The Meaning of Psalms 108:12 Explained

Psalms 108:12

KJV: Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.

YLT: Give to us help from adversity, And vain is the salvation of man.

Darby: Give us help from trouble; for vain is man's deliverance.

ASV: Give us help against the adversary; For vain is the help of man.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Give  us help  from trouble:  for vain  [is] the help  of man. 

What does Psalms 108:12 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 108:1-13 - Victorious Through God
Two fragments of Davidic psalms are here joined together with very slight alterations. In Psalms 108:1-5 are from Psalms 57:7-11, and Psalms 108:6-13 from Psalms 60:5-12. We need the fixed heart, ever constant to God, as is the needle to the pole. When we are right with God we go through the world, awakening song and hope in forlorn hearts. Note the themes for constant adoration, Psalms 108:3-5.
Apparently David stood in imagination at the beginning of those conquests which made Israel great and extended her frontiers to the great river Euphrates. He felt that God had spoken in His holiness, and had already given him the territories here enumerated. All that remained for him to do was to occupy and possess what the Almighty had allotted. There is a close analogy here to our appropriation of those heavenly blessings which are ours in the risen Lord. It is not we who can tread down our adversaries. They are too strong and insidious. But when our heart is fixed, God goes before us, vanquishing our foes, and we have but to follow after, gathering in the spoils. In our inner conflicts, vain is human help, even the best. Go before us, Great Shepherd, with thy rod and staff! [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 108

1  David encourages himself to praise God
5  He prays for God's assistance according to his promise
11  His confidence in God's help

What do the individual words in Psalms 108:12 mean?

Give us help from trouble for is useless the help of man
הָֽבָה־ לָּ֣נוּ עֶזְרָ֣ת מִצָּ֑ר וְ֝שָׁ֗וְא תְּשׁוּעַ֥ת אָדָֽם

הָֽבָה־  Give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular, third person feminine singular
Root: הַב 
Sense: to give, provide, ascribe, come.
לָּ֣נוּ  us 
Parse: Preposition, first person common plural
עֶזְרָ֣ת  help 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: עֶזְרָה  
Sense: help, succour, assistance.
מִצָּ֑ר  from  trouble 
Parse: Preposition-m, Noun, masculine singular
Root: צַר 
Sense: narrow, tight.
וְ֝שָׁ֗וְא  for  is  useless 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine singular
Root: שָׁוְא  
Sense: emptiness, vanity, falsehood.
תְּשׁוּעַ֥ת  the  help 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: תְּשׁוּעָה  
Sense: salvation, deliverance.
אָדָֽם  of  man 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָדָם 
Sense: man, mankind.