Psalms 20:7
What does Psalms 20:7 mean?
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.
The short answer
Psalm 20:7 draws a sharp line between two kinds of confidence: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God." In the ancient world, chariots and horses were the pinnacle of military power—the tanks and fighter jets of their day. A king counting his forces before battle would naturally look first at how his cavalry compared to the enemy's.
But this verse is not a vague slogan about faith versus technology. It grows out of Israel's own story. Israel had watched God drown Pharaoh's chariots at the Red Sea, and God had told his people not to be afraid when they faced horses and chariots in battle (Deuteronomy 20:1). The prophet Hosea later echoed the same theme: God's salvation does not arrive by warhorse (Hosea 1:7). Israel's history taught the nation that deliverance belongs to God, not to hardware.
Here is the surprising edge of the verse. God might well use armies, resources, and human effort to rescue his people—but the psalm warns against trusting those instruments themselves. The means of rescue can fail. The very next verse says those who lean on such things collapse and fall, while those who trust God rise and stand upright. The psalm asks the king, and us, to look past every visible tool of deliverance to the Deliverer behind them.
To trust "the name of Yahweh our God" is to trust God's revealed character—who he has shown himself to be across generations. The name carries the whole history: the God of the exodus, the God who keeps covenant, the God whose deliverance is not measured in horsepower. That is where the psalm plants its confidence on the eve of battle.
What scholars say
In this excerpt from his NICOT commentary on the Psalms, Rolf A. Jacobson explains why the psalm warns against trusting the very means God may use to save, tracing the theme from the Red Sea through Deuteronomy and Hosea.
“As such, they could either be the cause of fear if one was opposed to them or of confidence if one was supported by them. Israel was neither to fear horse and chariot (Deut. 20:1) nor were they to trust in them (Ps. 20:7). Rather, they were to fear and trust the Lord, whose salvation does not come by means of the horse or chariot (Hos. 1:7). Deliverance belongs to the Lord, who defeated horse and chariot at the Red Sea. This psalm, which announces the present unfolding of the Lord's deliverance, warns against trusting in the means of God's saving help and points the king past those means—which will collapse and fall—to the name of the Lord our God.”
What it means for you
Most of us do not count chariots, but we all keep an inventory of what makes us feel secure—savings accounts, careers, health, relationships, our own competence. None of these things are bad; God often provides through them. The question Psalm 20:7 presses is where our weight actually rests. When the account runs low or the plan falls apart, do we panic as though our rescuer has vanished?
The verse invites a quiet recalibration: use the means God gives, but anchor your confidence in God himself. Instruments can fail. The One who stands behind them does not. Naming that difference—out loud, in prayer—is one practical way to make this verse your own.
Psalms 20 in context
Psalm 20 is a prayer for the king before battle. In verses 1–5, the community asks God to answer the king in the day of trouble, remember his offerings, and grant his plans success. Verse 6 marks a turn: a voice declares confidence that God saves his anointed and answers from heaven. Verses 7–8 then draw the contrast at the heart of the psalm—those who trust in chariots and horses fall, while those who trust God rise and stand. The psalm closes in verse 9 with a final plea for God to save and answer.