Psalms107
New International Version
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story— those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness, prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness, and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.
17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.
23 Some went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards; they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the council of the elders.
33 He turned rivers into a desert, flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live, and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased, and he did not let their herds diminish.
39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice, but all the wicked shut their mouths.
43 Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds 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