Psalms 33:17-22: in context

This psalm turns from the folly of trusting in strength to the security of trusting in God. A horse is a vain hope for victory, it says; for all its power it delivers no one. But behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, to deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD, the psalm continues; he is our help and our shield. Our heart rejoices in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.

The contrast the psalm draws is between two places to put our hope: in strength and resources of our own, or in God. The war horse stands for the strong, seemingly dependable means of deliverance a nation could have, and the psalm calls it a vain hope; for all its power, it saves no one. Whatever we might trust to deliver us, our own strength, our resources, the means that look dependable, is finally a false hope if we trust in it instead of God. And against that the psalm sets God's watchful care: the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love. The security of God's people is not in the horse, in their own strength or means, but in being watched over by God, who keeps his eye on those who hope in him, to deliver them. There is a searching question here about where we actually place our hope for deliverance. When trouble comes, do we trust in our own resources, our strength, our plans, the means that seem reliable, treating God as an afterthought, or do we hope in God's steadfast love, resting under the eye he keeps on those who fear him? The horse is a vain hope; the eye of the LORD on those who hope in his mercy is the real security. To trust in our own strength is to lean on what saves no one; to hope in God is to be watched over by the one who can deliver from death itself. The psalm ends where trust leads: our heart rejoices in him. The joy comes from having placed our hope where it belongs, not in the vain hope of the horse but in the God whose eye is on those who trust him.

Where do I place my hope for deliverance, in my own strength and resources, the horse that saves no one, or in the LORD, whose eye is on those who hope in his steadfast love, and does trusting him rather than my own means bring me the joy this psalm describes?