Psalm 107
1 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
15 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
19 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
24 These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
34 A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings.
36 And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
37 And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
39 Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way.
41 Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.
42 The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
43 Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Psalm 107 Commentary
Overview
Psalm 107 opens Book Five of the Psalms with a call to thanksgiving. It also answers the prayer at the end of Psalm 106: “Gather us from among the heathen.” Here the redeemed have been gathered from east, west, north, and south, and they are summoned to tell what the Lord has done.
The central portion presents four scenes of distress: travelers lost in a wilderness, prisoners sitting in darkness, sick people suffering through sinful folly, and sailors overwhelmed by a storm. Each scene follows a repeated movement—trouble, a cry to the Lord, divine rescue, and a call to praise God for his goodness and wonderful works.
The final section widens the view from individual rescues to God’s government of the world. He can turn fertile land into barrenness, transform wilderness into springs, bring princes low, and raise the poor. The wise person does more than notice changing circumstances; he considers them until he understands the Lord’s steadfast love.
Key Themes
The redeemed should speak openly about redemption. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” makes testimony part of thanksgiving. Those rescued from danger, bondage, guilt, or displacement should not treat mercy as a private possession. Their words direct attention away from their own strength and toward the God who acted for them.
God gathers people whom loss has scattered. Verse 3 pictures return from every direction. The immediate language fits Israelites dispersed among foreign lands, but the four compass points also communicate completeness. No distance places the redeemed beyond God’s reach, and restored community is itself one of his gifts.
The repeated pattern teaches people how to interpret rescue. Four times the distressed cry to the Lord, four times he delivers, and four times the psalm calls for praise. The repetition is intentional. Different crises reveal the same dependable mercy, while each rescue displays a different form of God’s care.
The first scene portrays people who cannot find a settled home. The wanderers are hungry, thirsty, and exhausted in a trackless region. Their need is not merely for food but for direction and belonging. God leads them “by the right way” toward a city where life can become stable again.
God satisfies more than physical appetite. Verse 9 speaks of the “longing soul” and the “hungry soul.” Food and shelter belong within the picture, but the language reaches inward. Human beings carry desires that possessions alone cannot settle; the Lord fills the empty with goodness because he is the source of life and home.
The second scene joins bondage with moral responsibility. The prisoners sit in darkness because they rebelled against God’s words and rejected his counsel. Psalm 107 does not say that every prisoner or sufferer is personally responsible for the condition. It describes this group’s distress honestly so that mercy is seen as forgiveness as well as liberation.
Being brought low can expose the failure of self-reliance. Their hard labor breaks the prisoners’ pride, and “there was none to help.” The verse does not celebrate abuse or command people to remain in oppression. It shows the point at which false confidence collapses and a desperate person finally cries to the only Deliverer strong enough to break iron bars.
God’s rescue reaches places that appear permanently closed. Gates of bronze and bars of iron symbolize confinement beyond human escape. The Lord does not merely comfort captives inside their prison; he breaks what holds them. The image echoes God’s promise to go before his anointed and shatter barriers in Isaiah 45.
The third scene warns that foolish choices can damage the whole person. In biblical wisdom, a fool is not simply unintelligent but morally resistant to God. These sufferers are afflicted because of transgression, lose their appetite, and approach death. Sin can have spiritual, relational, and bodily consequences, though the psalm does not make all sickness a punishment for a particular sin.
God can heal by the authority of his word. Verse 20 says, “He sent his word, and healed them.” The Lord’s command accomplishes what no human rescuer can. In the direct setting, the phrase describes effective divine speech; it is not necessarily a prediction of the incarnation, although Christian readers rightly recognize that God’s saving word is fully revealed in Christ.
Thanksgiving should become both worship and testimony. Those healed are told to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare God’s works with rejoicing. Gratitude is not merely a feeling after danger passes. Under Israel’s covenant it took liturgical form, and it also became a story told before others so that the community could share the praise.
The fourth scene finds God in ordinary work and uncontrollable danger. The sailors are not portrayed as rebels but as people conducting business on great waters. Their vocation carries them into a realm where human control quickly disappears. Daily labor can reveal creation’s power and human dependence on its Creator.
The Lord remains sovereign over the storm. God raises the wind, the waves tower and plunge, and experienced sailors reach their “wits’ end.” The poetry gives no room for the illusion that skill controls every outcome. Human knowledge is valuable, but even experts encounter conditions that exceed their ability and expose the limits of technique.
Prayer is appropriate when competence has been exhausted. The sailors cry out only after every ordinary resource fails, yet God hears them. The psalm does not teach people to neglect preparation or safety. It teaches that prayer is not made unnecessary by expertise and that helplessness does not make a person inaccessible to mercy.
The God who raises the storm can also command quiet. He makes the storm calm, stills the waves, and guides the sailors to their desired haven. In Mark 4, Jesus performs this kind of work directly, prompting the disciples to ask who he is. The Gospel scene draws its force from Old Testament passages in which the Lord rules the sea.
Rescue should be acknowledged in public worship. Verse 32 moves thanksgiving into the congregation and the assembly of elders. Private prayer during crisis should lead to public gratitude afterward. Testimony is not self-promotion when its purpose is to exalt God and strengthen a community’s memory of his faithfulness.
God’s providence includes severe reversals. Rivers can become wilderness, fruitful land can become salt waste, and settled people can be brought low. Verse 34 connects one reversal with wickedness, recalling covenant judgments such as those described in Deuteronomy 28. Yet readers must not assume that every drought or disaster reveals the specific guilt of its victims.
The Lord can also reverse desolation into abundance. Wilderness becomes pools, dry ground produces springs, and hungry people establish homes, fields, and vineyards. The picture resembles prophetic visions of restoration such as Isaiah 35. God’s blessing does not deny the reality of ruined places; it creates new possibilities within them.
Political rank does not protect anyone from divine judgment. God pours contempt on princes and makes them wander where there is no road. Leaders who appear secure can lose status and direction. The psalm therefore warns against treating power as proof of virtue or assuming that those at the top are beyond accountability.
God sees the poor whom society overlooks. In contrast to humbled princes, the Lord sets the poor on high from affliction and gives them growing families like a flock. The righteous rejoice because the reversal displays justice, while iniquity is silenced. Biblical hope includes the public defeat of arrogant claims that suffering people do not matter.
Wisdom observes providence without pretending to explain everything. The final verse calls readers to “observe these things” and understand the Lord’s lovingkindness. Wisdom studies the repeated pattern of judgment, rescue, reversal, and provision. It does not claim access to every hidden reason; it learns that history is not outside God’s government and that mercy remains central to his ways.
Questions About Key Verses
Who are “the redeemed of the Lord” in verses 2–3? In context they are people rescued from hostile power and gathered from scattered lands, probably with Israel’s return and restoration in view. The rest of the psalm broadens the portrait through several kinds of distress. Biblically, redeemed people are those whom God has delivered at cost and brought back under his care.
Are the four groups descriptions of one historical event? They may reflect experiences connected with exile and return, but the scenes are presented as representative portraits rather than one continuous journey. Wanderers, prisoners, the gravely ill, and storm-tossed sailors show how widely human distress can vary while the pattern of crying out and receiving mercy remains recognizable.
Does Psalm 107 teach that suffering is always caused by personal sin? No. Rebellion is explicitly connected with the prisoners’ bondage and the fools’ affliction, but no moral cause is given for the wanderers or sailors. Scripture recognizes suffering caused by sin, suffering caused by others, ordinary creaturely danger, and suffering whose immediate reason is not disclosed.
What does “he sent his word, and healed them” mean? God healed by issuing an effective command. His word is not empty information; it carries his authority and accomplishes his purpose. The verse supports trust in God’s power to heal, but it does not promise that every faithful prayer will receive immediate physical recovery or eliminate the ordinary use of medical care.
Does the psalm mean God causes every storm and natural disaster? The passage affirms that wind and sea are not independent of God’s sovereignty. It does not authorize people to identify a secret divine purpose behind each disaster or blame those who suffer. The proper responses are humility, prayer, practical aid, and confidence that creation never escapes its Maker’s rule.
How does Jesus calming the storm relate to Psalm 107? Psalm 107 directly praises the Lord for stilling the sea and bringing sailors safely home. When Jesus commands wind and waves in the Gospels, he acts with the authority Scripture associates with God. The connection contributes to the Gospel presentation of his identity, while the psalm itself remains a complete celebration of the Lord’s saving power.
Practical Applications
Tell specific stories of God’s mercy. General statements about gratitude are good, but Psalm 107 repeatedly names the actual distress and the form of rescue. Believers can strengthen others by describing truthfully where they were lost, bound, sick, afraid, or displaced and how God sustained, guided, forgave, or delivered them.
Cry to God before a crisis becomes understandable. None of the four groups first solves the meaning of its suffering. They call for help from within confusion. Prayer does not require a polished explanation, and desperation need not be hidden behind spiritual language. Honest dependence is itself an appropriate response to trouble.
Accept responsibility without concluding that mercy is unavailable. Two groups suffer consequences connected with rebellion and folly, yet the Lord hears them when they cry. Confession should reject excuses, but it should also reject despair. Past choices may leave real consequences while God still forgives, restores, and provides a path of obedience.
Turn private relief into public thanksgiving. The psalm repeatedly commands praise after rescue and finally places it in the congregation. Keep a record of answered prayer, thank the people through whom help came, and speak about God’s faithfulness in ways that serve rather than impress the community.
Serve people in the forms of distress the psalm names. Worship consistent with Psalm 107 notices displaced people, prisoners, the sick, workers exposed to danger, the hungry, and the poor. Christians cannot perform divine rescue, but they can offer hospitality, advocacy, medical support, safe practices, material aid, and companionship as expressions of God-directed love.
Study reversals with humility and hope. Prosperity can become barrenness, rulers can lose their place, and neglected people can be raised up. Do not build identity on favorable conditions or assume hardship is permanent. The wise observe these changes, resist simplistic judgments, and anchor hope in the Lord whose steadfast love remains present through them all.