Psalms 18:6

6 But in my distress I cried out to the LORD ; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.

Psalms 18:6 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 18:6

In my distress I called upon the Lord
The great Jehovah, the everlasting I AM, who is the most High in all the earth, and who is able to save, ( Hebrews 5:7 ) ;

and cried unto my God;
as Jesus did, ( Matthew 27:46 ) ; so the members of Christ, when in distress, as they often are, through sin and Satan, through the hidings of God's face, a variety of afflictions, and the persecutions of men, betake themselves to the Lord, and call upon their God: a time of distress is a time for prayer; and sometimes the end God has in suffering them to be in distress is to bring them to the throne of his grace; and a great privilege it is they have that they have such a throne to come to for grace and mercy to help them in time of need, and such a God to sympathize with them, and help them; and their encouragement to call upon him, and cry unto him, is, that he is Jehovah, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent; who knows their wants, is able to help them, and is a God at hand to do it;

He heard my voice out of his temple;
that is, out of heaven his dwelling place; for the temple at Jerusalem was not built in David's time; and it may be observed, that the prayer of the psalmist, or whom he represents, was a vocal one, and not merely mental; and hearing it intends a gracious regard unto it, an acceptance of it, and an agreeable answer: for it follows,

and my cry came before him, [even] into his ears;
God did not cover himself with a cloud, that his prayer could not pass through; but it was admitted and received; it came up before him with acceptance; it reached his ears, and even entered into them, and was delightful music to them: see ( John 11:41 John 11:42 ) ( Hebrews 5:7 ) .

Psalms 18:6 In-Context

4 The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me.

5 The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path.

6 But in my distress I cried out to the LORD ; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.

7 Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of his anger.

8 Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him.