12 And he bowed down their heart with labour; they stumbled, and there was none to help:
Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
And mine enemies didst thou make to turn their backs unto me, and those that hated me I destroyed. They cried, and there was none to save; -- unto Jehovah, and he answered them not.
But when he had spent all there arose a violent famine throughout that country, and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he longed to fill his belly with the husks which the swine were eating; and no one gave to him. And coming to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have abundance of bread, and *I* perish here by famine.
Our pursuers are on our necks: we are weary, we have no rest. We have given the hand to Egypt, [and] to Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.
And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: and mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
and I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; who have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over; and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street to them that went over.
These two [things] are come unto thee; who will bemoan thee? -- desolation and destruction, and famine and sword: how shall I comfort thee? Thy children have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets, as an oryx in a net: they are full of the fury of Jehovah, the rebuke of thy God.
And it came to pass during those many days, that the king of Egypt died. And the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and cried; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage;
+God withdraweth not his anger; the proud helpers stoop under him:
And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. And [the king] said, Behold, this evil is of Jehovah: why should I wait for Jehovah any longer?
And it came to pass as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman to him saying, Help, my lord O king! And he said, If Jehovah do not help thee, whence should I help thee? Out of the threshing-floor, or out of the winepress?
And Samson said, "Let me die with the Philistines." Then he bowed with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people that were in it. So the dead whom he slew at his death were more than those whom he had slain during his life.
And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with bronze fetters; and he ground at the mill in the prison.
So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and he became indignant over the misery of Israel. Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead; and the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, "Who is the man that will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."
And now go -- work! and straw shall not be given you, and ye shall deliver the measure of bricks. And the officers of the children of Israel saw [that] it stood ill with them, because it was said, Ye shall not diminish anything from your bricks, the daily work.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 107
Commentary on Psalms 107 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 107
The psalmist, having in the two foregoing psalms celebrated the wisdom, power, and goodness of God, in his dealings with his church in particular, here observes some of the instances of his providential care of the children of men in general, especially in their distresses; for he is not only King of saints, but King of nations, not only the God of Israel, but the God of the whole earth, and a common Father to all mankind. Though this may especially refer to Israelites in their personal capacity, yet there were those who pertained not to the commonwealth of Israel and yet were worshippers of the true God; and even those who worshipped images had some knowledge of a supreme "Numen,' to whom, when they were in earnest, they looked above all their false gods. And of these, when they prayed in their distresses, God took a particular care,
When we are in any of these or the like distresses it will be comfortable to sing this psalm, with application; but, if we be not, others are, and have been, of whose deliverances it becomes us to give God the glory, for we are members one of another.
Psa 107:1-9
Here is,
Psa 107:10-16
We are to take notice of the goodness of God towards prisoners and captives. Observe,
Psa 107:17-22
Bodily sickness is another of the calamities of this life which gives us an opportunity of experiencing the goodness of God in recovering us, and of that the psalmist speaks in these verses, where we may observe,
Psa 107:23-32
The psalmist here calls upon those to give glory to God who are delivered from dangers at sea. Though the Israelites dealt not much in merchandise, yet their neighbours the Tyrians and Zidonians did, and for them perhaps this part of the psalm was especially calculated.
Psa 107:33-43
The psalmist, having given God the glory of the providential reliefs granted to persons in distress, here gives him the glory of the revolutions of providence, and the surprising changes it sometimes makes in the affairs of the children of men.