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Psalm 18:6
In my distress I called on the LORD, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.
4The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death came on me.
6In my distress I called on the LORD, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.
7Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
8Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.
Notice
The cry travels from distress to God’s ears, and David’s account speaks to the fear that a desperate prayer might never be heard.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What distress would you put into words if you trusted that God heard your voice?
Write on thisHow does David’s phrase “my God” shape the way you read his cry?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 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
Psalm 34:4I sought the LORD, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.Both speakers recount turning to the LORD in trouble and finding that he heard or answered them.
Psalm 50:15Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”Both passages connect calling on God with trouble, with Psalm 18 recounting his hearing and Psalm 50 promising deliverance.
Psalm 120:1A Song of Ascents. In my distress, I cried to the LORD. He answered me.Both speakers cry to the LORD in distress and testify that their cries receive his attention.
Psalm 118:5Out of my distress, I called on the LORD. The LORD answered me with freedom.Both prayers begin in distress and recount calling on the LORD, who hears in Psalm 18 and answers in Psalm 118.
2 Samuel 22:7In my distress, I called on the LORD. Yes, I called to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came into his ears.Both accounts describe a cry in distress reaching God’s ears, with God hearing the speaker’s voice from his temple.
1 Samuel 30:6David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the souls of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for his …Both passages describe distress and a turn toward the LORD as the sufferer’s own God.
Jonah 2:7“When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.Both speakers recount prayer reaching God in his temple from a place of great distress.
2 Chronicles 30:27Then the Levitical priests arose and blessed the people. Their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even to heaven.Both passages describe a voice being heard and prayer reaching God in his dwelling.
Exodus 2:23In the course of those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up to …Both passages describe cries arising from suffering and reaching God.
2 Chronicles 14:11Asa cried to the LORD his God, and said, “LORD, there is no one besides you to help, between the mighty and him who has no strength. Help us, LORD our God; for …Both David and Asa cry to the LORD their God in the face of danger.
Acts 12:5Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.Both passages describe prayer to God amid trouble, though Acts here records the assembly’s prayer without describing God’s response.
Habakkuk 2:20But the LORD is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him!”Both passages speak of the LORD in his temple, where Psalm 18 describes him hearing and Habakkuk commands silence before him.
Where this verse fits
Anxiety or panic. feeling distant from God. answered prayer.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
Distress does not have to pass before you pray. David cried while death threatened him, and his account is clear: his voice reached God’s ears.
Now put it in your words.
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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).