Put not your trust in princes, in mortal man, who cannot save.
David stirs himself and us to praise God, then warns against the near-universal disease: we deceive ourselves by trusting in princes and great men, who have no power to save. The remedy is plain, center all hope in God alone, and He will show you His power and mercy.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 146:1-10
Put not your trust in princes. If David be the author this warning comes from a prince. In any case it comes from the Spirit of the living God. Men are always far too apt to depend upon the great ones of earth, and forget the Great One above; and this habit is the fruitful source of disappointment.
David is supposed to have penned this psalm; and he was himself a prince, a mighty prince; as such, it might be thought, 1. That he should be exempted from the service of praising God, that it was enough for him to see that his priests and people did it, but that he needed not to do it himself in his own person.
Commenting on Psalm 146:1-4