10
Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Bound in affliction and irons—
11
Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
12
Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down, and there was none to help.
13
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
14
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in pieces.
15
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
16
For He has broken the gates of bronze,
And cut the bars of iron in two.
In verses 107:4-5 they wandered about in the wilderness, lost until the Lord answered their prayers and saved them.
In this passage, verses 10-12, they rebelled against the words of God and were bound in affliction and irons and God brought down their hearts and they fell down with no one to help until they cried to the Lord and He saved them (13-16). He brought them out of the darkness and broke the chains of their bondage. ABBA, thank you for your lovingkindness and mercy, thank you for breaking the chains and iniquities that bind us, thank you for loving us and freeing us.
Praise God for His mercy and the way He loves His children.……………. Bill
As you are reading the commentaries below you will see the word “contemned” which can be found in Strong as H5006 and means to spurn, despise, abhor
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Matthew Henry
We are to take notice of the goodness of God towards prisoners and captives. Observe:
1. A description of this affliction. Prisoners are said to sit in darkness (v. 10), in dark dungeons, close prisons, which intimates that they are desolate and disconsolate; they sit in the shadow of death, which intimates not only great distress and trouble but great danger. Prisoners are many times appointed to die; they sit despairing to get out, but resolving to make the best of it. They are bound in affliction, and many times in iron, as Joseph. Thus sore a calamity is imprisonment, which should make us prize liberty, and be thankful for it.
2. The cause of this affliction, v. 11. It is because they rebelled against the words of God. Willful sin is rebellion against the words of God; it is a contradiction to his truths and a violation of his laws. They contemned the counsel of the Most High, and thought they neither needed it nor could be the better for it, and those that will not be counseled cannot be helped. Those that despise prophesying, that regard not the admonitions of their own consciences nor the just reproofs of their friends, contemn the counsel of the Most High, and for this they are bound in affliction, both to punish them for and to reclaim them from their rebellions.
3. The design of this affliction, and that is to bring down their heart (v. 12), to humble them for sin, to make them low in their own eyes, to cast down every high, proud, aspiring thought. Afflicting providences must be improved as humbling providences; and we not only lose the benefit of them but thwart God’s designs and walk contrary to him in them if our hearts be un-humbled and unbroken, as high and hard as ever under them. Is the estate brought down with labor, the honor sunk? Have those that exalted themselves fallen down, and is there none to help them? Let this bring down the spirit to confess sin, to accept the punishment of it, and humbly to sue for mercy and grace.
4. The duty of this afflicted state, and that is to pray (v. 13): Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, though before perhaps they had neglected him. Prisoners have time to pray, who, when they were at liberty, could not find time; they see they have need of God’s help, though formerly they thought they could do well enough without him. Sense will make men cry when they are in trouble, but grace will direct them to cry unto the Lord, from whom the affliction comes and who alone can remove it.
5. Their deliverance out of the affliction: They cried unto the Lord, and he saved them, v. 13. He brought them out of darkness into light, welcome light, and then doubly sweet and pleasant, brought them out of the shadow of death to the comforts of life, and their liberty was to them life from the dead, v. 14. Were they fettered? He broke their bands asunder. Were they imprisoned in strong castles? He broke the gates of brass and the bars of iron wherewith those gates were made fast; he did not put back, but cut in sunder. Note, When God will work deliverance the greatest difficulties that lie in the way shall be made nothing of. Gates of brass and bars of iron, as they cannot keep him out from his people (he was with Joseph in the prison), so they cannot keep them in when the time, the set-time, for their enlargement, comes.
6. The return that is required from those whose bands God has loosed (v. 15): Let them praise the Lord for his goodness, and take occasion from their own experience of it, and share in it, to bless him for that goodness which the earth is full of, the world and those that dwell therein.
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Charles Spurgeon
“Being bound in affliction and iron.” Many prisoners have been thus doubly fettered in heart and hand, or the text may mean that affliction becomes as an iron band to them, or that the iron chains caused them great affliction. None know these things but those who have felt them; we should prize our liberty more if we knew by actual experience what manacles and fetters mean. In a spiritual sense affliction frequently attends conviction of sin, and then the double grief causes a double bondage. In such cases the iron enters into the soul, the poor captives cannot stir because of their bonds, cannot rise to hope because of their grief, and have no power because of their despair. Misery is the companion of all those who are shut up and cannot come forth. O ye who are made free by Christ Jesus, remember those who are in bonds.
“Because they rebelled against the words of God.” This was the general cause of bondage among the ancient people of God, they were given over to their adversaries because they were not loyal to the Lord. God’s words are not to be trifled with, and those who venture into such rebellion will bring themselves into bondage.
“And contemned the counsel of the Most High.” They thought that they knew better than the Judge of all the earth, and therefore they left his ways and walked in their own. When men do not follow the divine counsel they give the most practical proof of their contempt for it. Those who will not be bound by God’s law will, ere long, be bound by the fetters of judgment. There is too much contemning of the divine counsel, even among Christians, and hence so few of them know the liberty wherewith Christ makes us free.
“Therefore he brought down their heart with labor.” In eastern prisons, men are frequently made to labor like beasts of the field. As they have no liberty, so they have no rest. This soon subdues the stoutest heart and makes the proud boaster sing another tune. Trouble and hard toil are enough to tame a lion. God has methods of abating the loftiness of rebellious looks; the cell and the mill make even giants tremble. They fell down, and there was none to help. Stumbling on in the dark beneath their weary task, they at last fell prone upon the ground, but no one came to pity them or to lift them up.
“Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble.” Not a prayer till then. While there was any to help below they would not look above. No cries till their hearts were brought down and their hopes were all dead—then they cried, but not before. So many a man offers what he calls prayer when he is in good case and thinks well of himself, but in very deed the only real cry to God is that which is forced out of him by a sense of utter helplessness and misery. We pray best when we are fallen on our faces in painful helplessness.
“And he saved them out of their distresses.” Speedily and willingly he sent relief. They were long before they cried, but he was not long before he saved. They had applied everywhere else before they came to him, but when they did address themselves to him, they were welcome at once. He who saved men in the open wilderness can also save in the closed prison: bolts and bars cannot shut him out, nor long shut in his redeemed ones.
“He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death.” The Lord in Providence fetches out prisoners from their cells and bids them breathe the sweet fresh air again, and then he takes off their fetters and gives liberty to their aching limbs. So also he frees men from care and trouble, and especially from the misery and slavery of sin. This he does with his own hand, for in the experience of all the saints it is certified that there is no jail delivery unless by the Judge himself.
“And brake their bands in sunder.” Set them free by force, so liberating them that they could not be chained again, for he had broken the manacles to pieces. The Lord’s deliverances are of the most complete and triumphant kind, he neither leaves the soul in darkness nor in bonds, nor does he permit the powers of evil again to enthrall the liberated captive. What he does is done forever. Glory be to his name.
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” The sight of such goodness makes a right-minded man long to see the Lord duly honored for his amazing mercy. When dungeon doors fly open, and chains are snapped, who can refuse to adore the glorious goodness of the Lord? It makes the heart sick to think of such gracious mercies remaining unsung: we cannot but plead with men to remember their obligations and extol the Lord their God.
“The Lord breaks the strongest gates and bars when the time comes to set free his prisoners: and spiritually the Lord Jesus has broken the most powerful of spiritual bonds and made us free indeed. Brass and iron are [quickly consumed] before the flame of Jesus’ love. The gates of hell shall not prevail against us, neither shall the bars of the grave detain us.”
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Enduring Word
The Apostle Paul later referred to himself as the prisoner of the Lord (Ephesians 4:1). These people were also prisoners of the Lord, but in a very different sense. (Guzik)
“He delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and, as they would not be under subjection to GOD, he delivered them into slavery to wicked men…. God had forsaken them because they had forsaken him.” (Clarke)
They cried out to the LORD in their trouble: In their chains and hardship, God’s imprisoned people begged Him for help, and He answered. He saved them out of their distresses and broke their chains in pieces. This was pure grace and mercy from God; these prisoners were under God’s own discipline. Yet when they cried out to Him, He mercifully answered. (Guzik)
“This is comfort to the greatest sinners; if they can but find a praying heart, God will find a pitying heart, and rebels shall be received with all sweetness, if at length they return, though brought in by the cross.” (Trapp)
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Barnes
Because they rebelled against the words of God – The commands of God. They did not keep his commandments. Their captivity was produced by national disobedience. See the notes at Daniel 9:5-8.
And contemned the counsel – They despised the instructions of God. The law of God, at the same time that it “is” law, is of the nature of “counsel,” since it is indicative of what God regards as wise and good, and since it is the best “advice” that God can give to people. A just and righteous law, while it involves “obligation” to obey it, is also the best counsel that can be given, and implies that the highest “wisdom” would be shown in being obedient to it. God will “command” nothing which he would not “advise,” and which it would not be “wisdom” to obey.
Of the Most High – Of God, who, being supreme, has a right to rule over all, and to require that his laws shall be obeyed.
Therefore he brought down their heart – Their pride; their self-sufficiency; their self-complacency. They thought that they could do without God; they relied on their own resources, and were self-satisfied; but God showed them that all this was vain, and humbled them, as he often does the proud, in the dust.
With labor – With trouble; with affliction; with disappointment; with reverses; with sorrow. The Hebrew word – עמל ‛âmâl – would include all this. Compare Genesis 41:51; Deuteronomy 26:7; Job 3:10; Job 16:2.
They fell down – They, as it were, “stumbled” – for so the Hebrew word means. They were walking along with a haughty air, and a high look, and suddenly they stumbled and fell.
And there was none to help – No God to interpose; no nation to befriend them; no human arm to be stretched out for their deliverance. God gave them up, helpless, to the just consequences of their folly and wickedness.
For he hath broken the gates of brass – The immediate “reason” here given for praising the Lord is that he had “broken the gates of brass,” continuing the thought from Psalms 107:10-14. In the previous part of the psalm, in giving a reason for praising the Lord, the fact that he feeds the hungry was selected in Psalms 107:9 because in the preceding part, the allusion was to the sufferings of hunger and thirst Psalms 107:4-5; here the fact that he had broken the gates of brass is selected, because the allusion in the immediately preceding verses Psalms 107:12-14 was to their imprisonment. In the construction of the psalm, there is great regularity. The “gates of brass” refer probably to Babylon; and the idea is, that their deliverance had been as if the brass gates of that great city had been broken down to give them free egress from their captivity. Thus the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus is announced in similar language: “I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron,” Isaiah 45:2. See the notes at that passage.
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KJV W/Strongs Bible
107:10 Such as sit 3427 8802 in darkness 2822 and in the shadow of death 6757, [being] bound 615 in affliction 6040 and iron 1270;
107:11 Because they rebelled 4784 8689 against the words 561 of God 410, and contemned 5006 8804 the counsel 6098 of the most High 5945:
107:12 Therefore he brought down 3665 8686 their heart 3820 with labor 5999; they fell down 3782 8804, and [there was] none to help 5826 8802.
107:13 Then they cried 2199 8799 unto the LORD 3068 in their trouble 6862, [and] he saved 3467 8686 them out of their distresses 4691.
107:14 He brought them out 3318 8686 of darkness 2822 and the shadow of death 6757, and brake 5423 0 their bands 4147 in sunder 5423 8762.
107:15 Oh that [men] would praise 3034 8686 the LORD 3068 [for] his goodness 2617, and [for] his wonderful works 6381 8737 to the children 1121 of men 120!
107:16 For he hath broken 7665 8765 the gates 1817 of brass 5178, and cut 1438 0 the bars 1280 of iron 1270 in sunder 1438 8765.
Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 107: 10-16
10 They, that dwell in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in miserie and yron,
11 Because they d rebelled against the words of the Lord, and despised the counsel of the most High,
12 When he humbled their heart with heaviness, then they fell down and there was no helper.
13 Then they e cryed unto the Lord in their trouble, & he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, and out of the shadow of death, and brake their bands a sundre.
15 Let them therefore confess before the Lord his loving kindness, and his wonderful works before the sons of men.
16 For he hathe broken the f gates of brasse, and brast the bars of yron a sundre.
d Then the true way to obey God, is to follow his express commandment: also hereby all are exhorted to descend into themselves, forasmuch as none are punished, but for their sins. e He shows that the cause why God does punish us extremely, is because we can be brought unto him by none other means. f When there seems to man’s judgement no recovery, but all things are brought to despair, then God chiefly shows his mighty power
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Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:36 NKJV
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Ps 19:14 NKJV
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