Psalms 25:17
in Psalms 25The troubles of my heart increase; free me from my distress.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The troubles of my heart are enlarged: Oh bring thou me out of my distresses.
KJV
The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses.
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This verse in Psalms 25
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe troubles of my heart are enlarged. When trouble penetrates the heart it is trouble indeed. In the case before us, the heart was swollen with grief like a lake surcharged with water by enormous floods; this is used as an argument for deliverance, and it is a potent one. When the darkest hour of the night arrives we may expect the dawn; when the sea is at its lowest ebb the tide must surely turn; and when our troubles are enlarged to the greatest degree, then we may hopefully pray, O bring thou me out of my distresses.
This site's exposition
My eyes are always on the LORD
on Psalms 25:15-18
The eyes stay on the LORD while the feet are caught in a mesh and the troubles of the heart increase. He is lonely and afflicted. Verse 18 asks for relief and pardon in one breath, the affliction and the sins together.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"The tribulations of my heart have been multiplied" [Psalm 25:17]. The tribulations of my heart have been multiplied by the abounding of iniquity and the waxing cold of love. [Matthew 24:12] "O bring Thou me out of my necessities." Since I must needs bear this, that by enduring unto the end I may be saved, bring Thou me out of my necessities.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"The tribulations." Here he presents three things pertaining to misery: two, namely, pertaining to punishment; the third pertaining to guilt. Now there is a twofold punishment. One is inflicted by necessity. The other is voluntarily assumed. Inflicted punishments have two aspects, because they afflict the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
), he grew more and more melancholy and troubled in mind. Sense of sin afflicted him more than any thing else: this it was that broke and wounded his spirit, and made his outward troubles lie heavily upon him. He was in affliction and pain,
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The troubles of my heart are enlarged,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A series of earnest appeals for aid because God had seemed to desert him (compare Ps 13:1; 17:13, &c.), his sins oppressed him, his enemies had enlarged his troubles and were multiplied, increasing in hate and violence (Ps 9:8;
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3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
The troubles of my heart are enlarged. When trouble penetrates the heart it is trouble indeed. In the case before us, the heart was swollen with grief like a lake surcharged with water by enormous floods; this is used as an argument for deliverance, and it is a potent one. When the darkest hour of the night arrives we may expect the dawn; when the sea is at its lowest ebb the tide must surely turn; and when our troubles are enlarged to the greatest degree, then we may hopefully pray, O bring thou me out of my distresses.
The troubles of may heart are enlarged - The evils of our captive state, instead of lessening, seem to multiply, and each to be extended.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The troubles of my heart - The sorrows which spring upon the heart - particularly from the recollections of sin. Are enlarged - Have become great. They increased the more he reflected on the sins of his life. O bring thou me out of my distresses - Alike from my sins, and from the dangers which surround me. These two things, external trouble and the inward consciousness of guilt, are not infrequently combined. Outward trouble has a tendency to bring up the remembrance of past transgressions, and to suggest the inquiry whether the affliction is not a divine visitation for sin. Any one source of sorrow may draw along numerous others in its train. The laws of association are such that when the mind rests on one source of joy, and is made cheerful by that, numerous other blessings will be suggested to increase the joy; and when one great sorrow has taken possession of the soul, all the lesser sorrows of the past life cluster around it, so that we seem to ourselves to be wholly abandoned by God and by man.
The words behind it
5 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צָר֣וֹת | tzarot | [the] troubles of | H6869 → | 73 times |
| לְבָבִ֣י | levavi | heart my | H3824 → | 252 times |
| הִרְחִ֑יבוּ | hirchivu | they have made wide | H7337 → | 25 times |
| מִ֝מְּצֽוּקוֹתַ֗י | mimetzukotai | from distresses my | H4691 → | 7 times |
| הוֹצִיאֵֽנִי׃ | hotzieni | deliver me | H3318 → | 1067 times |
צָר֣וֹת[the] troubles of
tzarotH6869 →73 times
לְבָבִ֣יheart my
levaviH3824 →252 times
הִרְחִ֑יבוּthey have made wide
hirchivuH7337 →25 times
מִ֝מְּצֽוּקוֹתַ֗יfrom distresses my
mimetzukotaiH4691 →7 times
הוֹצִיאֵֽנִי׃deliver me
hotzieniH3318 →1067 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
Psalms 34:19Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him from them all.
it leads to
- Psalms 34:17
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles.
- 1 Peter 4:12–13
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial that has come upon you, as though something strange were happening to you.
- Psalms 34:6
This poor man called out, and the LORD heard him; He saved him from all his troubles.
- 2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
- John 16:33
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
- Psalms 34:17
Through
Psalms 107:6Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress.
it leads to
- Psalms 50:15
Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- Psalms 91:15
When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Jeremiah 29:12–14
Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
- Psalms 50:15
Where this verse is studied
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Studies3
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About Psalms
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 25; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.