10 Such as inhabit darkness and the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron, 11 Because they had rebelled against the words of God, and had despised the counsel of the Most High; ... 12 And he bowed down their heart with labour; they stumbled, and there was none to help: 13 Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, [and] he saved them out of their distresses; 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands in sunder. 15 Let them give thanks unto Jehovah for his loving-kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men; 16 For he hath broken the gates of bronze, and cut asunder the bars of iron.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 107:10-16
Commentary on Psalm 107:10-16
(Read Psalm 107:10-16)
This description of prisoners and captives intimates that they are desolate and sorrowful. In the eastern prisons the captives were and are treated with much severity. Afflicting providences must be improved as humbling providences; and we lose the benefit, if our hearts are unhumbled and unbroken under them. This is a shadow of the sinner's deliverance from a far worse confinement. The awakened sinner discovers his guilt and misery. Having struggled in vain for deliverance, he finds there is no help for him but in the mercy and grace of God. His sin is forgiven by a merciful God, and his pardon is accompanied by deliverance from the power of sin and Satan, and by the sanctifying and comforting influences of God the Holy Spirit.