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Psalm 146 · a question people ask

Does "Don’t put your trust in princes" (146:3) mean I shouldn't rely on anyone?

In the text

The psalm gives its own reason, and it is about where hope rests. A prince is "a son of man in whom there is no help" (146:3): "His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish" (146:4). Against that it sets the one "who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD, his God" (146:5). Psalm 118 has the same two Hebrew words, trust and princes: "It is better to take refuge in the LORD, than to put confidence in princes" (Psalm 118:9), and the verse before says the same of man (Psalm 118:8). Psalm 146 names no prince and gives no rules for dealing with people. It says whose help lasts, and these notes don't apply it to any ruler or leader today.

The verses

“Don’t put your trust in princes, in a son of man in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth. In that very day, his thoughts perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD, his God,”
Psalm 146:3-5 · World English Bible
“It is better to take refuge in the LORD, than to put confidence in man. It is better to take refuge in the LORD, than to put confidence in princes.”
Psalm 118:8-9 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Psalm 146

Psalm 146: Whose hope is in the LORD

The WEB says help twice, but in Hebrew they are two words: a son of man has no teshu'ah (146:3), and happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his ezer (146:5). And the one "who made heaven and earth" (146:6) is, in the same Hebrew word, oseh, the one "who executes justice for the oppressed" (146:7).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions