Psalms 18:5 (KJV)

Passage

The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

Nearby Context

Psalms 18:3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Psalms 18:4 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

Psalms 18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

Psalms 18:6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

Psalms 18:7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sorrows", "hell", "compassed", "snares", "death", and "prevented". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sorrows" and "hell", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 4's "The sorrows of death compassed me and..." into verse 6's "In my distress I called upon the...", so "sorrows" and "hell" belong inside that flow. In Psalms context, the local focus is worship, trust, the LORD's kingship, and covenant mercy.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sorrows" and "hell" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.