Psalms 34:17

17 They cried, and Jehovah heard, And from all their distresses delivered them.

Psalms 34:17 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 34:17

[The righteous] cry
The word "righteous" is not in the original text, but is rightly supplied in our version, as it is in the Targum, and by Jarchi; and so Kimchi and Ben Melech observe, that these words are not to be connected with ( Psalms 34:16 ) , but with ( Psalms 34:15 ) ; and they are indeed an amplification of the last clause of it; and the cry of the righteous is meant, to which the ears of the Lord are open; though Aben Ezra thinks that these words are to be understood of them that do evil, and of their cry to the Lord, when they turn from their evil ways; but the former sense is best;

and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles;
their inward troubles, through the workings of corruption in their hearts; through the violent assaults of Satan, the blasphemous thoughts he injects into them, and his solicitations of them to sin; and through divine desertions, and their outward troubles; through afflictions of body, losses of estate and friends, and the reproaches and persecutions of men; out of all these the Lord sooner or later delivers his people who cry unto him.

Psalms 34:17 In-Context

15 The eyes of Jehovah [are] unto the righteous, And His ears unto their cry.

16 (The face of Jehovah [is] on doers of evil, To cut off from earth their memorial.)

17 They cried, and Jehovah heard, And from all their distresses delivered them.

18 Near [is] Jehovah to the broken of heart, And the bruised of spirit He saveth.

19 Many [are] the evils of the righteous, Out of them all doth Jehovah deliver him.