety only is of the Lord, Pro 21:31; this is put for all kinds of military preparations which men are apt to trust in, but should not, for they are "a lie" (i), as the horse is here said to be; that is, deceives and disappoints when trusted to; in like manner the olive is said "to lie", Hab 3:17; when hope of fruit from it is disappointed; so "fundus mendax" in Horace (k);

neither shall he deliver any by his great strength; in the time of battle; either by fighting for him, or fleeing with him.

(i) "mendacium", Pagninus, Montanus; "fallax", V. L. (k) Epod. l. 1. Ode 16. ver. 45. Carmin. l. 3. Ode 1. v. 30. "Spem mentita seges", ib. Epist. l. 1. ep. 7. v. 87.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

An horse - The reference here is undoubtedly to the war-horse. See the notes at Psa 20:7.

Is a vain thing - literally, is a “lie.” That is, he cannot be confided in.

For safety - For securing safety in battle. He is liable to be stricken down, or to become wild and furious so as to be beyond the control of his rider; and however strong or fleet he may be, or however well he may be “broken,” yet none of these things make it certain that the rider will be safe. God is the only being in whom perfect confidence can be reposed.

Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength - Safety cannot be found in his mere “strength,” however great that may be. These illustrations are all designed to lead the mind to the great idea that safety is to be found in God alone, Psa 33:18-19.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

An horse; though he be strong, Job 39:19, &c., and fit for battle, Pro 21:31; or for flight, if need requires. And so this is put for all warlike provisions; of which horses were and are a very considerable part.

A vain thing, Heb. a lie, because it promiseth that help and safety which it cannot give.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. A horse—The most formidable and fleet of all war animals west of the Indus.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

A horse is a vain thing for safety; literally, the horse; i.e. the species, horse, is not to be depended on for safety it is "a vain thing," quite unable to secure victory, or even escape, to those who trust in it. The use of the horse in war seems certainly to be implied here as familiar to the writer, whence it is rightly concluded that he must have lived later than the time of David. Solomon was the first Israelite king who enrolled a chariot and a cavalry force. (1Ki_10:26) Neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. (On the "great strength" of the horse, see Job_39:19 Psa_147:10)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

An horse - Though he be strong and fit for battle, or for flight, if need requires. And so this is put for all warlike provisions. Vain things - Hebrew. a lie; because it promises that help and safety which it cannot give.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.