Psalms 107

1 Give thanks to the LORD because he is good, because his mercy endures forever.

2 Let the people the LORD defended repeat these words. They are the people he defended from the power of their enemies

3 and gathered from other countries, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

4 They wandered around the desert on a deserted road without finding an inhabited city.

5 They were hungry and thirsty. They began to lose hope.

6 In their distress they cried out to the LORD. He rescued them from their troubles.

7 He led them on a road that went straight to an inhabited city.

8 Let them give thanks to the LORD because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam's descendants.

9 He gave plenty to drink to those who were thirsty. He filled those who were hungry with good food.

10 Those who lived in the dark, in death's shadow were prisoners in misery. They were held in iron chains

11 because they had rebelled against God's words and had despised the advice given by the Most High.

12 So he humbled them with hard work. They fell down, but no one was there to help them.

13 In their distress they cried out to the LORD. He saved them from their troubles.

14 He brought them out of the dark, out of death's shadow. He broke apart their chains.

15 Let them give thanks to the LORD because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam's descendants.

16 He shattered bronze gates and cut iron bars in two.

17 Fools suffered because of their disobedience and because of their crimes.

18 All food was disgusting to them, and they came near death's gates.

19 In their distress they cried out to the LORD. He saved them from their troubles.

20 He sent his message and healed them. He rescued them from the grave.

21 Let them give thanks to the LORD because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam's descendants.

22 Let them bring songs of thanksgiving as their sacrifice. Let them tell in joyful songs what he has done.

23 Those who sail on the sea in ships, who do business on the high seas,

24 have seen what the LORD can do, the miracles he performed in the depths of the sea.

25 He spoke, and a storm began to blow, and it made the waves rise high.

26 The sailors aboard ship rose toward the sky. They plunged into the depths. Their courage melted in [the face of] disaster.

27 They reeled and staggered like drunks, and all their skills as sailors became useless.

28 In their distress they cried out to the LORD. He led them from their troubles.

29 He made the storm calm down, and the waves became still.

30 The sailors were glad that the storm was quiet. He guided them to the harbor they had longed for.

31 Let them give thanks to the LORD because of his mercy. He performed his miracles for Adam's descendants.

32 Let them glorify him when the people are gathered for worship. Let them praise him in the company of respected leaders.

33 He changes rivers into a desert, springs into thirsty ground,

34 and fertile ground into a layer of salt because of the wickedness of the people living there.

35 He changes deserts into lakes and dry ground into springs.

36 There he settles those who are hungry, and they build cities to live in.

37 They plant in fields and vineyards that produce crops.

38 He blesses them, and their numbers multiply, and he does not allow a shortage of cattle.

39 They became few in number and were humiliated because of oppression, disaster, and sorrow.

40 He poured contempt on their influential people and made them stumble around in a pathless desert.

41 But now he lifts needy people high above suffering and makes their families like flocks.

42 Decent people will see this and rejoice, but all the wicked people will shut their mouths.

43 Let those who [think] they are wise pay attention to these things so that they may understand the LORD's blessings.

Psalms 107 Commentary

Chapter 107

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)

Verses 1-9 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.

Verses 10-16 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.

Verses 17-22 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.

Verses 23-32 Let those who go to sea, consider and adore the Lord. Mariners have their business upon the tempestuous ocean, and there witness deliverances of which others cannot form an idea. How seasonable it is at such a time to pray! This may remind us of the terrors and distress of conscience many experience, and of those deep scenes of trouble which many pass through, in their Christian course. Yet, in answer to their cries, the Lord turns their storm into a calm, and causes their trials to end in gladness.

Verses 33-43 What surprising changes are often made in the affairs of men! Let the present desolate state of Judea, and of other countries, explain this. If we look abroad in the world, we see many greatly increase, whose beginning was small. We see many who have thus suddenly risen, as suddenly brought to nothing. Worldly wealth is uncertain; often those who are filled with it, ere they are aware, lose it again. God has many ways of making men poor. The righteous shall rejoice. It shall fully convince all those who deny the Divine Providence. When sinners see how justly God takes away the gifts they have abused, they will not have a word to say. It is of great use to us to be fully assured of God's goodness, and duly affected with it. It is our wisdom to mind our duty, and to refer our comfort to him. A truly wise person will treasure in his heart this delightful psalm. From it, he will fully understand the weakness and wretchedness of man, and the power and loving-kindness of God, not for our merit, but for his mercy's sake.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 107

This psalm, from its style, and from its connection with the preceding psalms, seems to have been written by David. The two foregoing psalms respect the children of Israel; this is generally thought to concern all mankind, and its view to assert a general providence which attends all, in whatsoever condition and circumstance; and to encourage men in their distresses to cry unto the Lord. According to Kimchi, Aben Ezra, and others, four sorts of persons are mentioned, travellers through a wilderness, prisoners, sick persons, and such who use the seas; to which some add a fifth, husbandmen; these are instanced in, not to the exclusion of others, but from them it may be concluded that whatsoever state or condition persons may be in, they are known and taken notice of by the Lord, and are relieved by him when they call upon him. Some restrain the whole to the Israelites, as the Targum, R. Obadiah, Arama, and others, where they make any application; and others apply the psalm to New Testament times; and indeed, though the literal sense should be attended unto and preserved, yet it seems to be applicable to spiritual persons and things. The title of it in the Syriac version is pretty remarkable,

``it is said concerning Joab and Abiah the sons of Samuel, who recited the commandments of the Lord. God gathered the Jews out of captivity, and brought them out from Babylon. Also the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ, gathered the Gentiles from the four corners of the world, by preaching to baptism.''