Berean Standard Bible
The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit.
King James Version
The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
About this verse
Two movements: sound, then distance. First the sound: "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears; He delivers them from all their troubles." Notice what qualifies as prayer here — a cry, not a composition. No eloquence, no correct form; distress itself is the message, and it is heard. Then the distance: "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted; He saves the contrite in spirit." Deliverance for the troubles, nearness for the heart while the troubles run their course.
David wrote Psalm 34 after escaping Gath by feigning madness before its Philistine king — a rescue with no dignity in it, which may be why the psalm is so free of posturing. And the psalm is honest about the math: the very next verse concedes that the afflictions of the righteous are many. So "delivers them from all their troubles" is not an exemption clause. It is a track record — troubles keep coming, and deliverance keeps answering.
This is the passage for crisis prayer, and its two halves cover the two things a person in crisis actually needs: the long promise that God acts, and the immediate assurance that while you wait for the acting, he is not managing your case from a distance. He hears from close range.
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