Bible Strands
Psalms 18:41
They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — David speaks as the psalmist describing the fate of his enemies after God grants him military victory. The declaration occurs immediately after noting their retreat and just before detailing their complete destruction.
The words — יְשַׁוְּעוּ (yeshawwə‘û) means "they cried for help," and מוֹשִׁיעַ (mōšîa‘) translates literally to "deliverer." The text states they cried out but found no deliverer, and when they cried to Yahweh, He did not answer.
The thread — This pattern of desperate pleading met with divine silence appears in 2 Samuel 22:42 and is echoed in Job 27:9 regarding God hearing a cry in distress. Proverbs 1:28 records a similar sequence where the wicked call and seek but receive no answer or find God.
Why it lands — The passage demands acknowledgment that divine deliverance follows obedience, while its absence accompanies persistent rebellion. It requires the reader to recognize that God’s silence is a stated consequence of their actions, not a temporary delay.
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
They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 1:28 Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
- Job 27:9 Will God hear his cry when distress comes upon him?
- 2 Samuel 22:42 They looked, but there was no one to save them—to the LORD, but He did not answer.
- Job 35:12 There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.
- Psalms 50:22 Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
- Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Isaiah 59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
- Jeremiah 11:11 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I am about to bring upon them a disaster that they cannot escape. They will cry out to Me, but I will not listen to them.
- Jeremiah 14:12 Although they may fast, I will not listen to their cry; although they may offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will finish them off by sword and famine and plague.”
- Ezekiel 8:18 Therefore I will respond with wrath. I will not look on them with pity, nor will I spare them. Although they shout loudly in My ears, I will not listen to them.”