"The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"
— Psalm 118:6 (NIV)
Psalm 118:6 is the "the Lord is on my side, I will not fear" verse, a short answer to fear of other people. This page gives the verse, what the key words mean, where it sits in Psalm 118, and a plain reading. For more on the theme, see Bible verses about fear, Bible verses about courage, and Bible verses about God's presence.
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The verse
The King James reads: "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"
"The LORD" is the divine name YHWH (H3068). "Afraid" (KJV "fear") is yare (H3372), to fear or be afraid. "Mere mortals" (KJV "man") is adam (H120), humankind, and "do" is asah (H6213), to do or make.
Where it sits in Psalm 118
The psalm opens and closes with the same line: "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever" (Psalm 118:1, 29). Just before verse 6 the writer says, "When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place" (Psalm 118:5).
Right after it he repeats the thought: "The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans" (Psalm 118:7-8). Later in the same psalm comes "The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad" (Psalm 118:24).
What the verse is saying
The verse does not say people cannot hurt us. It says their power is small next to the Lord who is with us. The question "What can mere mortals do to me?" puts human threats in their place.
The New Testament quotes it directly: "So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?'" (Hebrews 13:6). Paul makes the same point in Romans 8:31: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" See also Isaiah 41:10 and Psalm 27:1.
Questions people ask
What does Psalm 118:6 say?
In the NIV it says, "The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" The KJV reads, "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?"
What does Psalm 118:6 mean?
It means that the Lord's presence is the answer to fear of other people. The writer had been "hard pressed" (verse 5) and found that God was with him, so human threats no longer had the last word.
Where else in the Bible is Psalm 118:6 quoted?
Hebrews 13:6 quotes it: "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" Psalm 56:4 has a close parallel: "In God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"
Is Psalm 118:6 about not fearing God?
No. The fear in this verse is fear of people. Scripture still speaks well of the fear of the Lord, meaning reverence for him. See Bible verses about the fear of the Lord.
What other verses are like Psalm 118:6?
Romans 8:31 (if God is for us, who can be against us), Hebrews 13:6 (the Lord is my helper), Psalm 27:1 (the Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear), and Joshua 1:9 (be strong and courageous) are close companions.
