Psalm 34:17-18 teaches that God hears the cries of those who are righteous and delivers them from their troubles, and that he stays especially close to people whose hearts are broken or whose spirits are crushed. The passage gives comfort to anyone who is in pain, because it describes God as attentive rather than distant. It comes from a psalm of David, written in the context of a dramatic escape that the heading connects to his time before King Abimelech.
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves those who have a crushed spirit.
Psalm 34:17-18 (WEB)
Psalm 34:17-18 Summary
The passage moves in two steps. First, it describes a pattern: when people who live in trust and integrity cry out for help, the LORD listens and rescues them from whatever troubles surround them. The verb “cry” suggests more than a quiet thought. It is an open, urgent call, and David says God responds to it.
Second, the passage narrows the focus to a particular kind of suffering. It is not only dangerous circumstances that move God to act but also inner wounds, the heartbreak and crushed spirit that leave a person feeling flattened. Here the psalm says God is “near,” a word that carries the sense of close presence, and that he saves people in this state. The order matters: God hears, then delivers, and then draws near to the grieving.
Context of Psalm 34:17-18
Psalm 34 is traditionally attributed to David and carries a heading that links it to the time he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who sent him away (1 Samuel 21). Whatever the precise occasion, the psalm is a song of thanksgiving and instruction. David invites his listeners to taste and see that the LORD is good, and he writes for the community of the faithful, those who fear God and want to live well. The surrounding verses, 14 through 21, provide the moral frame: depart from evil, do good, seek peace, and trust that the LORD watches over the righteous.
Verses 15 and 16 set the stage by describing God’s eyes and ears turned toward the righteous, and his face set against evildoers. Verses 17 and 18 then describe the response to the cry of the righteous. Verses 19 and 20 widen the lens, admitting that afflictions are many yet insisting that God delivers from them all. Read this way, the passage is not a promise that trouble will vanish but a promise that God is present within it.
Psalm 34:17-18 Verse by Verse
Psalm 147:3
He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.
(WEB)
This verse says the LORD heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, which pairs naturally with Psalm 34:18 and shows the same tender concern for inward pain. It reinforces the idea that God’s care reaches into emotional and spiritual injury.
Psalm 55:22
Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
(WEB)
Here David invites his readers to cast their burden on the LORD, who will sustain them. The verse complements the call to cry out in Psalm 34:17 by describing what happens when a person hands the weight of trouble over to God.
A Prayer Based on Psalm 34:17-18
Lord, you hear when I cry out to you, and I bring you my trouble today without pretending it is smaller than it is. Some of my pain is on the outside, in situations I cannot fix, and some of it lives inside me, in a heart that feels bruised and a spirit that feels worn thin. Be near to me in both. Deliver me where deliverance is needed, and draw close where I simply need to be held. Teach me to trust that your nearness is not conditional on my strength. Amen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Psalm 34:17 mean every prayer will be answered in the way we want?
The verse promises that the LORD hears the cry of the righteous and delivers them from troubles, but it does not spell out the form that deliverance will take. Elsewhere the Bible shows that God sometimes rescues people from circumstances and sometimes sustains them through them. The promise is about God’s faithful response, not a guarantee of any specific outcome.
What does it mean that the LORD is near to the brokenhearted?
Nearness in this verse means relational closeness rather than physical distance. It describes God’s attentive presence with people who are grieving or discouraged. The verse presents this closeness as a source of comfort in the middle of pain.
Who are “the righteous” in Psalm 34:17?
In the context of Psalm 34, the righteous are people who fear God and seek to live with integrity, peace, and goodness, as verses 14 and 15 describe. The term refers to those who are in right relationship with God, not to people who have achieved perfection.
