Bible Strands
Psalms 60:11
Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses God during a military crisis, following a direct question about divine rejection and the absence of God’s marching armies. The speaker petitions for rescue while acknowledging the community’s exposed position.
The words — The text foregrounds שָׁוְא (shav) = worthlessness and אָדָם ('adam) = humankind to state that mortal assistance lacks enduring value. This lexical pairing grounds the petition in the limits of human capability.
The thread — The identical petition appears in Psalms 108:12, while Psalms 146:3 reinforces the contrast by noting that mortal man cannot save. The theme resurfaces in communal laments that measure human frailty against divine intervention.
Why it lands — The verse requires a reader to abandon confidence in human aid when confronting an enemy. It establishes divine deliverance as the sole viable response to armed opposition.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
Cross-references
- Psalms 146:3 Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
- Psalms 108:12 Give us aid against the enemy, for the help of man is worthless.
- Psalms 124:1 A song of ascents. Of David. If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel now declare—
- Psalms 130:8 And He will redeem Israel from all iniquity.
- Isaiah 30:7 Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
- Psalms 62:1 For the choirmaster. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. In God alone my soul finds rest; my salvation comes from Him.
- Isaiah 31:3 But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.
- Psalms 25:22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all its distress.