Psalm 62:9

Translations

Modern

Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

Traditional

Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.

Literal

Only a vapor are the sons of a man, a lie the sons of a man—in the scales they go up as a vapor together.

Latin

Verumtamen vani filii hominum, mendaces filii hominum in stateris, ut decipiant ipsi de vanitate in idipsum.

Original

Hebrew

English

Lowborn men are but a vapor; the exalted are but a lie. Weighed on the scale, they go up; together they are but a vapor.

Notes

Psalms 62:9

are but a lie: People often try to appear stronger and better than they truly are.

Psalms 62:9–12

Humans are temporary, unlike God. Even when successful, their prosperity does not last long.

Psalms 62:1–12

This psalm expresses trust in the king and includes a prayer for him. The king relies on God even during tough times.

His tricky and strong enemies challenge him, but he stays strong. He urges himself and his people to trust God.

He wants them to view their human enemies from God's perspective, where they seem weak, temporary, and deceitful (Psalm 62:9).

Psalms 61:1–63:11

In these royal prayers, the psalmist longs for God’s presence. All three psalms concern themselves with the king’s security.

Psalms 51:1–65:13

These psalms of David share a common theme. They reflect on the experience of evil. In Psalm 51, the psalmist admits his wrongdoing and asks for God's forgiveness. Psalms 52–64 express sorrow over specific evils David faced. A song of praise (Psalm 65) brings David's laments to an end.

Theme notes and profiles

David All Is “Vapor” The Heart in the Psalms Trusting God in the Psalms Wisdom Psalms

Related verses

Psalm 39:5
You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah
Isaiah 40:17
All the nations are as nothing before Him; He regards them as nothingness and emptiness.
Isaiah 40:15
Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
Psalm 118:9
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.
Psalm 39:11
You discipline and correct a man for his iniquity, consuming like a moth what he holds dear; surely each man is but a vapor. Selah
2 Samuel 15:31
Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
2 Samuel 15:6
Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for justice. In this way he stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
Psalm 116:11
In my alarm I said, “All men are liars!”
1 Samuel 18:5
So David marched out and prospered in everything Saul sent him to do, and Saul set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Saul’s officers as well.
Romans 3:4
Certainly not! Let God be true and every man a liar. As it is written: “So that You may be proved right when You speak and victorious when You judge.”
1 Samuel 23:12
So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” “They will,” said the LORD.
1 Samuel 23:19–20
Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon?

Glossary

David Jeduthun Music Psalms, Book of Weights and Measures

Topics

False Confidence in Man Vanity: Every State of Man Is

Psalm 62:9

Translations?

Original?

Notes?

Related verses?

Glossary?

Topics?