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Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help.
Psalms 107:12 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help.
  • KJV Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
  • BSB He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one 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 22:11Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.
  • Exod 5:18–19Go therefore now, and work, for no straw shall be given to you, yet you shall deliver the same number of bricks!”
  • Exod 2:23In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to God because of the bondage.
  • Luke 15:14–17When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
  • Isa 51:23and I will put it into the hand of those who afflict you, who have said to your soul, ‘Bow down, that we may walk over you;’ and you have laid your back as the ground, like a street to those who walk over.”
  • 2 Kgs 6:26–27As the king of Israel was passing by on the wall, a woman cried to him, saying, “Help, my lord, O king!”
  • 2 Kgs 6:33While he was still talking with them, behold, the messenger came down to him. Then he said, “Behold, this evil is from Yahweh. Why should I wait for Yahweh any longer?”
  • Lam 5:5–6Our pursuers are on our necks: We are weary, and have no rest.
  • Isa 51:19–20These two things have happened to you — who will grieve with you? — desolation and destruction, and famine and the sword. How can I comfort you?
  • Job 9:13“God will not withdraw his anger. The helpers of Rahab stoop under him.
  • Judg 16:30Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” He bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell on the lords, and on all the people who were therein. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than those who he killed in his life.
  • Neh 9:37It yields much increase to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. Also they have power over our bodies and over our livestock, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
  • Isa 52:5“Now therefore, what do I do here,” says Yahweh, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them mock,” says Yahweh, “and my name is blasphemed continually all day long.
  • Isa 63:5I looked, and there was no one to help; and I wondered that there was no one to uphold: therefore my own arm brought salvation to me; and my own wrath upheld me.
  • Judg 10:16–18They put away the foreign gods from among them, and served Yahweh; and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
  • Judg 16:21The Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he ground at the mill in the prison.
  • Ps 18:40–41You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.
  • Ps 142:4Look on my right, and see; for there is no one who is concerned for me. Refuge has fled from me. No one cares 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.