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Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
Psalms 107:12 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help.
  • BSB He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
  • NKJV Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help.
  • NASB Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; They stumbled and there was no one to help.
  • NLT That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

God humbled their hearts with hard labor until they fell with no one to help.

Overview

As discipline, the LORD bowed down their proud hearts through toil until they collapsed helpless and friendless. The breaking of human pride and the exhaustion of all other helpers often precede true turning to God. This humbling that drives the helpless to cry to God anticipates the gospel truth that the end of self-reliance is the beginning of grace.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 18

  • Ps 22:11Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
  • Exod 5:18–19Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.
  • Exod 2:23And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.
  • Luke 15:14–17And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
  • Isa 51:23But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which 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.
  • 2 Kgs 6:26–27And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king.
  • 2 Kgs 6:33And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the LORD; what should I wait for the LORD any longer?
  • Lam 5:5–6Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest.
  • Isa 51:19–20These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
  • Job 9:13If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do stoop under him.
  • Judg 16:30And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
  • Neh 9:37And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
  • Isa 52:5Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
  • Isa 63:5And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.
  • Judg 10:16–18And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
  • Judg 16:21But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.
  • Ps 18:40–41Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
  • Ps 142:4I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 107:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 107:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.