Psalms 18:41
in Psalms 18They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— to the LORD, but He did not answer.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They cried, but there was none to save; Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.
KJV
They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.
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This verse in Psalms 18
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
They cried - They cried out for help, for mercy, for life. In modern language, “they begged for quarter.” They acknowledged that they were vanquished, and entreated that their lives might be spared. But there was none to save them - To preserve their lives. No help appeared from their own countrymen; they found no mercy in me or my followers; and God did not interpose to deliver them. Even unto the Lord - As a last resort.
This site's exposition
I pursued my enemies and overtook them
on Psalms 18:37-42
The psalm reports the battle in a king's own words. He pursued and overtook them, crushed them, ground them as dust in the wind, and trampled them like mud in the streets. They cried to the LORD for help, and He did not answer.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"They have cried out, and there was none to save them" [Psalm 18:41]. For who can save them, whom You would not save? "To the Lord, and He did not hear them." Nor did they cry out to any chance one, but to the Lord: and He did not judge them worthy of being heard, who depart not from their wickedness.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"They cried out." Here he shows that they are completely desolate; hence he says, "they cried out, and there was none to save them," because they had neither the help of men nor of the gods whom they themselves called the creators of things. Jer. …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
They cried, but there was none to save them,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
"They cried, but there was none to save them; even unto the Lord, but he answered them not." Prayer is so notable a weapon that even the wicked will take to it to in their fits of desperation. Bad men have appealed to God against God's own servants, but all in vain; the kingdom of heaven is not divided, and God never succours his foes at the expense of his friends. There are prayers to God which are no better than blasphemy, which bring no comfortable reply, but rather provoke the Lord to greater wrath.
"They cried, but there was none to save them; even unto the Lord, but he answered them not." Prayer is so notable a weapon that even the wicked will take to it to in their fits of desperation. Bad men have appealed to God against God's own servants, but all in vain; the kingdom of heaven is not divided, and God never succours his foes at the expense of his friends. There are prayers to God which are no better than blasphemy, which bring no comfortable reply, but rather provoke the Lord to greater wrath. Shall I ask a man to wound or slay his own child to gratify my malice? Would he not resent the insult against his humanity? How much less will Jehovah regard the cruel desires of the enemies of the church, who dare to offer their prayers for its destruction, calling its existence schism, and its doctrine heresy!
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Some repetitions are not vain repetitions. Second thoughts upon God's mercy should be and often are the best. Like wines on the lees our gratitude grows stronger and sweeter as we meditate upon divine goodness. The verses which we have now to consider are the ripe fruit of a thankful spirit; they are apples of gold as to matter, and they are placed in baskets of silver as to their language. They describe the believer's victorious career and his enemies' confusion.
They cited - The Philistines called upon their gods, but there was none to save them. Even unto the Lord - Such as Saul, Ishbosheth, Absalom, etc., who, professing to worship the true God, called on him while in their opposition to David; but God no more heard them than their idols heard the Philistines.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יְשַׁוְּע֥וּ | yeshaveu | they cried for help | H7768 → | 21 times |
| וְאֵין־ | veein- | and there not | H369 → | 789 times |
| מוֹשִׁ֑יעַ | moshia' | [was] a deliverer | H3467 → | 206 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | to | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| יְ֝הוָ֗ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְלֹ֣א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָנָֽם׃ | ʾanam | he answered them | H6030 → | 331 times |
יְשַׁוְּע֥וּthey cried for help
yeshaveuH7768 →21 times
וְאֵין־and there not
veein-H369 →789 times
מוֹשִׁ֑יעַ[was] a deliverer
moshia'H3467 →206 times
עַל־to
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
יְ֝הוָ֗הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְלֹ֣אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
עָנָֽם׃he answered them
ʾanamH6030 →331 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 1:28Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
it leads to
- Micah 3:4
Then they will cry out to the LORD, but He will not answer them. At that time He will hide His face from them because of the evil they have done.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- 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.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- Zechariah 7:13
And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- James 4:3
And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Micah 3:4
Through
Zechariah 7:13And just as I had called and they would not listen, so when they called I would not listen, says the LORD of Hosts.
it leads to
- 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.
Reached by 4 separate paths from here.
- 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…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 1:24–28
Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- Isaiah 1:15
Through
Jeremiah 14:12Although 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…
it leads to
- Proverbs 1:28
Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will earnestly seek me, but will not find me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 1:28
Where this verse is studied
About Psalms
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 18; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.