Psalms107
New American Standard
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His mercy is everlasting.
2 The redeemed of the Lord shall say so, Those whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
3 And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region; They did not find a way to an inhabited city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty; Their souls felt weak within them.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses.
7 He also had them walk on a straight way, To go to an inhabited city.
8 They shall give thanks to the Lord for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!
9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And He has filled the hungry soul with what is good.
10 There were those who lived in darkness and in the shadow of death, Prisoners in misery and chains,
11 Because they had rebelled against the words of God And rejected the plan of the Most High.
12 Therefore He humbled their heart with labor; They stumbled and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death And broke their bands apart.
15 They shall give thanks to the Lord for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!
16 For He has shattered gates of bronze And cut off bars of iron.
17 Fools, because of their rebellious way, And because of their guilty deeds, were afflicted.
18 Their souls loathed all kinds of food, And they came close to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them from their distresses.
20 He sent His word and healed them, And saved them from their destruction.
21 They shall give thanks to the Lord for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!
22 They shall also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, And tell of His works with joyful singing.
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters;
24 They have seen the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He spoke and raised a stormy wind, Which lifted the waves of the sea.
26 They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; Their soul melted away in their misery.
27 They reeled and staggered like a drunken person, And were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses.
29 He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired harbor.
31 They shall give thanks to the Lord for His mercy, And for His wonders to the sons of mankind!
32 They shall also exalt Him in the congregation of the people, And praise Him at the seat of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a wilderness, And springs of water into a thirsty ground;
34 And a fruitful land into a salt waste, Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a wilderness into a pool of water, And a dry land into springs of water;
36 And He has the hungry live there, So that they may establish an inhabited city,
37 And sow fields and plant vineyards, And gather a fruitful harvest.
38 He also blesses them and they multiply greatly, And He does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When they become few and lowly Because of oppression, misery, and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt upon noblemen And makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.
41 But He sets the needy securely on high, away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock.
42 The upright see it and are glad; But all injustice shuts its mouth.
43 Who is wise? He is to pay attention to these things, And consider the mercy of the Lord.
Study
Psalms 107Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Psalms 107. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: God's providential care of the children of men in distresses, in banishment, and dispersion. (1–9). In captivity. (10–16). In sickness. (17–22). Danger at sea. (23–32). God's hand is to be seen by his own people. (33–43).
vv1-9
In these verses there is reference to the deliverance from Egypt, and perhaps that from Babylon: but the circumstances of travellers in those countries are also noted. It is scarcely possible to conceive the horrors suffered by the hapless traveller, when crossing the trackless sands, exposed to the burning rays of the sum. The words describe their case whom the Lord has redeemed from the bondage of Satan; who pass through the world as a dangerous and dreary wilderness, often ready to faint through troubles, fears, and temptations. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, after God, and communion with him, shall be filled with the goodness of his house, both in grace and glory.
vv10-16
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.
vv17-22
If we knew no sin, we should know no sickness. Sinners are fools. They hurt their bodily health by intemperance, and endanger their lives by indulging their appetites. This their way is their folly. The weakness of the body is the effect of sickness. It is by the power and mercy of God that we are recovered from sickness, and it is our duty to be thankful. All Christ's miraculous cures were emblems of his healing diseases of the soul. It is also to be applied to the spiritual cures which the Spirit of grace works. He sends his word, and heals souls; convinces, converts them, makes them holy, and all by the word. Even in common cases of recovery from sickness, God in his providence speaks, and it is done; by his word and Spirit the soul is restored to health and holiness.
Key Words
יָדָה: physically, to throw (a stone, an arrow) at or away; especially to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively, to bemoan (by wringing the hands)
טוֹב: good (as an adjective) in the widest sense; used likewise as a noun, both in the masculine and the feminine, the singular and the plural (good, a good or good thing, a good man or woman; the good, goods or good things, good men or women), also as an adverb (well)
חֵסֵד: kindness; by implication (towards God) piety; rarely (by opposition) reproof, or (subject.) beauty
עוֹלָם: properly, concealed, i.e. the vanishing point; generally, time out of mind (past or future), i.e. (practically) eternity; frequentatively, adverbial (especially with prepositional prefix) always
גָּאַל: to be the next of kin (and as such to buy back a relative's property, marry his widow, etc.)
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
קָבַץ: to grasp, i.e. collect
אֶרֶץ: the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
מִזְרָח: sunrise, i.e. the east
מַעֲרָב: the west (as a region of the evening sun)
Cross References
Psalms 107Identical introductory liturgical call to praise God for His everlasting mercy and goodness.
Supported by Matthew Poole, John Calvin
Isaianic language of the 'redeemed of the Lord' returning along the holy highway.
Supported by JFB
Prophetic parallel of breaking the gates of brass and cutting the bars of iron.
Supported by JFB
Jesus calming the physical storm mirrors Yahweh's authority over the sea shown here.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The Zechariah benediction echoes sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.
Supported by JFB
Urges sacrificing the sacrifices of thanksgiving, matching the psalm's liturgical instructions.
Supported by JFB
Direct verbal parallel regarding God making leaders wander in a pathless wilderness.
Supported by JFB
Concludes with the same wisdom formula: the wise observing and understanding Yahweh's ways.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Mary's Magnificat echoes God satisfying the longing and filling the hungry with good.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Saviour's light dawning on those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Matches the description of a sick man abhorring food and drawing near to death.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Sovereign reversal raising the needy from affliction and multiplying families like a flock.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Hannah's song parallel of setting the poor on high and raising the needy.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Theological fulfillment where all iniquity stops her mouth before the righteous judgment.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Miraculous transformation of dry wilderness rock into standing water and water springs.
Supported by Matthew Poole