Psalms 107:13 · Bible study
Psalms 107:13 Commentary: Crying to Yahweh, Saved from Distress
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Psalm 107:13 study: a repeated refrain of rebellion, cry, and rescue. Learn how God saves those who call on Him, even when their trouble is self-inflicted.
Research Summary
- Meaning: When people in distress cry to Yahweh, He saves them, a refrain of divine mercy despite human rebellion.
- Key words: Zaʿaq (cry out), a desperate appeal; yashaʿ (saved), God’s active deliverance; metsuqah (distress), tight, inescapable straits.
- Main debate: Whether the distress is always directly caused by specific sin (as context suggests) or represents general human suffering (the universal pattern of the psalm).
- Theological theme: God’s grace responds to human need, even when the suffering is deserved; the cry itself becomes the channel of mercy.
- Best use: A comfort for those who feel their suffering is self-inflicted; a reminder that God hears the cry of the repentant, not the self-righteous.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
KJV King James Version 1769
Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, And he saved them out of their distresses.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
And they cry unto Jehovah in their adversity, From their distresses He saveth them.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, [and] he saved them out of their distresses;
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
O grant us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Luego que clamaron á Jehová en su angustia, librólos de sus aflicciones.
Porém eles clamaram ao SENHOR em suas angústias, e ele os livrou de suas aflições.
Dans leur détresse, ils crièrent à l’ Éternel,
die zum HERRN riefen in ihrer Not, und er half ihnen aus ihren Ängsten
Doch roepende tot den HEERE in de benauwdheid, die zij hadden, verloste Hij hen uit hun angsten.
Allora gridarono all’Eterno nella loro distretta, e li salvò dalle loro angosce;
A gdy wołali do Pana w utrapieniu swojem, z ucisków ich wybawiał ich.
Подай нам помощь в тесноте, ибо защита человеческая суетна.
於是，他們 在苦難中 哀求 耶和華；他從他們的禍患中 拯救他們。
Then they sent up their cry to the Lord in their sorrow, and he gave them salvation out of all their troubles.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 107:13
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators across traditions agree that Psalm 107:13 captures a pivotal pattern in the psalm: human rebellion brings distress, but that distress drives people to cry to Yahweh, and He responds with deliverance. Calvin frames the entire psalm as a treatise on divine providence, adversity is God’s summons to repentance, and prosperity a token of grace. Clarke notes that affliction produced the salutary effect of driving people to pray. Henry traces the cause: willful sin is rebellion against God’s words, yet when the rebels cry out, God saves them. Gill sees in this verse the full scope of salvation, from sin, the curse, and wrath to come. The refrain appears four times (vv. 6, 13, 19, 28), each time the cry is answered. The consensus is clear: no distress lies beyond the reach of God’s saving ear, even when that distress is self-inflicted.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: God responds to the cry of the distressed with salvation, even when the distress is a consequence of their own rebellion.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| The cause of the distress | All traditions agree the immediate context (v. 11) ties the distress to rebellion against God's words and contempt for His counsel. | Some interpreters (Gill, Henry) see a direct causal link between specific sins and specific suffering. Others (Calvin, Keil & Delitzsch) emphasize that while the psalm uses this as an example, it serves as a type for all human distress, not every suffering is directly punitive. |
| The nature of the deliverance | Christians agree that God saves those who cry out, demonstrating mercy rather than strict justice. | Some traditions emphasize physical deliverance from earthly bondage (prison, exile). Others see a picture of spiritual salvation from sin, death, and hell. The two interpretations are not mutually exclusive, but emphasis varies. |
| The role of human action in salvation | All agree that crying out to God is the necessary response in distress. | Reformed and Lutheran traditions stress that even the cry is a gift of grace. Wesleyan and Arminian traditions highlight human free will in turning to God. The verse does not resolve this, but shows both divine sovereignty and human responsibility. |
| The universal vs. particular application | The psalmist uses Israel's history as a pattern for all people. | Calvin and Poole see the psalm as applying to all nations, not just Israel. Others insist the covenant name Yahweh is central, the cry is directed specifically to the God of Israel, implying a particular faith relationship as the context for rescue. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 107 is a post-exilic hymn celebrating God’s steadfast love. Its structure is antiphonal: a narrator describes a crisis, a refrain announces the people’s cry, a line records God’s rescue (“Then they cried … he saved them”), and a chorus calls for praise. This pattern repeats for four groups: lost wanderers, prisoners, the sick, and storm-tossed sailors.
Verse 13 belongs to the second strophe (vv. 10, 16), centred on prisoners who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron. The cause of their bondage is explicit: “they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High” (v. 11). The Targum applies this to Zedekiah and the Judean nobles in Babylonian captivity. The imagery of bronze gates and iron bars (v. 16) echoes Isaiah 45:2, God’s promise to break down gates before Cyrus. The Hebrew verb zaʿaq (“cried out”) appears throughout Judges when Israel groans under oppression. The noun metsuqah (“distress”) describes a tight, inescapable place. God’s response uses the Hiphil form of yashaʿ, “he caused salvation”, making Yahweh the sole agent of rescue.
The psalmist universalises Israel’s history: exile becomes a picture of all human bondage to sin. The distress is deserved, yet the cry is heard. Every generation is invited to see themselves in that dark prison and to know that Yahweh, who heard the cry of Egypt’s slaves (Exod 3:7, 8), still hears the cry of the desperate.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for Psalm 107:13. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts, consistent with the parallel refrains in verses 6, 19, and 28 (with minor variations in verbal forms: va/yizʿaku here, va/yitsoʿku in v. 6). The verse is well preserved and presents no textual difficulties.
Reception History
Psalm 107 has been used in both Jewish and Christian liturgy as a prayer of thanksgiving for deliverance. The refrain “Then they cried … he saved them” became a template for penitential prayer. Early church fathers such as Athanasius saw this psalm as a model for how to recount God’s mercy. In the Reformation, Calvin used it to illustrate divine providence, adversity as God’s summons, mercy as His answer. Hymnody has frequently drawn on the imagery of crying out from darkness and being freed from iron bands. In modern use, this verse is a touchstone for testimonies of rescue from addiction, imprisonment, and despair, offering assurance that God hears the worst-off and the most guilty.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Rebellion leads to bondage. The prisoners in vv. 10, 12 are in darkness because they rebelled against God’s word. Their suffering is not random; it has a moral cause. Many in our congregations carry the weight of consequences from choices they regret.
- The cry brings intervention. “Then they cried to Yahweh.” The turning point is not a change in circumstances but a cry directed to the covenant God. The verb zaʿaq implies desperation, a prayer stripped of pretense. God responds not because the cry is perfect but because He is merciful.
- Deliverance demands praise. The stanza that follows (vv. 15, 16) calls for thanksgiving. The pattern is not complete until the rescued person gives glory to God. Salvation is not merely escape; it is restoration to worship.
Five-point outline
- Sitting in darkness, The condition of those who have turned from God (v. 10).
- Rebellion specified, They despised God’s word and counsel (v. 11).
- Heart brought low, Humbling circumstances strip away self-reliance (v. 12).
- The cry and the rescue, They prayed; He saved (v. 13).
- Bars broken, God’s power shatters the chains that held them (vv. 14, 16).
Illustration hooks
- John Newton’s storm. The slave trader on a sinking ship, utterly desperate, cried out to a God he had mocked. That night was his prison cell, and God saved him, not from the storm alone but from the bondage of his own sin. The rest of his life became a song of praise.
- The dead-end job. A woman who spent years climbing the corporate ladder only to find herself trapped in debt and anxiety. At the breaking point, she admitted she could not save herself. Her cry was brief and raw; God began to rebuild her from the inside out.
- Hospital waiting room. A man whose addiction finally cost him his family. Sitting alone in the ICU, he whispered a prayer he had not said in decades. The deliverance did not come overnight, but that whisper started a change.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God really hear me when my suffering is my own fault?
- How do I cry out to God when I feel too ashamed to even pray?
- What if I have been crying for a long time and nothing has changed?
Leading a Discussion
This verse is a refrain, it repeats four times in the psalm, each time after a description of human failure and desperation. The repetition is not accidental; it is a lesson engraved on the heart. As you discuss, notice that the cry is directed to Yahweh by name, and the response is not “maybe” but “he saved them.” Consider how this pattern appears in your own life and in the larger story of Scripture.
Discussion questions
- What do the details in vv. 10, 12 add to your understanding of the distress in v. 13? Why does the psalmist specify the cause of the suffering?
- The Hebrew word for “cried” (zaʿaq) is a raw, desperate shout. How does that differ from more composed prayers you might offer? When have you used that kind of cry?
- Verse 13 says he saved them “out of their distresses” (plural). What do the repeated plural forms suggest about the completeness of God’s deliverance?
- The refrain appears in four different strophes (desert wanderers, prisoners, the sick, sailors). Why do you think the poet uses this device? What does it teach about God’s character across varied human situations?
- Does the fact that the distress was caused by rebellion (v. 11) change how you view God’s mercy in this verse? Does it limit it or magnify it?
- Verse 14 says God broke their bands even after they had been bound because of rebellion. What does this imply about the order of repentance and rescue? Which comes first, the cry or the change of heart?
- How can this psalm help someone who is currently in a “darkness” of their own making? What would you say to them about crying out to God?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Exodus 3:7 | Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. |
| Exodus 3:8 | I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. |
| Judges 4:3 | The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, for he had nine hundred chariots of iron; and he mightily oppressed the children of Israel for twenty years. |
| Judges 6:6 | Israel was brought very low because of Midian; and the children of Israel cried to Yahweh. |
| Judges 6:10 | I said to you, “I am Yahweh your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.” But you have not listened to my voice.’” |
| Judges 10:10 | The children of Israel cried to Yahweh, saying, “We have sinned against you, even because we have forsaken our God, and have served the Baals.” |
| Judges 10:18 | The people, the princes of Gilead, said to one another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” |
| II Chronicles 33:12 | When he was in distress, he begged Yahweh his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
9 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Adam Clarke's Commentary Methodist/Wesleyan 1826
Clarke highlights that the affliction served a beneficial purpose: it drove the people to cry out to God for mercy and help. In response, God heard their prayer and completely reversed their condition. The trouble itself became the means of leading them to deliverance.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes points out that the phrase "they cried unto the Lord in their trouble" serves as a recurring refrain, appearing in four of the psalm's five stanzas and marking each major section except the last. He also notes a parallel with Daniel 9.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin insists that nothing in life happens by random chance or fortune. Every adversity is God's summons to account for sin, and every prosperity is a display of His grace. Those who fail to see God's hand in such events are guilty of ignoring clear evidence of His providence.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator treats this as a second example of divine kindness: freeing prisoners languishing in exile. The Targum specifically applies the passage to Zedekiah and Judah's nobles held captive in Babylon, portraying their land of exile as an immense, fortified prison that was later broken open.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
Then they cried vnto the Lord in their trouble, and he deliuered them from their distresse.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill notes that the cry to God arises not only from physical labor and darkness but also from spiritual distress under a sense of sin and fear of wrath. He emphasizes that the Lord's salvation is complete, delivering from all sins, the curse of the law, wrath to come, hell, and death, being both able and willing to save.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch argue that the description "bound in affliction and iron" is not a hendiadys for "torturing iron" but distinguishes general suffering from the specific case of iron fetters. They also note the language echoes Isaiah and Job, and the refrain's variations are deliberate literary choices.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues that the Psalm is not a historical account of the Babylonian exile but a collection of universal examples drawn from everyday human life, including wandering, imprisonment, sickness and sea peril. Each example presents a literal crisis and God's deliverance, calling all who have experienced such help to give thanks.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry treats imprisonment as a direct consequence of willful rebellion against God's words and contempt for His counsel. He notes that such affliction serves both to punish and to reclaim sinners, breaking their stubborn hearts so they finally cry out and are rescued.