Psalms 107

BOOK V

1

Psalms 107-150

1 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good. His faithful love continues forever.

2 That's what those who have been set free by the LORD should say. He set them free from the power of the enemy.

3 He brought them back from other lands. He brought them back from east and west, from north and south.

4 Some of them wandered in deserts that were dry and empty. They couldn't find their way to a city where they could settle down.

5 They were hungry and thirsty. Their lives were slipping away.

6 Then they cried out to the LORD because of their problems. And he saved them from their troubles.

7 He led them straight to a city where they could settle down.

8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his faithful love. Let them give thanks for the miracles he does for his people.

9 He gives those who are thirsty all of the water they want. He gives those who are hungry all of the good food they can eat.

10 Others lived in the deepest darkness. They suffered as prisoners in iron chains.

11 That's because they hadn't obeyed the words of God. They had refused to follow the advice of the Most High God.

12 So he made them do work that was hard and bitter. They tripped and fell, and there was no one to help them.

13 Then they cried out to the LORD because of their problems. And he saved them from their troubles.

14 He brought them out of the deepest darkness. He broke their chains off.

15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his faithful love. Let them give thanks for the miracles he does for his people.

16 He breaks down gates that are made of bronze. He cuts through bars that are made of iron.

17 Others were foolish. They suffered because of their sins. They suffered because they wouldn't obey the Lord.

18 They refused to eat anything. They came close to passing through the gates of death.

19 Then they cried out to the LORD because of their problems. And he saved them from their troubles.

20 He gave his command and healed them. He saved them from the grave.

21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his faithful love. Let them give thanks for the miracles he does for his people.

22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings. Let them talk about what he has done as they sing with joy.

23 Others sailed out on the ocean in ships. They traded goods on the mighty waters.

24 They saw the works of the Lord. They saw the miracles he did on the ocean.

25 He spoke and stirred up a storm. It lifted the waves high.

26 They rose up to the heavens. Then they went down deep into the ocean. In that kind of danger the people's boldness melted away.

27 They were unsteady like those who get drunk. They didn't know what to do.

28 Then they cried out to the LORD because of their problems. And he brought them out of their troubles.

29 He made the storm as quiet as a whisper. The waves of the ocean calmed down.

30 The people were glad when the ocean became calm. Then he guided them to the harbor they were looking for.

31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his faithful love. Let them give thanks for the miracles he does for his people.

32 Let them honor him among his people who gather for worship. Let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.

33 He turned rivers into a desert. He turned flowing springs into thirsty ground.

34 He turned land that produced crops into a salty land where nothing could grow. He did it because the people who lived there were evil.

35 He turned the desert into pools of water. He turned the dry and cracked ground into flowing springs.

36 He brought hungry people there to live. They built a city where they could settle down.

37 They planted fields and vineyards that produced large crops.

38 He blessed the people, and they greatly increased their numbers. He kept their herds from getting smaller.

39 Then the number of God's people got smaller. They were brought low by trouble, suffering and sorrow.

40 The One who looks down on proud nobles made them wander in a desert where no one lives.

41 But he lifted needy people out of their suffering. He made their families increase like flocks of sheep.

42 Honest people see it and are filled with joy. But no one who is evil has anything to say.

43 Let those who are wise pay attention to these things. Let them think about the LORD's great love.

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.''