Psalms 118:5 · Bible study
Psalms 118:5 Commentary: Study, From Distress to a Large Place
Hebrew · 9 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Explore Psalm 118:5's powerful metaphor: God answers prayer by bringing the believer from narrow distress into a spacious place of freedom and deliverance.
Research Summary
- Meaning: God answers prayer by bringing the believer from distress to freedom.
- Key words: metzar (distress/straits), merchav (broad place/roomy expanse), Yah (short form of Yahweh).
- Main debate: The historical setting, Davidic vs. post-exilic; whether 'large place' refers to physical liberty or spiritual enlargement.
- Theological theme: Divine deliverance as movement from confinement to spaciousness; prayer as the pathway.
- Best use: Personal testimony of answered prayer; comfort in times of trouble; a pattern for preaching on God's faithfulness.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
In my distress I called to the LORD, and He answered and set me free.
WEB World English Bible 2000
Out of my distress, I called on Yah. Yah answered me with freedom.
KJV King James Version 1769
I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
Out of my distress I called upon Jehovah: Jehovah answered me and set me in a large place.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
From the straitness I called Jah, Jah answered me in a broad place.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
I called upon Jah in distress; Jah answered me [and set me] in a large place.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
O! that my ways may be directed to keep thy justifications.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Desde la angustia invoqué á JAH; y respondióme JAH, poniéndome en anchura.
Na angústia clamei ao SENHOR; e o SENHOR me respondeu, e me pôs num lugar amplo.
Du sein de la détresse j’ ai invoqué l’ Éternel:
In der Angst rief ich den HERRN an, und der HERR erhörte mich und tröstete mich.
Uit de benauwdheid heb ik den HEERE aangeroepen; de HEERE heeft mij verhoord, stellende mij in de ruimte.
Dal fondo della mia distretta invocai l’Eterno; l’Eterno mi rispose e mi mise al largo.
W ucisku wzywałem Pana; wysłuchał mię, i na przestrzeństwie postawił mię Pan.
О, если бы направлялись пути мои к соблюдению уставов Твоих!
我在急難中 求告 耶和華，他 就應允我，把我安置在寬闊之地。
I made my prayer to the Lord in my trouble: and the Lord gave me an answer, and put me in a wide place.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · Psalms 118:5
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 this verse presents a sharp contrast between human distress and divine deliverance. The Hebrew nouns metzar ('straits, distress') and merchav ('broad place, roomy expanse') create a spatial metaphor of confinement opened into freedom. Barnes observes that the psalmist was 'pressed on every side… could not move,' and God 'gave him space.' Gill connects this to David's experiences with Saul and to the Messiah's agony in Gethsemane. The Cambridge Bible notes the use of the divine name Yah, perhaps evoking Exodus memories. All see the verse as a pattern: from narrowness to liberation, by the answering God.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Davidic deliverance: Psalm attributed to David; refers to his escape from Saul (1 Samuel 30:6–8).
- Post-exilic restoration: Psalm used at second temple; language of narrowness fits Nehemiah's situation (Cambridge; Hengstenberg).
- Messianic typology: Gill applies to Christ's agony and resurrection; Calvin sees David as type.
What is clear: The verse testifies to God's faithfulness in answering prayer, moving the believer from constraint to freedom.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Historical setting | All agree the psalm celebrates a deliverance, likely after a period of intense opposition. | Some commentators (Calvin, Phillips) attribute it to David's escape from Saul; others (Hengstenberg, Cambridge) see it as post-exilic, celebrating the return from Babylon. |
| Meaning of 'large place' | All interpret it as a metaphor for freedom, relief, and safety after oppression. | Barnes and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown focus on literal physical space; Gill extends it to spiritual liberty and the 'glorious liberty of the children of God.' |
| Use of the name 'Yah' | All recognize it as a shortened form of Yahweh, used for poetic or rhythmic reasons. | Cambridge Bible suggests it may deliberately recall Exodus 15:2 and the memories of the Exodus; other commentators do not emphasize this connection. |
| Identity of the speaker | All see the speaker as a representative figure, either an individual (David) or the nation (Israel). | Matthew Henry and Calvin treat the 'I' as David; Cambridge and others see it as the voice of the post-exilic community. |
| Messianic interpretation | All agree that the early church and later tradition see Psalm 118 as messianic, especially vv.22, 23. | Gill explicitly applies v.5 to Christ's agony in Gethsemane and resurrection; Calvin sees David as a type of Christ but does not press the details of this verse messianically. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Psalm 118 belongs to the Egyptian Hallel (Psalms 113, 118), sung at Passover and other festivals. It opens with a liturgical call to give thanks (vv.1, 4) before shifting to personal testimony. The historical setting is uncertain. Calvin, ascribing the psalm to David, sees it as David's reflection on attaining the throne after years of flight from Saul. Hengstenberg (cited by Calvin) dates it to the return from Babylonian exile, connecting Ezra 3:11. Phillips suggests it accompanied David's anointing at Hebron. The Cambridge Bible notes that post-exilic Israel, like the psalmist, faced harassment from neighbours (Nehemiah 4) and may have used this song.
The verse's language draws on a stock biblical metaphor: the 'straits' of distress (metzar) and the 'broad place' of relief (merchav) appear in parallel in 2 Samuel 22:20 and Psalms 18:19; 31:8. The use of the divine name Yah, rather than the full Yahweh, may intentionally recall Exodus 15:2 ('Yah is my strength and song'). This suggests the singer understood his deliverance as a new exodus, a movement from bondage to spaciousness, from slavery to freedom.
Textual Notes
The verse is textually stable. The Cambridge Bible notes a Masoretic nuance: the Eastern (Babylonian) reading repeats 'Jah' in the second line, while the Western (Palestinian) recension makes the syllable 'jah' simply the termination of the preceding word. Most English translations follow the Eastern reading, giving 'Yah answered me.' No significant variant affects the meaning or interpretation.
Reception History
Throughout history, this verse has been a favourite testimony of answered prayer. The Reformers, including Calvin, saw it as David's confidence in God's sovereign deliverance. Puritan commentators like Matthew Henry and Baptist expositor John Gill applied it to believers' spiritual struggles, seeing the 'large place' as the liberty of the children of God. It is sung in the Passover Haggadah as part of the Hallel and recited in Christian worship, often as a personal declaration of deliverance. The verse’s simple structure has made it a staple in devotional literature, a prompt for recounting God's faithfulness from narrowness to spaciousness.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The cry out of narrowness. The psalmist begins where we often find ourselves: hemmed in, under pressure, unable to move. The word 'distress' literally means 'straits.' Cross-reference 1 Samuel 30:6 shows David in exactly this place, with his own people ready to stone him. Yet he called on Yah.
- The God who answers with space. God's answer is not merely a whispered reassurance, it is a dramatic relocation from confinement to a broad place. Barnes says God 'set me in a large place' where the psalmist could move without obstruction. This is freedom to live, breathe, and serve.
- The testimony that builds faith. The verse is part of a larger song (vv.6, 9) that draws confidence from this one experience. A single answered prayer becomes the foundation for trusting God against all odds.
Five-point outline
- Admitting the distress (honesty before God)
- Calling on Yah (the act of prayer)
- Receiving the answer (God's intervention as liberation)
- Walking in the large place (the freedom that follows)
- Declaring the deliverance (witness and praise)
Illustration hooks
- Traffic jam. You are stuck in a gridlock, every lane blocked. Then suddenly the traffic clears and you accelerate into open road. The physical relief mirrors the psalmist's experience.
- Financial pressure. A family faces a stack of bills with no way out. A friend provides exactly what is needed. The crushing weight becomes manageable space.
- Emotional constraint. A person in anxiety feels closed in by worry. Through prayer and community, they find themselves able to breathe again, to take one step forward without fear.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Does God always answer prayer by giving me space and freedom? What about when the answer is different?
- How can I call on God when I feel too squeezed to pray?
- Is the 'large place' a promise for every believer, or just for this specific psalmist?
Leading a Discussion
This verse captures a pattern: from tightness to openness, from cry to answer. It invites us to share our own stories of God's deliverance and to wrestle with what 'large place' means in our lives.
Discussion questions
- Read Psalm 118:5 in two or three translations. What words stand out to you?
- What does the word 'distress' (Hebrew metzar) suggest about the psalmist's situation?
- How does the metaphor of a 'large place' (merchav) describe God's answer? Look at cross-references Psalms 18:19 and 31:8. What do they add?
- Who do you think the original speaker might have been, David, the post-exilic community, or someone else? How does that affect how you hear the verse?
- Have you ever experienced God moving you from a 'narrow' place to a 'broad' place? Describe it without using names or details that would violate privacy.
- This verse uses the divine name 'Yah' instead of 'Yahweh.' Why might that be significant, especially in a Passover psalm?
- How does this verse challenge or comfort you in a current situation of difficulty?
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)
| Genesis 32:7 | Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies. |
| Genesis 32:9 | Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’ |
| Genesis 32:11 | Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children. |
| I Samuel 30:6 | David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters; but David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God. |
| I Samuel 30:8 | David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “If I pursue after this troop, will I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and will without fail recover all.” |
| Psalms 18:6 | In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears. |
| Psalms 18:19 | He brought me out also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me. |
| Psalms 31:8 | You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place. |
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 draws attention to the psalmist presenting himself as a living demonstration of God's mercy. His point is not merely to report that he prayed and was heard, but to invite others to draw courage from his personal example.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes highlights that the Hebrew phrase "out of distress" means David's cry came from the very midst of his trouble, not just afterward. The Lord answered by setting him in a large place, a contrast to being pressed on every side with no room to move.
Calvin's Commentaries Reformed 1564
Calvin emphasizes that David calls Israel to ponder how God alone gave him the throne, not human policy or force. He reads David's deliverances as proof of divine appointment. For Calvin, this earthly kingdom prefigures Christ's eternal spiritual kingdom, which David's reign represented.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator highlights that the name "Jah" in this verse deliberately recalls the Exodus, linking the present deliverance to that earlier rescue. Israel, hemmed in by enemies, cried out and was set free to move without hindrance, speaking as one voice acknowledging that God alone saved them.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
I called vpon the Lord in trouble, and the Lord heard me, and set me at large.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill reads this as David crying out from a narrow place of distress and being answered by God, who set him in a "large place"—a metaphor for spiritual liberty and abundance. He applies the same pattern to Christ in Gethsemane and to every believer who prays in affliction, corruption, or temptation and receives enlargement of soul, grace, and deliverance.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
distress —literally, "straits," to which "large place" corresponds, as in Psa 4:1 ; Psa 31:8 .
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange argues the psalm is a post-exilic Temple song, likely composed for the Feast of Tabernacles after the second Temple was completed. He insists the messianic interpretation is a later application, not the original meaning, and identifies a liturgical structure where strophes alternate between priests, people, and congregation.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry observes that David's heart was so full of God's goodness that he could not stop thinking or speaking about it, eager for God to receive praise and others to find comfort. The more deeply we are impressed with God's goodness, Henry argues, the more our hearts are enlarged in obedience.