Psalm 118:8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in princes.
Upon facing the prospect of impending judgment, the people of Israel were tempted to trust in other nations and would make ungodly allegiances in order to obtain this false security. The Lord already said judgment was coming, so who cares how many nations they could get on their side if the Lord wasn’t on their side. Likewise, if the Lord was their refuge, there is no reason to seek an additional refuge, because there isn’t one that can come close to comparing.
For instance, if you’re trying to hide from those seeking to harm you and you find a cave with multiple, large caverns including a fresh water supply, it would be insane to leave that cave to go find a small pebble to try to hide behind. In that case, you would be greatly exposed and highly vulnerable, but Israel did this constantly in the OT, which was heavily rebuked by the prophets.
That being said, we have just as many temptations in our day as Israel did in their day. We’re tempted to place all our trust in family, or in health experts, or in doctors, or in financial gurus, or in elected officials, or in law enforcement, or in lawyers, or in law makers, or in teachers or professors or in insurance companies—“Now I feel secure because I have this safety net” and then that safety net fails and the Lord has to expose the futility of what we were trusting in.
We can certainly utilize whatever means we would like as is available to us, but in the end, it is the Lord who is the ultimate source of our security and peace. He cannot fail us because he is for us and is on our side.