Psalms 107

¹O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

²Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

Psa 107:1-43. Although the general theme of this Psalm may have been suggested by God’s special favor to the Israelites in their restoration from captivity, it must be regarded as an instructive celebration of God’s praise for His merciful providence to all men in their various emergencies. Of these several are given--captivity and bondage, wanderings by land and sea, and famine; some as evidences of God’s displeasure, and all the deliverances as evidence of His goodness and mercy to them who humbly seek Him. 1-2. This call for thankful praise is the burden or chorus (compare Psa 107:8, 15, &c.).

³And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.

3. gathered--alluding to the dispersion of captives throughout the Babylonian empire. from the south--literally, “the sea,” or, Red Sea (Psa 114:3), which was on the south.

⁴They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.

⁵Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.

⁶Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

⁷And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.

4-7. A graphic picture is given of the sufferings of those who from distant lands returned to Jerusalem; or, city of habitation--may mean the land of Palestine.

⁸Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

⁹For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.

8-9. To the chorus is added, as a reason for praise, an example of the extreme distress from which they had been delivered--extreme hunger, the severest privation of a journey in the desert.

¹⁰Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;

¹¹Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:

¹²Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.

¹³Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.

¹⁵Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

¹⁶For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.

10-16. Their sufferings were for their rebellion against (Psa 105:28) the words, or purposes, or promises, of God for their benefit. When humbled they cry to God, who delivers them from bondage, described as a dark dungeon with doors and bars of metal, in which they are bound in iron--that is, chains and fetters. shadow of death--darkness with danger (Psa 23:4).

¹⁷Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.

¹⁸Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.

¹⁹Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.

²⁰He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

²¹Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

²²And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.

17-22. Whether the same or not, this exigency illustrates that dispensation of God according to which sin brings its own punishment. are afflicted--literally, “afflict themselves,” that is, bring on disease, denoted by loathing of food, and drawing

²³They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

²⁴These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.

²⁵For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.

²⁶They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.

²⁷They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.

²⁸Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

²⁹He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.

³⁰Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

³¹Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

³²Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

23-32. Here are set forth the perils of seafaring, futility of man’s, and efficiency of God’s, help. go ... sea--alluding to the elevation of the land at the coast.

³³He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;

³⁴A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

³⁵He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.

³⁶And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;

³⁷And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.

³⁸He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

³⁹Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.

⁴⁰He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.

⁴¹Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.

33-41. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, &c.--God’s providence is illustriously displayed in His influence on two great elements of human prosperity, the earth’s productiveness and the powers of government. He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. By a permitted misrule and tyranny, this scene of prosperity is changed to one of adversity. He rules rulers, setting up one and putting down another.

⁴²The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.

⁴³Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

42-43. In this providential government, good men will rejoice, and the cavils of the wicked will be stopped (Job 5:16; Is 52:15), and all who take right views will appreciate God’s unfailing mercy and unbounded love.