Bible Strands
Psalms 107:12
He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The psalmist addresses the community, describing God's response to those who rebel against His words and despise the counsel of the Most High (Psalms 107:11).
The words — The Hebrew verb וַיַּכְנַע (va/yakh.na') literally means "he humbled," directly acting upon לִבָּם (li.ba.m) "their heart," while כָּשְׁלוּ (ka.shel.u) records the physical result as "they stumbled."
The thread — The declaration that "there was no one to help" mirrors the exact phrasing in Psalms 22:11, and the experience of groaning under an imposed burden aligns with the Israelites' suffering in Exodus 2:23.
Why it lands — The text states that rebellion leads to divinely imposed weakness and isolated stumbling, requiring the reader to acknowledge that rescue only follows when the afflicted cry out to the LORD (Psalms 107:13).
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Cross-references
- Psalms 22:11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.
- Exodus 5:18 Now get to work. You will be given no straw, yet you must deliver the full quota of bricks.”
- Exodus 2:23 After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned and cried out under their burden of slavery, and their cry for deliverance from bondage ascended to God.
- Luke 15:14 After he had spent all he had, a severe famine swept through that country, and he began to be in need.
- Isaiah 51:23 I will place it in the hands of your tormentors, who told you: ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you,’ so that you made your back like the ground, like a street to be traversed.”
- Judges 10:16 So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD, and He could no longer bear the misery of Israel.
- Judges 16:30 Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people in it. So in his death he killed more than he had killed in his life.
- 2 Kings 6:26 As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried out to him, “Help me, my lord the king!”
- 2 Kings 6:33 While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
- Nehemiah 9:37 Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.