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Psalm 147:10
He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
8who covers the sky with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass grow on the mountains.
9He provides food for the livestock, and for the young ravens when they call.
10He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his loving kindness.
12Praise the LORD, Jerusalem! Praise your God, Zion!
Notice
The horse’s strength and a man’s legs expose a gap between the power people admire and what gives God pleasure.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
Where do you feel pressure to prove your worth through the strength or stamina you have?
Write on thisHow does verse 11 shape your reading of God’s lack of pleasure in physical strength?
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Where else Scripture says this
11 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Proverbs 21:31The horse is prepared for the day of battle; but victory is with the LORD.Both passages place the horse’s strength beneath God’s authority: it neither earns his delight nor determines victory.
1 Samuel 16:7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks …Both passages reject outward physical qualities as the measure of God’s regard for a person.
Psalm 33:16–18There is no king saved by the multitude of an army. A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.Human strength appears in both passages, as neither a source of God’s pleasure nor a guarantee of deliverance.
Isaiah 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, and rely on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong, but …Both passages challenge the importance assigned to strong horses, with Isaiah naming the danger of trusting them while neglecting God.
Psalm 20:7Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.Horses appear in both passages as a contrast to God, whose pleasure and trustworthiness outweigh their strength.
Ecclesiastes 9:11I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of …Both passages limit the significance of strength: it does not secure God’s pleasure in the psalm or victory in Ecclesiastes.
Hosea 1:7But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD their God, and will not save them by bow, sword, battle, horses, or horsemen.”Both passages set horses and human force below God: his pleasure does not rest in them, and his promised rescue needs neither.
Psalm 33:17A horse is a vain thing for safety, neither does he deliver any by his great power.Both passages name a horse’s strength while denying it ultimate weight, whether for God’s pleasure or a person’s safety.
Job 39:19–25“Have you given the horse might? Have you clothed his neck with a quivering mane?Both passages speak of a horse’s might before God, though Job questions its source and the psalm addresses God’s delight.
2 Samuel 1:23Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives. In their death, they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions.The shared thread is human strength: David praises Saul and Jonathan’s prowess, while the psalm denies that physical strength gives God pleasure.
Isaiah 9:17Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men, neither will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is profane and an …Both speak of God withholding delight, though Isaiah names wrongdoing as the cause, while the psalm addresses physical strength.
Where this verse fits
Envy and comparison. aging. praise and worship.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Your strength does not set the measure of God’s pleasure in you. The next verse names those who fear him and hope in his loving kindness.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).