Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 116:6

The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

6. the simple ] Those whose want of wisdom and experience exposes them to danger. Cp. Psa 19:7; Psa 119:130. LXX , babes; cp. Mat 11:25.

I was brought low ] Cp. Psa 79:8; Psa 142:6.

and he helped me ] R.V. saved. Cp. Psa 116:13.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The Lord preserveth the simple – The Septuagint renders this babes – nepia. The Hebrew word has reference to simplicity or folly, as in Pro 1:22. It then refers to those who are the opposite of cautious or cunning; to those who are open to persuasion; to those who are easily enticed or seduced. The verb from which the word is derived – pathah – means to open, to expand; then, to be open, frank, ingenuous, easily persuaded or enticed. Thus it may express either the idea of being simple in the sense of being foolish, easily seduced and led astray; or, simple in the sense of being open, frank, ingenuous, trustful, sincere. The latter is evidently its meaning here. It refers to one of the characteristics of true piety – that of unsuspecting trust in God. It would describe one who yields readily to truth and duty; one who has singleness of aim in the desire to honor God; one who is without guile, trick, or cunning. Such a man was Nathanael Joh 1:47 : Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. The Hebrew word used here is rendered simple, Psa 19:7; Psa 119:130; Pro 1:4, Pro 1:22, Pro 1:32; Pro 7:7; Pro 8:5; Pro 9:4; Pro 14:15, Pro 14:18; Pro 19:25; Pro 21:11; Pro 22:3; Pro 27:12; Eze 45:20; and foolish, Pro 9:6. It does not elsewhere occur. The meaning here is, that the Lord preserves or keeps those who have simple and unwavering trust in him; those who are sincere in their professions; those who rely on his word.

I was brought low – By affliction and trial. The Hebrew literally means to hang down, to be pendulous, to swing, to wave – as a bucket in a well, or as the slender branches of the palm, the willow, etc. Then it means to be slack, feeble, weak, as in sickness, etc. See the notes at Psa 79:8. Here it probably refers to the prostration of strength by disease.

And he helped me – He gave me strength; he restored me.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Psa 116:6

I was brought low and He helped me.

Gods method of helping

Thousands of times has this experience of the psalmist been repeated. It is the Divine method. Bring low and then help. Cast down and then lift up. There are some diseases of the human system which the skilful physician thus treats. He begins at once to deplete and bring down the patient, reducing him little by little till the unskilled observer trembles lest life itself will depart. But at the right moment when the disease has been expelled the restoratives are applied, and a new life enters into the system. And there is a rapid and healthy building up. Brought low he has been helped. So in all Gods gracious dealings with human souls, this is His method. Take the process in conversion. First comes the terrible conviction. The soul discovers depth after depth of the evil within it, till it seems as though its condition were absolutely hopeless. And when this process is complete, and the soul is thoroughly cast down, brought low, then the Infinite Helper stretches forth His hand. Then power from on high comes. And thus through all the stages of the Christian life. The soul is brought low, pride is humbled, lofty looks are brought down, and then the help comes. Was is not thus with poor sinning Peter? He had grown self-reliant. He could even boast of his resolution and firmness. But when the trial came he was weaker than weakness itself, and fell; terribly, disgracefully fell. He wept bitterly. But just when the humiliation was complete he was reinstated in his office, and commissioned to feed Christs sheep. He was brought low and he was helped. Ask the aged and experienced disciple of to-day how it had been with him in the long years of his pilgrimage. He will tell you that he has many times been laid low, even in the dust, and just then he has been helped. Divine help is neither welcomed nor appreciated till the soul is taught its need of it in the stern school of experience. The process may not be pleasant at the time, but an infallible, Physician superintends it. (Anon.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 6. The Lord preserved the simple] pethaim, which all the Versions render little ones. Those who are meek and lowly of heart, who feel the spirit of little children, these he preserves, as he does little children; and he mentions this circumstance, because the Lord has a peculiar regard for these young ones, and gives his angels charge concerning them. Were it otherwise, children are exposed to so many dangers and deaths, that most of them would fall victims to accidents in their infancy.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

The simple; sincere and plain-hearted persons, who dare not use those frauds and crafty and wicked artifices in saving themselves or destroying their enemies, but wait upon God with honest hearts in his way and for his time of deliverance; which was the case of David, who, though he had the prospect and the promise of the kingdom, yet would not make haste to it by indirect courses, as by cutting off Saul, when he had great provocation and fair opportunity to do it; of which see 1Sa 24; 1Sa 26. Such persons he calls simple or foolish, as this word is commonly rendered, not because they are really so, but because the world esteems them so.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

The Lord preserveth the simple,…. Such as have but a small degree of understanding, either in things natural or spiritual, in comparison of others; babes, as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions render it, so in the Talmud i; see

Mt 11:25. Such who are sensible of their lack of wisdom, and what they have they do not lean unto or trust in, but being sensible of their weakness commit themselves to the Lord; they are sincere and upright, harmless and inoffensive, artless and incautious, and so easily imposed upon by designing men; but the Lord preserves them, as from sin, from a total and final falling away by it, so from gross errors and heresies; he preserves them from the snares and pollutions of the world, and from the temptations of Satan, so as not to be overcome with them; he preserves them by his Spirit, power, and grace, safe to his kingdom and glory.

I was brought low and he helped me; the psalmist returns to his own case, and gives an instance of the divine goodness in himself; he had been brought low by affliction of body, by distress of enemies, through want of the necessaries and conveniences of life; he had been brought low as to spiritual things, through the weakness of grace, the prevalence of corruption, the temptations of Satan, and the hidings of God’s face; but the Lord helped him to bear up under all this; he put underneath his everlasting arms, and upheld him with the right hand of his righteousness; he helped him out of his low estate, and delivered him out of all his troubles, when none else could; when things were at the greatest extremity, and he in the utmost distress, just ready to go down into silence and dwell there, Ps 94:17. The Targum is,

“he looked upon me to redeem me.”

i T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 110. 2.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(6) The simple.Inexperienced, in a good sense, as often in Proverbs. LXX. and Vulg., babes.

Brought low.See Note, Psa. 30:2.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6. Simple Not here such as want understanding. (as Pro 1:4; Pro 1:22,) but such as are of pure, unmixed, guileless hearts, to whom the promise is always due, (Psa 19:7; Psa 119:130😉 the childlike spirit. Psa 8:2; Mat 11:25.

Brought low Reduced to wretchedness, as in Psa 116:3; Jdg 6:6; Psa 79:8

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Psa 116:6. The simple i.e. Those who are upright and sincere, and who make use of no crafty arts, no indirect or unlawful means for their deliverance; or, as the original word likewise signifies, the little ones; i.e. those who wholly depend upon God, as little children do upon their parents.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Psa 116:6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.

Ver. 6. The Lord preserveth, the simple ] Heb. the persuasible (opposed to the scorner, Pro 19:25 ), the plain hearted (opposed to the guileful, 2Co 1:12 ; 2Co 11:3 Rom 16:19 ), the destitute of human help, that committeth himself to God, and patiently resteth on him for support and help, Psa 102:1-17 .

I was brought low ] Or, drawn dry; I was at a great under, at a low ebb; I was exhausted or emptied as a pond, strengthless, succourless, clean gone in a manner.

And he helped me ] The knowledge that David had of God’s goodness was experimental. See the like Rom 8:2 . A carnal man knoweth God’s excellencies and will revealed in his word only, as we know far countries by maps; but an experienced Christian, as one that hath himself been long there, 1Co 2:14-16 .

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

simple = sincere or guileless ones; not “foolish” in the modern usage.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

preserveth: Psa 19:7, Psa 25:21, Isa 35:8, Mat 11:25, Rom 16:19, 2Co 1:12, 2Co 11:3, Col 3:22

I was: Psa 79:8, Psa 106:43, Psa 142:6

Reciprocal: Psa 4:1 – thou Psa 16:1 – Preserve Psa 136:23 – in our low estate

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge