10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,
10 Some of you were locked in a dark cell, cruelly confined behind bars,
10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons--
10 Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 107:10
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.