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Psalm 107:18

Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.

16For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron.
17Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.
18Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.
19Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses.
20He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.
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← Psalm 107:17Psalm 107:19 →
Notice

Food has become repulsive, and death draws close: the verse names a frightening point where even the desire for nourishment has gone.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

When have you seen illness make even food unwelcome, and what stays with you from that experience?

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What fears surface for you in the phrase “the gates of death”?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

6 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Matthew 16:18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.Both passages use gates as an image of death; the psalm describes approaching them, while Jesus says Hades will not prevail against his assembly.
Psalm 88:3For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol.Both psalms describe life drawing near to death, with distress reaching into the soul.
Job 38:17Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?Both use the phrase “the gates of death,” describing a threshold people approach in the psalm and God questions Job about.
Psalm 9:13Have mercy on me, LORD. See my affliction by those who hate me, and lift me up from the gates of death,Both describe proximity to “the gates of death,” with Psalm 9 turning that danger into a plea for God's mercy.
Job 33:19–22“He is chastened also with pain on his bed, with continual strife in his bones,Both describe bodily suffering: food becomes repulsive in the psalm, while pain afflicts a person on his bed in Job.
Isaiah 38:10I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.”Both portray approaching death through the image of gates, with Isaiah also naming the loss of expected years.
Where this verse fits

Illness or diagnosis. caregiving. death and what comes after.

What the Bible says about death →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Pray for someone too ill to eat

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Encouragement

The next verses describe these sufferers crying to God and receiving his help. Here, their distress is still stark: Scripture leaves room to name how bad things are.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 107:18. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 107 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).