Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
And gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses,
he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.
Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.
Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.
Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help.
Then they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains.
Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron.
Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.
Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.
Then they cry to Yahweh in their trouble, he saves them out of their distresses.
He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.
Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his deeds with singing.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 6, 10, 11, 17, 20, 22 1 Praise Jehovah. We have already explained this verse,…
1 Praise Jehovah. We have already explained this verse, for it formed the commencement of the preceding psalm. And it appears that it was not only frequently used among the Jews, but also so incorporated with other psalms, that when one part of the chorus on the one side was singing a portion of the psalm, the other part of the chorus on the opposite side in its turn, after each succeeding verse, responded, Praise Jehovah, because he is good, etc The penman of this psalm, whoever he was, has, instead of the ordinary preface, inserted this beautiful sentiment, in which praise and thanksgiving to God were so frequently expressed by the Israelitish Church. Immediately he proceeds to speak more particularly. And first, he exhorts those to offer up a tribute of gratitude to God; who, after having been delivered from slavery and imprisonment, and after a long and painful journey, arrived in safety at their place of abode. These he calls the redeemed of God; because, in wandering through the trackless desert, and howling wilderness, they many a time would have been prevented from returning home, had not God, as it were, with his outstretched hand, appeared as their guard and their guide. He does not here refer to travelers indiscriminately, but to such as either by hostile power, or by any other kind of violence, or by stern necessity, having been banished to distant regions, felt themselves to be in the midst of imminent dangers; or it may be, that he refers to those who had been made prisoners by enemies, pirates, or other robbers. He reminds them that it was by no casual occurrence that they had been driven about in that manner, and had been brought back to their native country, but that all their wanderings had been under the superintending providence of God.
But the second verse might be conjoined with the first, as if the prophet were commanding the persons whom he was addressing to sing this celebrated ode. It may with equal propriety be read by itself thus: Let the redeemed of Jehovah, who have returned from captivity to their own land, come forth now, and take part in the celebration of God’s praises, and let them publish his loving-kindness which they have experienced in their deliverance. Among the Jews, who had occasion to undertake extensive journeys, such occurrences as these were very common; because they could hardly leave their own land, without from all quarters encountering ways rugged, and difficult, and perilous; and the same observation is equally applicable to mankind in general. He reminds them how often they wandered and turned aside from the right way, and found no place of shelter; a thing by no means rare in these lonely deserts. Were a person to enter a forest without any knowledge of the proper direction, he would, in the course of his wandering, be in danger of becoming the prey of lions and wolves. He has, however, particularly in his eye those who, finding themselves unexpectedly in desert places, are also in danger of perishing for hunger and thirst. For it is certain that such persons are hourly in hazard of death, unless the Lord come to their rescue.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 11, 13, 16, 17, 20, 22 This notable sentence was in the beginning used as…
This notable sentence was in the beginning used as the foot or tenor of the song, which was oftentimes repeated.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–22 Psa 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for…
Psa 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for [he is] good: for his mercy [endureth] for ever.
Ver. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good] He is good, and doeth good, Psa 119:68, not to his Israel only, as is set forth in the two foregoing psalms, but to all mankind, which is Divini ingenii cura, as one saith, whatever atheists and epicures say to the contrary, denying a Divine providence: witness that profane distich of theirs:
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Nempe nihil positum est, et sors incerta vagatur,
Fertque refertque vices, et habent mortalia casum.
For his mercy endureth for ever] Notwithstanding men’s many and mighty provocations.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 20, 22 This whole verse occurs also Psa 106:1; only there…
This whole verse occurs also Psa 106:1; only there the address is made to the Israelites, and here to all mankind.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 10, 17 Here is, I. A general call to all to…
Here is, I. A general call to all to give thanks to God, Psa 107:1. Let all that sing this psalm, or pray over it, set themselves herein to give thanks to the Lord; and those that have not any special matter for praise may furnish themselves with matter enough from God's universal goodness. In the fountain he is good; in the streams his mercy endures for ever and never fails.
II. A particular demand hereof from the redeemed of the Lord, which may well be applied spiritually to those that have an interest in the great Redeemer and are saved by him from sin and hell. They have, of all people, most reason to say that God is good, and his mercy everlasting; these are the children of God that were scattered abroad, whom Christ died to gather together in one, out of all lands, Joh 11:52; Mat 24:31. But it seems here to be meant of a temporal deliverance, wrought for them when in their distress they cried unto the Lord, Psa 107:6. Is any afflicted? Let him pray. Does any pray? God will certainly hear and help. When troubles become extreme that is man's time to cry; those who but whispered prayer before then cry aloud, and then it is God's time to succour. In the mount he will be seen. 1. They were in an enemy's country, but God wrought out their rescue: He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy (Psa 107:2), not by might or power, it may be (Zac 4:6), nor by price or reward (Isa 45:13), but by the Spirit of God working on the spirits of men. 2. They were dispersed as out-casts, but God gathered them out of all the countries whither they were scattered in the cloudy and dark day, that they might again be incorporated, Psa 107:3. See Deu 30:4; Eze 34:12. God knows those that are his, and where to find them. 3. They were bewildered, had no road to travel in, no dwelling place to rest in, Psa 107:4. When they were redeemed out of the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, they were in danger of perishing in their return home through the dry and barren deserts. They wandered in the wilderness, where there was no trodden path, no company, but a solitary way, no lodging, no conveniences, no accommodations, no inhabited city where they might have quarters or refreshment. But God led them forth by the right way (Psa 107:7), directed them to an inn, nay, directed them to a home, that they might go to a city of habitation, which was inhabited, nay which them themselves should inhabit. This may refer to poor travellers in general, those particularly whose way lay through the wilds of Arabia, where we may suppose they were often at a loss; and yet many in that distress were wonderfully relieved, so that few perished. Note, We ought to take notice of the good hand of God's providence over us in our journeys, going out and coming in, directing us in our way, and providing for us places both to bait in and rest in. Or (as some think) it has an eye to the wanderings of the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years; it is said (Deu 32:10), God led them about, and yet here he led them by the right way. God's way, though to us it seems about, will appear at last to have been the right way. It is applicable to our condition in this world; we are here as in a wilderness, have here no continuing city, but dwell in tents as strangers and pilgrims. But we are under the guidance of his wise and good providence, and, if we commit ourselves to it, we shall be led in the right way to the city that has foundations. 4. They were ready to perish for hunger (Psa 107:5): Their soul even fainted in them. They were spent with the fatigues of their journey and ready to drop down for want of refreshment. Those that have constant plenty, and are every day fed to the full, know not what a miserable case it is to be hungry and thirsty, and to have no supply. This was sometimes the case of Israel in the wilderness, and perhaps of other poor travellers; but God's providence finds out ways to satisfy the longing soul and fill the hungry soul with goodness, Psa 107:9. Israel's wants were seasonably supplied, and many have been wonderfully relieved when they were ready to perish. The same God that has led us has fed us all our life long unto this day, has fed us with food convenient, has provided food for the soul, and filled the hungry soul with goodness. Those that hunger and thirst after righteousness, after God, the living God, and communion with him, shall be abundantly replenished with the goodness of his house, both in grace and glory. Now for all this those who receive mercy are called upon to return thanks (Psa 107:8): Oh that men (it is meant especially of those men whom God has graciously relieved) would praise the Lord for his goodness to them in particular, and for his wonderful works to others of the children of men! Note, (1.) God's works of mercy are wonderful works, works of wonderful power considering the weakness, and of wonderful grace considering the unworthiness, of those he shows mercy to. (2.) It is expected of those who receive mercy from God that they return praise to him. (3.) We must acknowledge God's goodness to the children of men as well as to the children of God, to others as well as to ourselves.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–22 O give thanks unto the Lord,.... As all men…
O give thanks unto the Lord,.... As all men should do, at all times and for all things; the psalm begins as the former does, and gives the same reasons for thanksgiving.
For he is good; and does good, and is the author of all good.
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For his mercy endureth for ever; and men in every age are partakers of it.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 12, 17, 20 The psalmist here observes God's providential care of the…
The psalmist here observes God's providential care of the children of men in general, and shews how he helps those that are in any distress, in answer to their prayers. He instances in banishment and dispersion, ver. 1-9. Captivity and imprisonment, ver. 10-16. Sickness, ver. 17-22. Distress at sea, ver. 23-32. The disposal of families and nations, ver. 33-13
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 A thanksgiving of the people for deliverance from difficulties
PSALM CVII
A thanksgiving of the people for deliverance from difficulties
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and dangers; their state compared to a journey through a
frightful wilderness, 1-9;
to confinement in a dreary dungeon, 10-16;
to a dangerous malady, 17-22;
to a tempest at sea, 23-32.
The psalmist calls on men to praise God for the merciful
dispensations of his providence, in giving rain and fruitful
seasons, after affliction by drought and famine, 33-38;
for supporting the poor in affliction, and bringing down the
oppressors, 39-41.
The use which the righteous should make of these providences,
42;
and the advantage to be derived from a due consideration of
God's merciful providence, 43.
NOTES ON PSALM CVII
This Psalm has no title, either in the Hebrew, or any of the Versions; the word "Hallelujah," which is prefixed to some of the latter, is no title, but was most probably borrowed from the conclusion of the preceding Psalm. The author is unknown; but it was probably like Psalms cv. and cvi., made and sung at the dedication of the second temple. The three Psalms seem to be on the same subject. In them the author has comprised the marvellous acts of the Lord towards his people; the transgressions of this people against God; the captivities and miseries they endured in consequence; and finally God's merciful kindness to them in their restoration from captivity, and re-establishment in their own land.
This Psalm seems to have been sung in parts: the Ps 107:8, 15, 21, and 31, with the 6, 13, 19, and 28, forming what may be called the burden of the song. In singing of which the whole chorus joined.
We may easily perceive that the Psalm must have been sung in alternate parts, having a double burden, or intercalary verse often recurring, and another immediately following, giving a reason for the former. See the Ps 107:8 and 9, the 15 and 16, the 21 and 22, the 31 and 32, and the 42 and 43, which may be reckoned under the same denomination.
Dr. Lowth, in his 29th prelection, has made some excellent remarks on this Psalm. "It is observable," says he, "that after each of the intercalary verses one is added, expressive of deliverance or praise. I would farther observe, that if the Psalm be supposed to be made with a view to the alternate response of one side of the choir to the other, then it may be considered as if it were written exactly after the method of the ancient pastorals, where, be the subject of their verse what it will, each swain endeavours to excel the other; and one may perceive their thoughts and expressions gradually to arise upon each other; and hence a manifest beauty may be discovered in this Divine pastoral. We will suppose, then, that the author composed it for the use of his brethren the Jews, when, in the joy of their hearts, they were assembled after their return from captivity. At such a time, what theme could be so proper for the subject of his poem, as the manifest goodness of Almighty God? The first performers, therefore, invite the whole nation to praise God for this; a great instance of it being their late return from captivity. At Ps 107:10, the other side take the subject, and rightly observe that the return of their great men, who were actually in chains, was a more remarkable instance of God's mercy to them, than the return of the people in general, who were only dispersed, we may suppose, up and down the open country. Then the first performers beautifully compare this unexpected deliverance to that which God sometimes vouchsafes to the languishing dying man, when he recalls, as it were, the sentence of death, and restores him to his former vigour. The others again compare it, with still greater strength and expression, to God's delivering the affrighted mariner from all the dreadful horrors of the ungovernable and arbitrary ocean. But the first, still resolved to outdo the rest, recur to that series of wonderful works which God had vouchsafed to their nation, Ps 107:32, and of which they had so lately such a convincing proof. Wherefore at last, as in a common chorus, they all conclude with exhorting each other to a serious consideration of these things, and to make a proper return to Almighty God for them.
"No doubt the composition of this Psalm is admirable throughout; and the descriptive part of it adds at least its share of beauty to the whole; but what is most to be admired is its conciseness, and withal the expressiveness of the diction, which strikes the imagination with inimitable elegance. The weary and bewildered traveller, the miserable captive in the hideous dungeon, the sick and dying man, the seaman foundering in a storm, are described in so affecting a manner, that they far exceed any thing of the kind, though never so much laboured." I may add that had such an Idyl appeared in Theocritus or Virgil, or had it been found as a scene in any of the Greek tragedians, even in AEschylus himself, it would have been praised up to the heavens, and probably been produced as their master-piece.
Verse 1. O give thanks] Here is a duty prescribed; and the reasons of it are immediately laid down.
1. He is good. This is his nature.
2. His mercy endureth for ever.
This is the stream that flows from the fountain of his goodness.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 8, 10, 17 Psa 107:1-3. O give thanks, &c. — This whole…
Psa 107:1-3. O give thanks, &c. — This whole verse occurs also Psa 106:1; only there the address is made to the Israelites, here, it seems, to all mankind. For his mercy endureth for ever — “Eternal mercy is the theme here proposed; and they who have tasted its sweets, are invited to join in setting forth its praises.” Let the redeemed say so — All those whom God hath redeemed, as it is expressed in the next clause, or delivered from the calamities hereafter mentioned: whom he hath redeemed from the enemy — From such as had taken them captive, either in battle, or in their travels, to which they were led, either by their own inclinations or by their necessary affairs. And gathered them out of the lands, &c. — Bringing them into their own land, out of the several quarters of the world into which they had been carried. And from the south — Hebrew, from the sea; which, in Scripture, commonly denotes the west, because the great Mediterranean sea was on the west of Canaan; but here, as appears from the opposition of this to the north, it signifies the south, so called from the Red sea, which was on the south, and which is sometimes called The Sea, simply, and without addition. “The members of the Christian Church,” says Dr. Horne, “are now, in the most proper and emphatical sense of the words, the redeemed of Jehovah, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them, by the gospel, out of all lands, and from all the four quarters of the world, to form a church, and to supply the place of the apostate Jews, whose forefathers experienced, in type and shadow, the good things prepared for them and for us, in truth and substance.”
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–22 O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is…
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good - See the notes at Psa 106:1.
For his mercy endureth for ever - He is unchanging in his mercy. It is an attribute of his very nature. He is constantly manifesting it. The word rendered “mercy” here, however - חסד chesed - is more general in its signification than our word “mercy.” Our word means “favor shown to the guilty;” the Hebrew word means kindness, goodness, benignity in general. It is this which is celebrated in the psalm before us.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 107
THE PSALTER
FIFTH BOOK
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Psalms 107
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Psalms 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 wit’s 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.
41Yet 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.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Contents and Composition. A liturgical expression of thanksgiving (Jer_33:11; Psalms 106, 118, 136) is (Psa_107:1-3) declared to be appropriate for the redeemed of Jehovah, whom He has gathered from the four quarters of the earth and from different lands. After this preface there follow four strophes of unequal length, clearly distinguished by two refrains, in which those are summoned to fulfil this duty of thanksgiving whom God has delivered from homeless wanderings (Psa_107:4-9), from the miseries of imprisonment (Psa_107:10-16), from the death-pains of sickness (Psa_107:17-22), and from the perils of a sea-voyage (Psa_107:23-32). Then two strophes (Psa_107:33-42) without a refrain, and with many passages taken literally from the Book of Job and from Isaiah 40, 66, sometimes quite loosely connected, describe the controlling power of God in the varying fortunes of men and nations. The closing verse (43) commends to the consideration of men the whole of God’s disposing guidance, which has just been described.
There are throughout the Psalm indications of a very late period of composition. We are not justified even in connecting it too closely with the Babylonish exile. The introduction might seem to allude to it; but the further we read in the following strophes, the less do they seem capable of being referred to special historical occurrences, such as the carrying away into captivity and the return, or of being rightly viewed as poetical pictures of the various distresses and deliverances of that period (most of the recent commentators since Schnurrer). For Psa_107:23 does not speak of a return home in ships, in which case, moreover, we would not be led to think of the Babylonish exile, but of the Maccabæan period (Hitzig); but of the dangers encountered by those who undertake sea-voyages, whether trading merchants, or sailors, or travellers, or fishermen. And this is not a figurative representation, but an example (Hupfeld, Del., and most of the older commentators) of the hearing of prayer, and of the divine deliverance of mankind in distress, for which God should be thanked in His church. So also with the description of the preceding strophes. In each case actual events are cited from distinct classes of distressing situations, which, however, have not merely occurred on one occasion, but may be repeated. These examples, moreover, are so much the better adapted to that parenetic purpose, in whose interest the Psalm is projected, and to which it ever tends more closely, as in some of them prominence is given to human guilt and the divine mercy, and in others to human impotence and the divine power to control. The former design is observable in the second and third examples; the latter in the fourth, which at the same time effects the transition to the description of those deeds of the Highest which effect the change of circumstances,—a description which is still more general in its character, and advances in sentences that are still more loosely connected.
The conjecture of Hupfeld that Psa_107:33 ff. are inserted from another composition, has accordingly little probability, even if no importance be attached to the allusion contained in Psa_107:36 to Psa_107:4-5. The first example is given in a narrative style, and stands in the closest connection with the words of the introduction. It is therefore most natural to understand this passage as alluding to the circumstances of the Babyl. Exile. The supposition, however, that this psalm was sung at the first celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles after the return, Ezr_3:1 f. (Hengst.), has nothing to indicate it, and is improbable. So with the conjectures that it completes, with the number seven, the supposed trilogies 101–103, 104–106 (Hengst.), or forms a trilogy with Psalms 105, 106 (Del.) It may be quite proper to bring the position of this Psalm, at the opening of the Fifth Book, into connection with its several points of resemblance to the last two Psalms of the Fourth Book, without being thereby justified in inferring an internal relationship and the same authorship.
The allegorico-prophetical interpretation of the whole Psalm, as bearing upon the fortunes of the Christian Church, whether directly (Cocc.), or as an application of the immediate reference to the Church of the Old Covenant (Venema), is only a spiritualizing interpretation based upon the untenable view that the fortunes of the Jewish people are here described (Chald., Syr.), For to them, as has been said, only the introduction, with the first strophe, can be rightly referred. Accordingly this strophe begins, Psa_107:4, with the narrative tense, while, at the beginning of the following strophes, participles occur which cannot depend on that verb, but introduce the subjects of the several strophes. The grammatical connection of the sentences, however, in this Psalm, is in general loose, and hence we are neither to supply from Psa_107:2, before the strophe, the words “let them say” (Schnurrer), nor to regard the closing refrain “may they praise” [E. V.: Oh, that men would praise!] as the real predicate (De Wette, Hengst., Hupfeld), nor to change the finite verb in Psa_107:4 into a participle (Luth., Camphausen). And the latter is the less advisable, as the participle which determines the connection of the whole passage is found already in Psa_107:2, viz. the redeemed of Jehovah (Isa_62:2), who were gathered from all quarters of the world to Jerusalem, since after the return from the exile, the restoration of the Temple and the upbuilding of the Jewish Theocracy were carried out in that city.
[The application of the whole psalm to the exile, and, consequently, the figurative interpretation of the examples, are approved by Dr. Alexander. Perowne, after giving the view of Philippson and Delitzsch in favor of the trilogy above alluded to, makes the following judicious remarks: “But ingenious as this is, it rests on the assumption that the 107th Psalm, like the other two, is historical, and is designed chiefly to celebrate the return from the Babylonish captivity. The second and third verses of the Psalm are supposed to mark the occasion for which it was written. And the rest, of the Psalm is held to exhibit, by means of certain examples of peril and deliverance, either, in a figure, the miseries of the exile, or, literally, the incidents of the homeward journey. Such an interpretation, however, can hardly be maintained. It is unnatural to regard these examples, taken from every-day experience, as a figurative description of the exile; it is quite impossible in particular, that the picture of the seafarers should represent the sufferings of the Captivity, though it might certainly form one part of the story of the return; for the exiles are described, not merely as coming back from Babylon, but from all the countries of their dispersion (comp. Jer_16:15; Jer_40:12; Dan_9:7). It is obvious that the Psalm is not historical. It describes various incidents of human life; it tells of the perils which befall men, and the goodness of God in delivering them, and calls upon all who have experienced His care and protection gratefully to acknowledge them; and it is perfectly general in its character. The four or five groups or pictures are so many samples taken from the broad and varied record of human experience.” In this view, which agrees substantially with that of Dr. Moll, I fully concur. It is the impression which every reader, critical or uncritical, derives first and naturally from the Psalm. It is generally held to, also, when there is no hypothesis of relationship with other Psalms to be supported J. F. M.]
Psa_107:3. From the sea [E. V., from the south]. The expression would suggest to the mind of a Hebrew the idea of the west, while the context demands that of the south. It is not upon the number (Hengst.) of the four quarters of the world that the force of the passage depends, but upon the particular designation of each of them. The explanation which refers to the Arabian Gulf (Chald., Rudiuger, Schnurrer, Dathe), is against the usage of the word. That which regards it as the Southern (Indian) Ocean, after Isa_49:11 (Hitz.), is possible, though disputed (Knobel). and yet is more probable than the unusual reference to that part of the Mediterranean Sea lying to the southwest of Palestine, and washing the shores of Egypt (Maurer, Del.). A change in the reading from מִיָם to מִיָמִין (Clericus, J. D. Mich., Muntinghe, Köster, Hupfeld), with reference to Psa_89:13, is readily suggested.
Psa_107:4. We need not depart from the accents and attach דֶּרֶךְ to the following member, translating: the way to a city (Sept., Vulg., Syr., Schnurrer, Rosenm.), or, after Psa_107:40, Isa_43:19, change the reading into לא־דֶרֶךְ. no way in the desert (Olsh., Baur, Hupfeld). The word in question is probably not an accusative of the closer definition (Geier, Hengstenberg, De Wette). It better accords with the poetical style to assume a construct state: desert of a way (Ewald, Hitzig, Del.), that is, a desolate (Jerome), unfrequented (Luther) way, (ἐρημος ὀὁός, Act_8:26).
[Psa_107:8. The general reference: “Oh, that men,” in E. V is incorrect. Alexander: “Let (such) give thanks to Jehovah (for) His mercy, and His wonderful works to the sons of men.”—J F. M.]
Psa_107:17. It is unnecessary to change the reading אֲוִלים in order to obtain, instead of the idea of sinfulness (Job_5:3; Pro_2:7), that of burdening (Olshausen), or that of an exclamation: woe to them! (Hitzig).
[Psa_107:23. Alexander: “Going down seems to be an idiomatic phrase borrowed from Isa_43:10, and equivalent to going out to sea, in English. The expression may have reference to the general elevation of the land above the water, but is directly opposed to our phrase the high seas, and to the classical usage of ascending ships, i.e., embarking, and descending, i.e., landing. The last words may also be translated: great or mighty waters; but the usage of the Psalms is in favor of the version: many waters, which moreover forms a beautiful poetical equivalent to sea or ocean.”—J. F. M.]
Psa_107:39. It is not necessary to suppose an ellipsis before this verse, or to transpose it with those next following (Olsh.). It is certainly inadmissible to take the verbs as pluperfects (De Wette, after the older expositors), or the sentence as a relative one (Hengstenberg), [opposed also by Alexander and others.—J. F. M.] An allusion to enemies, or, in general, to other subjects than the preceding (Knapp), has nothing to indicate it. Most assume with Kimchi and Geier a repeated diminution in the number of the same subjects, as a punishment for a relapse into sin.
Psa_107:40 is taken from Job_12:21; Job_12:24 from Isa_41:18 f., Isa 42 b. from Job 5:16, and job 5:43, from Hos. 14:10.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The praise of God is essential matter of every prayer of thanksgiving; to offer it is the first duty of the redeemed, and at the same time the appropriate means for the building up of the redeemed Church, which, in such a sacrifice of praise, offers itself to God, and yields itself up as the people that are His.
2. God has not only chosen His Church, and established it upon earth as being the people of His inheritance; He preserves it also as such in this evil world, delivers it from the perils which threaten it with ruin and dissolution, gathers its dispersed members from every region under heaven, and effects its restoration from prostration and destruction. But, while it must give thanks after the deliverance, so must it, before the same, pray and cry in its distress to the living God of revelation.
3. This applies not only to the Church in its narrower sense, or to its wants as a Church, but to all the seasons of distress, and to all the deliverances of the Church and its members. Everywhere and at all times is displayed the contrast between omnipotence and impotence, righteousness and guilt, compassion and need, together with its adjustment by deeds of Divine help. To observe this is the wisdom of the pious, to act accordingly the piety of the wise.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
He who contemplates God’s doings in history, finds everywhere: (1) an exhortation to thanksgiving for His gracious help; (2) occasion for self-humiliation beneath His powerful hand; (3) a call to surrender himself to His gracious will.—It is no harder for God to deliver than to judge, but He loves the former better.—What opens the heart and lips of the pious, closes the mouth of the ungodly.—It is easier to cry to God in distress, than to give thanks in the Church after deliverance.—There is nothing better to be wished for than to have a heart capable of appreciating God’s benefits, and an eye open to His doings; for then thanksgiving and supplication, fear and trust, anxiety and hope, are in their true relations, and after the right manner.—He who has enjoyed God’s help should mark (1) in what distress he has been; (2) how he has called to God; (3) how God has helped him; (4) what thanks he has returned; and (5) what thanks he is yet bound to render.
Starke: Manifold afflictions are the true material out of which the wonder-working God forms praise and glory for His most holy name, and joy and profit for us.—God’s supervision and care extend over all parts of the world; He can therefore help and stand by His own, in whatever place in the world they may be.—The pilgrimage of a Christian involves wandering, insecurity, hunger, thirst, and despite, but all to the end, that the faithful guidance, the mighty help, the satisfying and revival of the Good Shepherd may be displayed.—As there is but one Helper, who is God, so there is but one means of obtaining His help, and that is prayer; but the essence and soul of prayer is faith.—If thou, believer, never findest upon earth where thou canst rest thy foot, God will at last reach forth His hand to thee, and receive thee into the holy city, into the dwellings of peace.—The spiritual bonds of sin (2Ti_2:26) often surround the body also with fetters. Bodily imprisonment has been to many the occasion of anxiety for freedom from eternal chains.—Repentance and prayer must be the first remedies employed in illness, and then the use of ordinary restoratives will not remain without a blessing from God.—Recovery from a deadly disease is, as it were, already a foretaste of the resurrection from the dead.—Those who have regained health forget quite easily to render thanks therefor; but God can not suffer such ingratitude. Think what a sacrifice of thanksgiving is due to God, together with the offering up of the whole life, thus presented to thee.—The world has often been traversed by ships, but almost every voyage reveals some new and wonderful works of nature; who would then not exclaim: the earth, yea, also, the sea, are full of the goodness of the Lord?—Let not the inhabitants of the richest and most fertile countries presume upon these advantages; God can make a garden of the Lord a lake of brimstone.—If we in the meanwhile turn ourselves seriously to the Lord, and seek His grace by heartfelt prayer, He will also fulfil His promises to us.—That the honor, exaltation, and power of magistrates are a gift of God, is most clearly shown, when they lose their authority, and scarcely any will obey them.
Osiander: Believers must learn to strengthen their faith from the goodness and mercy of God.—Frisch: He who sins against his Creator, comes under the care of the physician. Death itself is the wages of our sins, and so also are its forerunners, that is, our diseases.—If God visits us sometimes with unfruitful seasons, let us consider who we are—men who daily commit many sins, and deserve much worse than this from God.—Rieger: The “man of God” conducts us through the world, as through a theatre, on which are displayed the miseries of mankind, and the wondrous works and kindness of God.—Berlenburger Bible: Let the man who cannot pray become a sailor.—Tholuck (Psa_107:20): The word of God is His ministering angel.—Guenther: All those nations which have not yet known the true God, are dispersed and wandering; and all who have found their home in God, feel that they are gathered in.—Diedrich: In order to learn to praise God rightly, we must first suffer much.—Schaubach: We stand with awe-struck minds before this rich display of God’s wondrous power, and at the same time rejoice that in the course of long ages it has lost nothing of its fulness, but that it still never fails to revive hungering and thirsting souls.—Taube: Ye people of the Lord, see how good Jehovah is! and how blessed ye can and shall be with Him!
[Bishop Horne: A truly “wise” person will treasure up in his heart the contents of this truly instructive and delightful Psalm. By so doing he will fully “understand” and comprehend the weakness and wretchedness of man, and the power and loving-kindness of God, who, not for our merit, but for His mercy’s sake, dispelleth our ignorance, breaketh off our sins, healeth our infirmities, preserveth us in temptation, placeth us in His Church, enricheth us with His grace, sheltereth us from persecution, blesseth us in time, and will crown us in eternity.
Scott: Let us remember to praise our God for turning the wilderness, which we Gentiles inhabited, into a fruitful land, and opening for us the wells of salvation (Isa_12:3).—Let us pray that the Jewish nation, which has been so long a barren desert, may again be watered with His grace, and bring forth the fruits of faith and holiness.
Barnes: No one can study the works of God, or mark the events of His providence, without perceiving that there are innumerable arrangements which have no other end than to produce happiness.—J. F. M.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 20 1. Give thanks unto the Lord—This verse is a…
1. Give thanks unto the Lord—This verse is a favourite formula of praise, (Psa_106:1; Psa_108:1; Psa_136:1,) and strikingly similar to that which Jeremiah predicted should be used at the return of the exiles from Babylon. Jer_33:11
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21 1, 2. The Psalm begins, like Psalms 106, with…
1, 2. The Psalm begins, like Psalms 106, with the regular liturgical doxology. This “the redeemed of Jehovah” are called to recite (Psa_107:2) in grateful acknowledgement of His mercy and in fulfilment of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Psa_33:11) that there should again be heard in Jerusalem “the voice of them that say, Give thanks to Jehovah of hosts, for Jehovah is good, for his mercy endureth for ever.” Cp. Psa_118:1-4.
the redeemed of the Lord] The phrase is taken from Isa_62:12 (cp. Isa_35:9-10; Isa_51:10-11; Isa_63:4), and clearly denotes the Israelites who had been released from exile in Babylon and elsewhere, and brought home to Jerusalem.
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from the hand of the enemy] Rather, from the clutch (lit. hand) of adversity. Cp. the use of the same word in Psa_107:6 &c. (A.V. trouble).
1–3. An invitation to the returned exiles to join in grateful confession of Jehovah’s lovingkindness.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 (1) For this doxology see Note, Psa_106:1.
(1) For this doxology see Note, Psa_106:1.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1–22 A SONG of thanksgiving, first for deliverance from the…
A SONG of thanksgiving, first for deliverance from the Babylonish captivity (vers. 1-3), and then for other deliverances (vers. 4-32), passing into a general account of God"s providential dealings with mankind, both in the way of chastisement and of loving-kindness, but especially the latter (vers. 33-42). The composition closes with a single gnomic reflection on the wisdom of pondering such matters as those brought forward by the writer.
Formally, the psalm falls into seven divisions:
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(1) a thanksgiving for the return from Babylon (vers. 1-3);
(2) one for deliverance from the perils of travel (vers. 4-9);
(3) one for deliverance from prison (vers. 10-16);
(4) one for recovery from sickness (vers. 17-22);
(5) one for escape from the perils of the sea (vers. 23-32);
(6) a general account of God"s dealings with men (vers. 33-42); and
(7) a commendation of the entire subject to the consideration of God"s people. Parts 2, 3, 4, and 5 are terminated by a refrain.
O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. (comp. Psa_106:1 Psa_118:1 Psa_136:1) For his mercy endureth forever. (see the comment on Psa_106:1)
Vers. 1-32. Deliverance and indebtedness.
We can never measure what we owe to God for his daily loving-kindness. Indeed, it is only the wise who observe and take account of the Divine source of all human blessings, that at all understand how great is our debt of gratitude (ver. 43). But we are too apt to overlook God"s goodness to us even in the more striking events of life. How often in the course of our life are we cast upon the kindness of the Divine Redeemer!
I THE MANIFOLDNESS OF OUR NEED.
1. Our necessity takes various temporal or bodily forms. It may be:
(1) Distance from home; sometimes in the land of the alien and the enemy (vers. 3, 4); sometimes in oppressive and depressing solitude (ver. 4); sometimes in pecuniary straits.
(2) Cruel and almost intolerable restraint in the home, in the school, in the institution, in the prison (vers. 10-12).
(3) Bodily evil sickness, pain, prostration, dependence on the ministry of others (vers. 17, 18).
(4) Perils of travel by sea or by land e.g., the journeys of Paul and all missionaries (vers. 23-27).
2. Our necessity often takes the much more serious aspect of spiritual evils. These may correspond to those of the flesh. They may be:
(1) Distance from God.
(2) Spiritual bondage, in which we sigh and struggle for a freedom which seems beyond our reach.
(3) Unsoundness of soul, loss of all appetite for the heavenly and the Divine.
(4) Inward commotion, profound unrest.
II THE TRUE ACCOUNT OF OUR DISTRESS. Its origin is to be found in ourselves in our own folly, in our own iniquity, in our willful departure from God; and in the consequent penalty which God"s righteousness exacts (see vers. 11, 12, 17).
III THE ONE REFUGE OF THE HEART. Men that forget God at every other time remember him in the hour of trouble and of danger. When they are brought very low, when there is "none to help" (ver. 12), when the gates of death are seen (ver. 18), then they cry unto the Lord." The refrain of the psalm is the habit of the heart of man when his case is desperate, and his soul is "faint within him." Nothing but the dark night will bring out the heavenly star.
IV DIVINE INTERVENTION. (Vers. 7, 13, 16, 20, 29, 30) Sometimes very markedly, sometimes indirectly and through various agencies or instrumentalities, God makes his delivering power to be felt. But in whatever way, directly or indirectly, it is in the exercise of his power and by forces which he has ordained, originated, and maintained, that the wanderer finds his way home, that the fever abates and the patient is healed, that the deer of escape is opened and the prisoner comes forth. It is of him and through his grace that the prodigal returns, that the tyrannous habit is broken, that the soul is made pure and sound, that peace and rest come back to the troubled heart, that the light of heaven shines clear on the pilgrim"s path.
V THE PLACE OF GRATITUDE IN THE HEART AND LIFE OF MAN. (Vers. 1, 2, 8, 15, 21, 22, 31, 32) This should be a very large place. The redeemed of the Lord should "say so." They should sing his praise with joyful lips; they should daily offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving; they should carry with them everywhere a sense of deep indebtedness; they should feel that for the special temporal mercies of God, and also for his restoring and reconciling grace in Christ Jesus, they owe a continual, an unbroken, an abounding gratitude a gratitude that should find vent in sacred song, in blameless conduct, in cheerful submission, in earnest and persevering labors.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY Vers. 1-43. Wherefore men should praise the Lord.
Such is the theme of this glorious psalm. "It contains the thanksgiving of exiles (ver. 3) apparently not yet returned to Jerusalem, but already escaped from the thraldom of Babylon." Note
I ITS GENERAL LESSONS.
1. It tells of present earthly troubles. They were such as the returning exiles had met with, for Babylon was not the alone place of exile. There had been weary wanderings in the barren, waterless, and burning deserts; cruel and hopeless imprisonment; sickness nigh unto death; perils by sea. (cf. Jer_16:15 Jer_40:12 Dan_9:7) And it repeatedly declares the real cause of human troubles the wickedness of men.
2. It warrants our praying for deliverance from such troubles. It tells how all the troubled ones did this. And, indeed, it is an instinct in man to thus pray.
3. It promises that God will answer such prayers. "He delivered them" is four times affirmed (vers. 6, 13, 19, 28).
4. It demands that therefore men should praise the Lord. It expresses a longing desire that men should do this, but also a tacit confession that many of them would not. These are the lessons that lie on the surface of the psalm. But are they true? Consider, therefore
II THE QUESTION OF THEIR TRUTHFULNESS.
1. The psalmist had no doubt about it. But in our day many doubt it much. They say all these troubles come to men now, and instead of deliverance such as is here affirmed as ever taking place in answer to prayer, there is in the majority of such cases no deliverance at all.
2. Calvin argues (see Perowne, in loc.) that no doubt the most do perish, but, then, all deserved to; therefore if any are saved it is by the great mercy of God: God was not bound to save any of them. But how can any thoughtful soul be satisfied with such reply? It is like Calvin, but all unlike the teaching of Christ.
3. The true reply is, that God answers prayer in different ways. He will ever give the best thing of which he only can be the Judge-but that may not be the thing we cry for and when he does literally deliver, it is rarely by interfering with natural laws, but rather is it by suggesting to men"s minds how they may work out their own deliverance. He teaches them here to use the laws of nature so as to win what they desire; but he does not miraculously set those laws aside. It is true God ever answers sincere prayer, but not that he does so in the literal, direct way which the psalmist believed. But if we allow ourselves, as we surely may, to regard these distresses as patterns and images of spiritual distresses, then the declarations of the psalm are absolutely true. Therefore consider
III ITS SPIRITUAL SUGGESTIONS.
1. That in these earthly troubles we have such as are spiritual faithfully represented.
2. That we may and should pray for deliverance from them.
3. That such prayer shall be surely answered.
4. That then it is our bounden duty to praise the Lord. "Whoso is wise will consider these things, and," etc. (ver. 43). S.C.
HOMILIES BY C. SHORT Vers. 1-43. God"s watchful care.
"Whatever the circumstances under which the psalm was written, there can be no doubt as to the great lesson which it inculcates that God watches over men, and his ear is open to their prayers. Look at some illustrations.
I GOD HAD ANSWERED THE CRY OF THE JEWS IN EXILE, AND RESTORED THEM TO THEIR OWN COUNTRY. (Vers. 2, 8, 9) They were called on to give thanks for thou wonders, and to remember that "he filleth the hungry soul with good." God is working toward the deliverance of all enslaved nations. This thought is amplified in vers. 10-16, with special reference to the sins that had plunged them into such helpless affliction, and therefore how much they should praise God for loving-kindness!
II THE EMPHATIC THOUGHT IN VERS. 17-22 IS THAT GOD DELIVERS WICKED MEN, WHEN THEY CALL UPON HIM, OUT OF THE VERY SHADOWS OF DEATH. God pities transgressors, and loves them with an infinite compassion in their terrors and sufferings. He sendeth his word the message of his mercy and healeth them; delivers them "from their graves.
III Another example: HE DELIVERS THE SAILOR. FROM THE STORMS OF THE SEA. (Vers. 23-32) Wonderful description of a storm and its subsidence. "Then are they glad because they be quiet, and he leadeth them to their desired haven." The psalmist is writing poetry under the inspiration of a devout faith; and not science, discussing the unchangeable laws of material nature. The preacher must do his utmost to reconcile poetry and science in the theology he teaches.
IV Now the current of thought changes its direction, but only for a moment. GOD SOMETIMES MAKES THE WICKED AN EXAMPLE OF HIS TEMPORAL JUDGMENTS. (Vers. 33, 34) But this thought is uncongenial, and is soon changed again for the thought of God"s mercy. The wilderness is crowned with cities; and the poor and humble are raised to the condition of princes, and the rich and the proud overthrown. The question at the close most suggestive, that it is only the observant and the wise that can understand the loving-kindnesses of God; only they that can approach to the solution of the great problems of God"s providence. S.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv1–22 etc. This is a choice song for the redeemed…
etc. This is a choice song for the redeemed of the Lord (Ps 107:2). Although it celebrates providential deliverances, and therefore may be sung by any man whose life has been preserved in time of danger; yet under cover of this, it mainly magnifies the Lord for spiritual blessings, of which temporal favours are but types arid shadows. The theme is thanksgiving, and the motives for it. The construction of the psalm is highly poetical, and merely as a composition it would be hard to find its compeer among human productions. The bards of the Bible hold no second place among the sons of song.
The psalmist commences by dedicating his poem to the redeemed who have been gathered from captivity, Ps 107:1-3; he then likens their history to that of travellers lost in the desert, Ps 107:4-9; to that of prisoners in iron bondage, Ps 107:10-16; to that of sick men, Ps 107:17-22; and to that of mariners tossed with tempest, Ps 107:23-32. In the closing verses the judgment of God on the rebellious, and the mercies of God to his own afflicted people are made the burden of the song, Ps 107:33-42; and then the psalm closes with a sort of summing up, in Ps 107:43, which declares that those who study the works and ways of the Lord shall be sure to see and praise his goodness.
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Ver. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. It is all we can give him, and the least we can give; therefore let us diligently render to him our thanksgiving. The psalmist is in earnest in the exhortation, hence the use of the interjection "O", to intensity his words: let us be at all times thoroughly fervent in the praises of the Lord, both with our lips and with our lives, by thanksgiving and thanks living. JEHOVAH, for that is the name here used, is not to be worshipped with groans and cries, but with thanks, for he is good; and these thanks should be heartily rendered, for his is no common goodness: he is good by nature, and essence, and proven to be good in all the acts of his eternity. Compared with him there is none good, no, not one: but he is essentially, perpetually, superlatively, infinitely good. We are the perpetual partakers of his goodness, and therefore ought above all his creatures to magnify his name. Our praise should be increased by the fact that the divine goodness is not a transient thing, but in the attribute of mercy abides for ever the same,
for his mercy endureth for ever. The word endureth has been properly supplied by the translators, but yet it somewhat restricts the sense, which will be better seen if we read it, "for his mercy forever." That mercy had no beginning, and shall never know an end. Our sin required that goodness should display itself to us in the form of mercy, and it has done so, and will do so evermore; let us not be slack in praising the goodness which thus adapts itself to our fallen nature.
Whole Psalm. Dr. Lowth, in his 20th prelection, remarks of this psalm: No doubt the composition of this psalm is admirable throughout; and the descriptive part of it adds at least its share of beauty to the whole; but what is but most to be admired is its conciseness, and withal the expressiveness of the diction, which strikes the imagination with inimitable elegance. The weary and bewildered traveller, the miserable captive in the hideous dungeon, the sick dying man, the seaman foundering in a storm, are described in so affecting manner, that they far exceed anything of the kind, though never so laboured. I may add that had such an Idyle appeared in Theocritus or Virgil or had it been found as a scene in any of the Greek tragedians, even in Aeschylus himself, it would probably have been produced as their master piece. Adam Clarke.
Whole Psalm. I do not believe that the special care of God over his own people is here rather indirectly than directly touched upon, and that therefore this Psalm is composed to illustrate the general care of God:
1. Because the subjects of the various deliverances are called the redeemed of Jehovah, Ps 107:2, which is the customary title of the people of God.
2. Because among the instances given, there are those which are peculiar to the people of God, as in Ps 107:3 the return of the dispersed out of every part of the globe, a singular blessing, promised in the prophecies to the people of God, see Ps 106:47.
3. The sick of Ps 106:17 are those who are spiritually sick even unto death, as is clear from the fact of their being healed by the word of God; which is not in the order of common providence. The imprisoned of Ps 107:2 are those who on account of the worship of God fall into the power of their enemies, you cannot well apply to any other than the people of God. If you understand the wicked, for others among the heathen cannot be said to be thrust into prison on account of the violation of the laws, then the liberation belongs not to them.
4. Calling upon God, especially upon Jehovah, under name He was known only to his people, you cannot apply unless in a diluted and partial sense to those who are afflicted in the general cause of providence.
5. He commands those who are delivered to celebrate the divine goodness in the congregation of the people and the assembly of the elders, Ps 107:32, which is the mark of the true Church and her usual description.
6. Lastly, instances of general providences are not wont to come under the name of dox, grace, by which these deliverances are described, not do they require such great and such careful attention in their consideration, as here the sacred poet enjoins upon the pious and the wise: such things are easily observed, and are of every day occurrence. Venema.
Whole Psalm. The psalm divides itself into five parts; the four first, as it should seem, describing four divisions of the returning Israelites, and recounting the particular accidents that had befallen each party on their journey, and the particular mercies for which they ought to be thankful. The fifth part describes what befalls the collected nations, or a part of them, when they arrive at the land which was the object of their journeyI think the first restoration or colonization before the general gathering. Whether the four divisions of travellers are supposed to come exactly from the four distinct quarters of the earth, perhaps is not quite certain. The first divisions are plainly described (Ps 107:4-5), as coming across the desert, and meeting with all the disasters usual on that route. John Fry.
Whole Psalm. Without insisting on an exclusive application of this psalm to Israel, there may be traced, I think, not indistinctly, the leading incidents of the nation's changeful experience in the descriptive language of the narrative part.
In Ps 107:4-7 the story of the wilderness is briefly told, to the praise of the glory of his grace who satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. The strong discipline of national affliction which visited the rebellious house, until the turning again of their captivity, when the appointed term of Babylonish exile was accomplished, appears to form the historical groundwork of Ps 107:10-16; but in its prophetic intention this passage would demand a far wider interpretation. The resuscitation of Israel, both spiritually and politically, would alone adequately fulfil these words.
The sufferings of the "foolish nation" when, filled with Jehovah's indignation they find a snare in that which should have fed them, and pine beneath the pressure of a more grievous famine than that of bread, until, in answer to their cry of sorrow, the word of saving health is sent them from above, seem to be indicated in the next division (Ps 107:17-20). The language of Ps 107:22 is in agreement with this. They who had daily gone about to establish their own righteousness are called on now to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and to declare his works with singing.
Besides the obvious force and beauty of the following verses (Ps 107:23-30) in their simple meaning and their general application, we have, I believe, a figure of Jacob's restless trouble when, like a vexed and frightened mariner, he wandered up and down the wide sea of nations without ease, a friendless pilgrim of the Lord's displeasure, until the long desired rest was gained at last, under the faithful guidance of him who seeks his people in the dark and cloudy day. Accordingly we find in the hortatory reminder of praise which follows (Ps 107:32), a mention of the gathered people and their elders, who are now called on to celebrate, in the quiet resting places of Immanuel's land, his faithful goodness and his might, who had turned their long endured tempest of affliction to the calm sunshine of perpetual peace. Arthur Pridham, in "Notes and Reflections on the Psalms", 1869.
Ver. 1. O give thanks unto the LORD. Unto no duty are we more dull and untoward, than to the praise of God, and thanksgiving unto him; neither is there any duty whereunto there is more need that we should be stirred up, as this earnest exhortation doth import. David Dickson.
Ver. 1. For he is good, etc. The first words of the psalm are abundant in thought concerning Jehovah. "For he is good." Is not this the Old Testament version of "God is love"? 1Jo 4:8. And then, For his mercy endureth for ever. Is not this the gushing stream from the fountain of Love? the never failing stream, on whose banks the redeemed of the Lord walk, those whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy Hengstenberg, "hand of trouble", ru. Nor is the rich significance of these clauses diminished by our knowing that they were, from time to time, the burden of the altar song. When the ark came to its resting place (1Ch 16:34), they sang to the Lord"For he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever!" In Solomon's temple, the singers and players on instruments were making the resplendent walls of the newly risen temple resound with these very words, when the glory descended (2Ch 5:13); and these were the words that burst from the lips of the awe struck and delighted worshippers, who saw the fire descend on the altar (2Ch 7:3). And in Ezra's days (Ezr 3:11), again, as soon as the altar rose, they sang to the Lord"Because he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever." Our God is known to be "Love", by the side of the atoning sacrifice. Jeremiah (Jer 33:11) too, shows how restored Israel shall exult in this name. Andrew A. Bonar.
Ver. 1. His mercy endureth for ever. St. Paul assures us, that the covenant of grace, which is the fountain of all mercy, was made before the foundation of the world, and this he repeats in several of his epistles. The Psalmist teaches the same doctrine, and frequently calls upon us to thank God, because his mercy is for ever and ever because his mercy is everlastingand in the text, because "his mercy endureth for ever; "the word "endureth" is inserted by the translators, for there is no verb in the original neither in strictness of speech could there be any; because there was no time when this mercy was not exercised, neither will there be any time when the exercise of it will fail. It was begun before all worlds, when the covenant of grace was made, and it will continue to the ages of eternity, after this world is destroyed. So that mercy was, and is, and will be, "for ever", and sinful miserable man may always find relief in this eternal mercy, whenever the sense of his misery disposes him to seek for it. And does not this motive loudly call upon us to "give thanks"? Because there is mercy with Godmercy to pity the miserableand even to relieve themalthough they do not deserve it: for mercy is all free grace and unmerited love. Oh! How adorable, then, and gracious is this attribute! How sweet is it and full of consolation to the guilty. William Romaine (1714-1795), in "A Practical Comment on the Hundred and Seventh Psalm."
Whole Psalm. This psalm is like the Interpreter's house in Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress." Pilgrim is told that he will there see excellent and profitable things. The same promise is given in the introduction to this psalm, where we have,
1. The source of these excellent thingsthe goodness and all enduring mercy of God; mercy not exhausted by the unworthiness of its objects.
2. Their acknowledgment, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." Men will not own it, but the redeemed of the Lord will. It is the experience of such that is pictorially represented in this psalm. Let every one speak of God as he finds. Is he good when he takes away as well as when he gives "The redeemed of the Lord will say so." Is he merciful when he frowns as well as when he smiles? "The redeemed of the Lord say so." Does he make all things work together for good to them that love him? "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so."
3. Their end. Praise and thanksgiving: "Oh give", etc.
(a) For general mercies;
(b) For redemption;
(c) For spacial deliverances. G.R.
Ver. 1-2. The duty of praise is universal, the real presentation of it remains with the redeemed. Particular redemption should lead to specific praise, special testimony to truth and special faith in God: "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so."
Psalms 107:2*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 17, 20 O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is…
Psa_107:1-31
O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy en-dureth for ever.
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Men and mercy
I. Men consciously needing the mercy of Heaven. Morally, we are all distressed travellers, captives, invalids, mariners. The worst feature of this moral distress is that the subjects are not conscious of it.
II. Men effectually delivered by the mercy of Heaven.
1. Just in time. Each had reached the extremity. The lamp of hope was all but extinct, and black despair was settling on the soul, when mercy came to the rescue.
2. After the prayer, God listens to the cries of His distressed children.
III. Men urged to acknowledge the mercy of Heaven.
1. The mercy of Heaven is generally unacknowledged.
2. The acknowledgment of this mercy is an urgent obligation.
(1) Because a proper recognition of Gods mercy is essential to the extinction of the evil in man.
(2) Because a proper recognition of Gods mercy is essential to the generating of good in man. (Homilist.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 Psalms 107
Psalms 107
NOTWITHSTANDING the division of Books which separates Psalm evil from the two preceding, it is a pendant to these. The "gathering from among the heathen" prayed for in Psa_106:41 has here come to pass (Psa_107:3). The thanksgiving which there is regarded as the purpose of that restoration is here rendered for it. Psalms 105 had for theme Gods mercies to the fathers. Psalms 106 confessed the hereditary faithlessness of Israel and its chastisement by calamity and exile. Psalms 107 begins with summoning Israel as "the redeemed of Jehovah," to praise Him for His enduring lovingkindness in bringing them back from bondage, and then takes a wider flight, and celebrates the loving Providence which delivers, in all varieties of peril and calamity, those who cry to God. Its vivid pictures of distress and rescue begin, indeed, with one which may fairly be supposed to have been suggested by the incidents of the return from exile; and the second of these, that of the liberated prisoners, is possibly coloured by similar reminiscences; but the great restoration is only the starting point, and the bulk of the psalm goes further afield. Its instances of Divine deliverance, though cast into narrative form, describe not specific acts, but Gods uniform way of working. Wherever there are trouble and trust, there will be triumph and praise. The psalmist is propounding a partial solution of the old problem-the existence of pain and sorrow. They come as chastisements. If terror or misery drive men to God, God answers, and deliverance is assured, from which fuller-toned praise should spring. It is by no means a complete vindication of Providence, and experience does not bear out the assumption of uniform answers to prayers for deliverance from external calamities, which was more warranted before Christ than it is now; but the essence of the psalmists faith is ever true-that God hears the cry of a man driven to cry by crushing burdens, and will give him strength to bear and profit by them, even if He does not take them away.
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The psalm passes before us a series of pictures, all alike in the disposition of their parts, and selected from the sad abundance of troubles which attack humanity. Travellers who have lost their way, captives, sick men, storm-tossed sailors, make a strangely miscellaneous company, the very unlikenesses of which suggest the width of the ocean of human misery. The artistic regularity of structure in all the four strophes relating to these cannot escape notice. But it is more than artistic. Whatever be a mans trouble, there is but one way out of it-to cry to God. That way is never vain. Always deliverance comes, and always the obligation of praise lies on the "redeemed of Jehovah."
With Psa_107:33 the psalm changes its structure. The refrains, which came in so strikingly in the preceding strophes are dropped. The complete pictures give place to mere outline sketches. These diversities have suggested to some that Psa_107:33-43 are an excrescence; but they have some points of connection with the preceding, such as the peculiar phrase for "inhabited city" (Psa_107:4, Psa_107:5, Psa_107:36), "hungry" (Psa_107:5, Psa_107:36), and the fondness for references to Isaiah and Job. In these latter verses the psalmist does not describe deliverances from peril or pain, but the sudden alternations effected by Providence on lands and men, which pass from fertility and prosperity to barrenness and trouble, and again from these to their opposites. Lovingkindness, which hears and rescues, is the theme of the first part; lovingkindness, which "changes all things and is itself unchanged," is the theme of the second. Both converge on the final thought (Psa_107:43), that the observance of Gods ways is the part of true wisdom, and will win the clear perception of the all-embracing "lovingkindness of Jehovah."
New mercies give new meaning to old praises. Fresh outpourings of thankfulness willingly run in well-worn channels. The children can repeat the fathers doxology, and words hallowed by having borne the gratitude of many generations are the best vehicles for todays praise. Therefore, the psalm begins with venerable words, which it bids the recipients of Gods last great mercy ring out once more. They who have yesterday been "redeemed from captivity" have proof that "His lovingkindness endures forever," since it has come down to them through centuries. The characteristic fondness for quotations, which marks the psalm, is in full force in the three introductory verses. Psa_107:1 is, of course, quoted from several psalms. "The redeemed of Jehovah" is from Isa_62:12."gathered out of the lands" looks back to Psa_106:47, and to many prophetic passages. The word rendered above "distress" may mean oppressor, and is frequently rendered so here, which rendering fits better the preceding word "hand." But the recurrence of the same word in the subsequent refrains (Psa_107:6, Psa_107:13, Psa_107:19, Psa_107:28) makes the rendering distress preferable here. To ascribe to distress a "hand" is poetical personification, or the latter word may be taken in a somewhat wider sense as equivalent to a grasp or grip, as above. The return from Babylon is evidently in the poets thoughts, but he widens it out into a restoration from every quarter. His enumeration of the points from which the exiles flock is irregular, in that he says "from north and from the sea, " which always means the Mediterranean, and stands for the west. That quarter has, however, already been mentioned, and, therefore, it has been supposed that sea here means, abnormally, the Red Sea, or "the southern portion of the Mediterranean." A textual alteration has also been proposed, which, by the addition of two letters to the word for sea, gives that for south. This reading would complete the enumeration of cardinal points; but possibly the psalmist is quoting Isa_49:12, where the same phrase occurs, and the north is set over against the sea-i.e., the west. The slight irregularity does not interfere with the picture of the streams of returning exiles from every quarter.
The first scene, that of a caravan lost in a desert, is probably suggested by the previous reference to the return of the "redeemed of Jehovah," but is not to be taken as referring only to that. It is a perfectly general sketch of a frequent incident of travel. It is a remarkable trace of a state of society very unlike modem life, that two of the four instances of "distress" are due to the perils of journeying. By land and by sea men took their lives in their hands, when they left their homes. Two points are signalised in this description, -the first, the loss of the track; the second, the wanderers hunger and thirst. "A waste of a way" is of singular expression, which has suggested various unnecessary textual emendations. It is like "a wild ass of a man," {Gen_16:12} which several commentators quote as a parallel, and means a way which is desert. {compare Act_8:26} The bewildered, devious march leads nowhither. Vainly the travellers look for some elevation,
"From whence the lightened spirit sees
That shady city of Palm Trees."
No place where men dwell appears in the wide expanse of pathless wilderness. The psalmist does not think of a particular city, but of any inhabited spot, where rest and shelter might be found. The water skins are empty; food is finished; hopelessness follows physical exhaustion, and gloom wraps their souls; for Psa_107:5 b, literally translated, is, "Their soul covered itself"-i.e., with despondency. {Psa_77:3}
The picture is not an allegory or a parable, but a transcript of a common fact. Still, one can scarcely help seeing in it a vivid representation of the inmost reality of a life apart from God. Such a life ever strays from the right road. "The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to come to the city." The deepest needs of the soul are unsatisfied; and however outward good abounds, gnawing hunger and fierce thirst torment at times; and however mirth and success seem to smile, joys are superficial, and but mask a central sadness, as vineyards which clothe the outside of a volcano and lie above sulphurous fires.
The travellers are driven to God by their "distress." Happy they who, when lost in a desert, bethink themselves of the only Guide. He does not reject the cry which is forced out by the pressure of calamity; but, as the structure of Psa_107:6-7, shows, His answer is simultaneous with the appeal to Him, and it is complete, as well as immediate. The track appears as suddenly as it had faded. God Himself goes at the head of the march. The path is straight as an arrows flight, and soon they are in the city.
Psa_107:6 is the first instance of the refrain, which, in each of the four pictures, is followed by a verse (or, in the last of the four, by two verses) descriptive of the act of deliverance, which again is followed by the second refrain, calling on those who have experienced such a mercy to thank Jehovah. This is followed in the first two groups by a verse reiterating the reason for praise-namely, the deliverance just granted; and, in the last two, by a verse expanding the summons. Various may be the forms of need. But the supply of them all is one, and the way to get it is one, and one is the experience of the suppliants, and one should be their praise. Lifes diversities have underlying them identity of souls wants. Waiters on God have very different outward fortunes, but the broad outlines of their inward history are identical. This is the law of His providence-they cry, He delivers. This should be the harvest from His sowing of benefits-"Let them give thanks to Jehovah." Some would translate Psa_107:8, "Let them thankfully confess to Jehovah His lovingkindness, and to the children of men [confess] His wonders"; but the usual rendering as above is better, as not introducing a thought which, however important, is scarcely in the psalmists view here, and as preserving the great thought of the psalm-namely, that of Gods providence to all mankind.
The second scene, that of captives, probably retains some allusion to Babylon, though an even fainter one than in the preceding strophe. It has several quotations and references to Isaiah, especially to the latter half (Isaiah 40-46). The deliverance is described in Psa_107:16 in words borrowed from the prophecy as to Cyrus, the instrument of Israels restoration. {Isa_45:2} The gloom of the prison house is described in languageclosely resembling Isa_42:7; Isa_49:9. The combination of "darkness and the shade of deepest gloom" is found in Isa_9:2. The cause of the captivity described is rebellion against Gods counsel and word. These things point to Israels Babylonian bondage; but the picture in the psalm draws its colour rather than its subject from that event and is quite general. The psalmist thinks that such bondage, and deliverance on repentance and prayer, are standing facts in Providence, both as regards nations and individuals. One may see, too, a certain parabolic aspect hinted at, as if the poet would have us catch a half-revealed intention to present calamity of any kind under this image of captivity. We note the slipping in of words that are not required for the picture, as when the fetters are said to be "affliction" as well as "iron." Psa_107:12, too, is not specially appropriate to the condition of prisoners; persons in fetters and gloom do not stumble, for they do not move. There may, therefore, be a half-glance at the parabolic aspect of captivity, such as poetic imagination, and especially Oriental poetry, loves. At most it is a delicate suggestion, shyly hiding while it shows itself, and made too much of if drawn out in prosaic exposition.
We may perceive also the allegorical pertinence of this second picture, though we do not suppose that the singer intended such a use. For is not godless life ever bondage? and is not rebellion against God the sure cause of falling under a harsher dominion? and does He not listen to the cry of a soul that feels the slavery of subjection to self and sin? and is not true enlargement found in His free service? and does He not give power to break the strongest chains of habit? The synagogue at Nazareth, where the carpenters Son stood up to read and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He hath sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives." warrants the symbolical use of the psalmists imagery, which is, as we have seen, largely influenced by the prophet whose words Jesus quoted. The first scene taught that devout hearts never lack guidance from God. The second adds to their blessings freedom, the true liberty which comes with submission and acceptance of His law.
Sickness, which yields the third type of suffering, is a commoner experience than the two preceding. The picture is lightly sketched, emphasis being laid on the cause of the sickness, which is sin, in accordance with the prevailing view in the Old Testament. The psalmist introduces the persons of whom he is to speak by the strongly condemnatory term "foolish ones," which refers not to intellectual feebleness, but to moral perversity. All sin is folly. Nothing is so insane as to do wrong. An ingenious correction has been suggested and is accepted by Cheyne in the wake of Dyserinck, Graetz, and others, by which "sick men" is read for "foolish men." But it does not appear to the present writer to be so impossible as Cheyne thinks to "conceive the psalmist introducing a fresh tableau by an ethical term such as fools." The whole verse (Psa_107:17) lays more stress on the sin than on the sickness, and the initial designation of the sufferers as "fools" is quite in harmony with its tone. They are habitual evildoers, as is expressed by the weighty expression "the way (or course) of their transgression." Not by one or two breaches of moral law, but by inveterate, customary sins, men ruin their physical health. So the psalmist uses a form of the verb in Psa_107:17 b which expresses that the sinner drags down his punishment with his own hands. That is, of course, eminently true in such gross forms of sin as sow to the flesh, and of the flesh reap corruption. But it is no less really true of all transgression, since all brings sickness to the soul. Psa_107:18 is apparently quoted from Job_33:20-22. It paints with impressive simplicity the failing appetite and consequent ebbing strength. The grim portals, of which Death keeps the keys, have all but received the sick men; but, before they pass into their shadow, they cry to Jehovah, and, like the other men in distress, they too are heard, feeble as their sick voice may be. The manner of their deliverance is strikingly portrayed. "He sent His word and healed them." As in Psa_105:19, Gods word is almost personified. It is the channel of the Divine power. Gods uttered will has power on material things. It is the same great thought as is expressed in "He spake and it was done." The psalmist did not know the Christian teaching that the personal Word of God is the agent of all the Divine energy in the realm of nature and of history, and that a far deeper sense than that which he attached to them would one day be found in his words, when the Incarnate Word was manifested, as Himself bearing and bearing away the sicknesses of humanity, and rescuing not only the dying from going down to the grave, but bringing up the dead who had long lain there. God, who is Guide and Emancipator, is also Healer and Life-giver, and He is all these in the Word, which has become flesh, and dwelt and dwells among men.
Another travel scene follows. The storm at sea is painted as a landsman would do it; but a landsman who had seen, from a safe shore, what he so vividly describes. He is impressed with the strange things that the bold men who venture to sea must meet, away out there beyond the point where sea and sky touch. With sure poetic instinct, he spends no time on trivial details, but dashes on his canvas the salient features of the tempest, -the sudden springing up of the gale; the swift response of the waves rolling high, with new force in their mass and a new voice in their breaking; the pitching craft, now on the crest, now in the trough; the terror of the helpless crew; the loss of steering power; the heavy rolling of the unmanageable, clumsy ship; and the desperation of the sailors, whose wisdom or skill was "swallowed up," or came to nothing.
Their cry to Jehovah was heard above the shriek of the storm, and the tempest fell as suddenly as it rose. The description of the deliverance is extended beyond the normal single verse, just as that of the peril had been prolonged. It comes like a benediction after the hurly burly of the gale. How gently the words echo the softness of the light air into which it has died down, and the music which the wavelets make as they lap against the ships sides! With what sympathy the poet thinks of the glad hearts on board, and of their reaching the safe harbour, for which they had longed when they thought they would never see it more! Surely it is a permissible application of these lovely words to read into them the Christian hope of preservation amid lifes tempests, -
"Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last."
God the guide, the emancipator, the healer, is also the stiller of the storm, and they who cry to Him from the unquiet sea will reach the stable shore. "And so it came to pass, they all came safe to land."
As already observed, the tone changes with Psa_107:33, from which point onwards the psalmist adduces instances of Providential working of a different kind from those in the four vivid pictures preceding, and drops the refrains. In Psa_107:33-38 he describes a double change wrought on a land. The barrenness which blasts fertile soil is painted in language largely borrowed from Isaiah." Psa_107:33 a recalls Isa_1:2 b; Psa_107:33 b is like Isa_35:7 a" (Delitzsch). The opposite change of desert into fertile ground is pictured as in Isa_41:18. The references in Psa_107:36 to "the hungry" and to "an inhabited city" connect with the previous part of the psalm, and are against the supposition that the latter half is not originally part of it. The incidents described refer to no particular instance, but are as general as those of the former part. Many a land, which has been blasted by the vices of its inhabitants, has been transformed into a garden by new settlers. "Where the Turks horse has trod, no grass will grow."
Psa_107:39 introduces the reverse, which often befalls prosperous communities, especially in times when it is dangerous to seem rich for fear of rapacious rulers. "The pressure" referred to in Psa_107:39 is the oppression of such. If so, Psa_107:40, which is quoted from Job_12:21; Job_12:24, though introduced abruptly, does not disturb the sequence of thought. It grandly paints the judgment of God on such robber princes, who are hunted from their seats by popular execration, and have to hide themselves in the pathless waste, from which those who cry to God were delivered (Psa_107:41 b and 4 a). On the other hand, the oppressed are lifted, as by His strong arm, out of the depths and set on high, like a man perched safely on some crag above high-water mark. Prosperity returning is followed by large increase and happy, peaceful family life, the chief good of man on earth. The outcome of the various methods of Gods unvarying purpose is that all which is good is glad, and all which is evil is struck dumb. The two clauses of Psa_107:42 which describe this double fect, are quoted from two passages in Job-a from Job_22:19, and b from Job_5:16.
The psalm began with hymning the enduring lovingkindness of Jehovah. It ends with a call to all who would be wise to give heed to the various dealings of God, as exemplified in the specimens chosen in it, that they may comprehend how in all these one purpose rules, and all are examples of the manifold lovingkindnesses of Jehovah. This closing note is an echo of the last words of Hoseas prophecy. It is the broad truth which all thoughtful observance of Providence brings home to a man, notwithstanding many mysteries and apparent contradictions. "All things work together for good to them that love God"; and the more they love Him, the more clearly will they see, and the more happily will they feel, that so it is. How can a man contemplate the painful riddle of the world, and keep his sanity, without that faith? He who has it for his faith will have it for his experience.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v1 Many expositors are of opinion that this Psalm was…
INTRODUCTION
Many expositors are of opinion that this Psalm was written to celebrate the return of the Jews from the Babylonian exile. This opinion is based chiefly on Psa_107:2-3. But the Psalm as a whole does not seem to us to favour such a conclusion. Perowne says: “It is obvious that this Psalm is not historical. It describes various incidents of human life, it tells of the perils which befall men, and the goodness of God in delivering them, and calls upon all who have experienced His care and protection gratefully to acknowledge them; and it is perfectly general in its character. The four or five groups, or pictures, are so many samples taken from the broad and varied record of human experience. Such a Psalm would have been admirably adapted to be sung in the Temple-worship, at the offering of the thank-offerings.
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“But, whatever may have been the circumstances under which the Psalm was written, or the particular occasion for which it was intended, there can be no doubt as to the great lesson which it inculcates. It teaches us not only that God’s Providence watches over men, but that His ear is open to their prayer. It teaches us that prayer may be put up for temporal deliverance, and that such prayer is answered. It teaches us that it is right to acknowledge with thanksgiving such answers to our petitions. This was the simple faith of the Hebrew Poet.”
The author of the Psalm is not known.
DISTRESSED TRAVELLERS AND THEIR DIVINE HELPER
(Psa_107:1-9)
It is probable, as Perowne suggests, that the first three verses are “a liturgical addition, framed with particular reference to the return from Babylon, and prefixed to a poem originally designed to have a wider scope.” The Psalm begins with the same liturgical formula as the preceding; and the Poet proceeds to represent the people of God as—
1. Redeemed by Him. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.” The allusion is probably to the deliverance of the Jews from the captivity in Babylon. The people of God now are redeemed from sin by the precious blood of Christ. They have had precious experiences of the goodness of the Lord, and are under special obligations to praise Him.
2. Gathered by Him. “Gathered them out of the lands from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.” The Lord gathered the exiles out of all the lands into which they had been driven in the day of their distress. He gathers men now into His Church. And He is gathering His people to their home in heaven. From all lands they are being assembled in our Father’s home on high.
Then the Poet proceeds to represent the people as distressed travellers, relieved by Divine goodness, and calls upon them to praise the Lord. Consider—
I. The distressed travellers. “They wandered in the wilderness,” &c.
1. They were travellers through a pathless desert. “They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way.” “A solitary way” is not a correct translation. Perowne: “In a pathless waste.” Hengstenberg: “The pathless desert.” A wilderness is a scene of dreary desolation; and in this case the travellers are represented as having no path along which to travel through this dreary desert. The track is lost, perhaps obliterated by some violent sand-storm.
2. They were travellers through a homeless desert. “They found no city to dwell in.” There were no habitable places in the wilderness through which they journeyed.
3. They were travellers through an inhospitable desert. “Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.” Their life was faint and exhausted by reason of hunger and thirst. We have here a picture of the pilgrimage of life. Apart from Divine guidance, man is a traveller who has lost his way; the track is clean gone; he is perplexed, bewildered. In this world there is no place of settled residence for man. “Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” And unless man look to God for support, he will find in this world nothing to sustain his spiritual nature, nothing to satisfy the hunger and thirst of the soul.
II. The all-sufficient Helper. The Lord interposed in their need, and delivered them from all their distresses.
1. The Divine help was granted in answer to prayer. “Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.” Perowne: “So it ever is: only the pressure of a great need forces men to seek God. Prayer is not only the resource of good men, but of all men in trouble. It is a natural instinct even of wicked men to turn to God at such times.” The fact that all men thus cry to God in their distresses implies—Faith
(1) in the existence of God; “that He is.”
(2) In His power to help His creatures; that He is able to relieve the distressed.
(3) In His regard for His creatures; that He is interested in their welfare.
(4) In His accessibleness to His creatures; that they may approach Him in prayer; “that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Prayer is a great and glorious reality. There is ONE who hears and answers prayer.
2. The Divine help was adequate to their need. They were in a “pathless desert,” and He granted to them direction, guidance. “He led them forth by the right way.” They were in a homeless desert, and He directed them homeward. “He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.” They were fainting in an inhospitable desert, and He gave them abundant provision. “For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.” Both the hunger and the thirst He effectually relieves. And still for all who seek Him there is all-sufficient help in Him. He is the infallible Guide through life. His smile transforms a barren wilderness into a richly provided banqueting house. And he has prepared for us a home, peaceful and permanent, beautiful and blessed.
III. The manifest obligation. “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.”
1. God’s gracious doings for man are wonderful. “His goodness, and His wonderful works to the children of men.” They are wonderful in themselves, and in their object. “The children of men” are unworthy of the least of His favours. Yet He guides them, sustains them, &c.
2. Men are prone to overlook the gracious doings of God for them. His mercies often “lie
Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die.”
Men have to be urged to the celebration of the praise of their Divine Benefactor. “Oh that men would,” &c.
3. Men are under the most sacred obligation to celebrate the gracious doings of God for them. God rightly expects that those who receive His mercy will celebrate His praise. He requires this. Gratitude urges to this. Not to thank Him is to manifest extreme baseness.
“The stall-fed ox, that is grown fat, will know
His careless feeder, and acknowledge too;
The generous spaniel loves his master’s eye,
And licks his fingers though no meat he by;
But man, ungrateful man, that’s born and bred
By Heaven’s immediate power; maintained and fed
By His providing hand; observed, attended,
By His indulgent grace; preserved, defended
By His prevailing arm: this man, I say,
Is more ungrateful, more obdure than they.
Man, O most ungrateful man, can ever
Enjoy Thy gift, but never mind the Giver;
And like the swine, though pampered with enough,
His eyes are never higher than the trough!”
—F. Quarles.
THE WAY OF THE REDEEMED
(Psa_107:7. “He led them forth by the right way.”)
I. The way of the redeemed.
1. Long.
2. Difficult.
3. Lonely.
4. A desert way.
II. The rectitude of the way. It is the “right way.” Consider—
1. That it is the Divine way. “He led them forth” as a shepherd his flock.
2. To what it leads. “The city of habitation.”
Two lessons.
1. Take an enlarged view of the Divine conduct. Think of the goal, as well as of the way which leads to it. The way is painful; but consider why you are called to tread it. Remember the end of it all.
2. Ever seek the Divine guidance. God goes before; follow, trust Him.—W. M., in The Pulpit Analyst.
THE AFFLICTED CAPTIVES AND THEIR GLORIOUS EMANCIPATOR
(Psa_107:10-16)
We have in these verses—
I. The picture of a painful captivity. “Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron.” The Poet represents the captivity as characterised by—
1. Distress. They “sit in darkness.” The dark prison-house is an emblem of misery. To the patriotic and pious Jews the Babylonian Captivity was a source of much trouble and distress.
2. Apprehension. “In the shadow of death.” Death seemed to stand fully disclosed to their view, and to cast his chilling and fearful shadow upon them. The captives, in their distress, were as men constantly menaced by death.
3. Painful restriction. “Bound in affliction and iron.” The captives were not literally bound thus; but their distress seemed to them like that of the man who is held in iron fetters.
The most terrible captivity is moral—the bondage of sin. The wicked man is in darkness; the beauties of the spiritual universe—of Oruth, righteousness, love,—he sees not. “The second death” projects its dread shadow over him. He is the slave of sinful appetites, habits, and passions; is “holden with the cords of his sins.” Physical captivity is a calamity; moral captivity is a crime. Death will terminate the former; it has no power to affect the latter. The man who dies in sin enters eternity a manacled slave.
II. The reason of this painful captivity. “Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High.” “The words of God” are His commands delivered unto them in His law, and by His servants the prophets. “The counsel of the Most High” is the advice which was given to them by the prophets of the Lord. Their painful captivity was the result of their wilful disobedience. The Poet in this verse exhibits sin in two aspects—
1. Sin in its guilt. It is rebellion against the authority of the greatest and holiest Being—the Supreme Being.
2. Sin in its folly. It is the rejection of the counsel of the wisest and kindest Being. “God will command nothing which He would not advise, and which it would not be wisdom to obey.”
III. The design of this painful captivity. “He brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.” Their heart had proudly risen up in rebellion against God and contempt of His counsel, and their captivity was designed by its sufferings to subdue their pride. עָמָל here rendered “labour,” signifies also affliction, trouble. God sought to humble them for them sins, to show them their own helplessness, and that their strength and succour were in Him alone. Afflictions are teachers. The man who is not altogether foolish, when visited by them, will strive to ascertain and appropriate the lessons which they have to impart.
IV. The deliverance from this painful captivity—
1. Was effected in answer to prayer. “Then they cried unto the Lord,” &c (See remarks on Psa_107:6.)
2. Was effected by the Lord. “HE brought them out,” &c. “HE hath broken the gates,” &c. In the deliverance of the Jews from Babylon, the hand of the Lord was clearly displayed. Our Lord proclaims liberty to the captives of evil, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound by sin. There is no power in the universe, but that of God in Christ Jesus, that can emancipate the slaves of sin.
3. Was gloriously complete. “He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. He hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.” The delivery was as great as the distress. “ ‘The gates of brass’ refer probably to Babylon; and the idea is that their deliverance had been as if the brazen gates of that great city had been broken down to give them free egress from their captivity.” (Comp. Isa_45:2.) The Poet mentions three features of their deliverance, which taken together strikingly exhibit its completeness. Their fetters were riven asunder, they were brought out of their cold and gloomy prison, and the city gates were broken down, so that they could go forth entirely from the land of their captivity.
4. Demanded grateful acknowledgment. “Oh, that men would praise the Lord,” &c. (See remarks on Psa_107:6.)
CONCLUSION.—This subject has a practical and urgent application to all moral captives, all slaves of sin. Yours is a bondage far more terrible than that of Israel in Babylon. But from bondage such as yours Jesus Christ is the great and glorious Emancipator. From your dark prison-house cry unto Him for deliverance, and you shall speedily walk forth a free man in the bright universe of God.
HUMAN SICKNESS AND DIVINE HEALING
(Psa_107:17-22)
Consider—
I. Human sickness. It is here set forth—
1. In its cause. “Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities are afflicted.” Perowne’s translation is better: “Foolish men, because of the way of their transgression and because of their iniquities, bring affliction upon themselves.” The chief ideas here are two:
(1) Wickedness is folly. The transgressor is a “fool.” The foolishness is not intellectual, but moral. The wicked are “fools” because of the moral infatuation of their conduct; they despise counsel; they are heedless of warning; they betray their own interests; they will only be brought to reason by chastisement.
(2) Wickedness leads to sickness. The Psalmist expressively indicates that the suffering was selfproduced; the sufferers had brought it upon themselves. Many physical afflictions are the direct result of sin. Gluttony and drunkenness lead to untold sickness and suffering. All suffering results from sin. Abolish moral evil, and physical evil would soon be utterly unknown.
2. In its effect. “Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death.” The Psalmist describes the sufferer as loathing food, turning from it in disgust, and drawing near to death. Sheol, the realm of death, he represents as a city which is entered through gates. And the sufferer is solemnly near to those gates; in a little while, unless relief be imparted to him, he will have passed through them for ever.
II. Divine healing. This the Poet exhibits as—
1. Effected in answer to prayer. “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,” &c. (See remarks on Psa_107:6.) “Prayer is a salve for every sore.”
2. Effected with supreme ease. “He sent His word and healed them.” Perowne detects here “the first glimmering of St. John’s doctrine of the agency of the personal Word. The Word by which the heavens were made (Psa_33:6) is seen to be not merely the expression of God’s will, but His messenger mediating between Himself and His creatures.” At the command of the Lord diseases flee. He has but to utter His word, and the result is achieved. Doubtless many have been “lifted up from the gates of death” by God in answer to prayer. And in all cases of restoration from sickness to health, “whatever means may be used, the healing power comes from God, and is under His control.”
3. Demanding grateful acknowledgment. “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness,” &c. (See remarks on Psa_107:8.)
CONCLUSION.—This sketch of human disease and Divine healing may fairly be regarded as a parable of sin and salvation.
1. Sin produces an awful deterioration in human nature, and, “when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”
2. The Lord is the almighty and all-merciful Saviour from sin.
3. Prayer is the condition of deliverance from sin. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near.”
DISTRESSED SEAMEN AND THE SOVEREIGN OF THE SEA
(Psa_107:23-32)
This “is the most highly finished, the most thoroughly poetical, of each of the four pictures of human peril and deliverance. It is painted as a landsman would paint it, but yet only as one who had him-self been in ‘perils of waters’ could paint the storm—the waves running mountains high, on which the tiny craft seemed a plaything, the helplessness of human skill, the gladness of the calm, the safe refuge in the haven.”—Perowne. Notice—
I. God’s sovereignty over the sea. “He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.” Again: “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.” The force and fury of the storm are not blind, irresponsible, reckless things. They are not merely the outworking of natural laws. Behind the laws there is the Lawgiver. Behind the force of the winds and waves there is the Force of all forces—the great God. The old Hebrew poets and prophets spake literal truth when they represented the ocean as entirely under the sway of Jehovah.
“Who lifts up on high
The ocean’s maddening waves, tremendous sight?
Or bids them sleep along the feeble sands!
“Tis God alone.”—Pollok.
To regard God as the Ruler of the sea It—
1. Philosophic. It is unsatisfactory to tell me that certain laws, or forces of Nature, or certain combinations of her elements, are the cause of storms and calms. But it is thoroughly reasonable to attribute them to the Creator and Lord of Nature, a Being of infinite wisdom and almighty power.
2. Scriptural. The Bible ascribes all the phenomena of Nature to the agency of the Divine Being.
3. Assuring. It is some satisfaction to know that the furious elements are not governed by blind laws or stonyhearted fate, but by the wise and holy God. When the angry ocean engulfs hundreds of human beings, much sorrow and distressing mystery are the result. Yet the sorrow and distress would be far greater if, in the dreadful storm, we beheld only the work of mere laws or relentless fate. But God is wise, and strong, and kind. We know His will is good. We bow reverently before the mystery, and wait for more light. It is assuring to know that our Father rules the winds and waves.
II. Man’s impotency when the sea rebels against him. “They mount up to the heaven,” &c. (Psa_107:26-27). Man has great power over the sea. He employs it in his service. To a great extent he can control it even in its angry moods. In its depths he hides the medium of communication with far distant lands. He can navigate it in almost all weathers. Yet there are limits to man’s power over the sea, and when he attains these limits, his impotence is complete. There is a “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther,” and when man has reached that boundary, if he attempt to advance beyond, the sea will whelm him.
How great is man! See how he curbs the elements and employs them in his service.
How insignificant is man! See how the stormy waves sport with him, buffet him, engulf him. When the ocean speaks in thunder, and surges in might and fury, men’s souls are “melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end.”
But even when impotent and defeated by the warring elements, man is greater than they; for he is conscious of his impotence and defeat, while they know not of their triumph.
III. Man’s resource when the sea rebels against him. “Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble.” In the storm, when Jonah was fleeing from Joppa to Tarshish, “the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god.” In the storm on the sea of Galilee, when the disciples of Christ thought they were perishing, they cried, “Lord, save us: we perish.” Even the professed atheist ceases the insane boast of atheism and cries to God for mercy in the storm when hope of deliverance by mere human skill is gone. In a heavy storm, when wreck seemed inevitable, the captain of a ship inquired anxiously—“Is there a praying man on board?” But no one responded. He inquired again. And eventually it was found that there was a person on board, who had formerly been a Wesleyan, but who had cast away his confidence. “Can you pray?” said the captain to him. “I could once, sir,” he tremblingly replied, “but I have left off praying.” “Try again,” said the captain. And all the crew bowed down to that Almighty Being
“Who rides upon the stormy sky,
And calms the roaring seas;”
whilst the poor backslider tried to pray, and did pray, fervently, powerfully, and successfully; for the storm subsided and the vessel was preserved.
How affecting, in the wreck of the London, to find the people gathering round the Rev. Mr. Draper, and in prayer to God learning how to sink into the deep, not with the wild shriek of despair, or the heartless indifference of stoicism, or the atheistic excitement of epicureanism, but with the calm heroism of Christian faith! Prayer to God is the resource of imperilled mariners. That men thus cry to God in their trouble, as by an instinct of their being, suggests—
1. The absurdity of atheism. Atheism is a contradiction of the consciousness of man as man.
2. The reality of prayer. The existence of the instinct which leads men to cry unto the Lord in their distresses, suggests that there is some One who hears prayer, that the utterance of petition is not in vain.
But is it only when you are at your wit’s end that you cry unto God? Do you ignore Him when “the south wind blows softly,” yet cry unto Him when the wild tempest raves? Is such conduct worthy of you? What right have you to expect that He whom you seek only when you are in trouble will answer your selfish cry?
IV. God’s answer to man’s cry. “He bringeth them out of their distresses,” &c. Sometimes this is true literally. The heathen mariners on their voyage to Tarshish in the storm, with their dim lights as to religion, cried earnestly to their gods, and the true God directed them as to how they should proceed so as to secure the allaying of the storm. The disciples of the Lord Jesus cried to Him in the tempest, and He hushed it into peace. We could cite numerous instances of modern times, in which earnest prayer in the storm has been followed by a calm. But God does not always literally allay the storm, and save from it those who cry unto Him. He, however, calms the inward tempest, so that the waves of anxiety and terror are still. He did so in those on board the London, who sank in the act of worship. If He does not avert the calamity in answer to the prayer of the imperilled, He nerves them for the calamity, in their case takes away the sting and evil of it, and makes it the occasion of blessing to them. In answer to the cry of “those in peril on the sea,” God does not always bring the ship into the desired haven; but “He bringeth them unto their desired haven,”—that calm haven where no storm raves, but all is peaceful, serene, and blessed.
V. Man’s obligation for God’s interposition. “Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness,” &c. (See remarks on Psa_107:8.)
TERRESTRIAL REVOLUTIONS
(Psa_107:33-43)
“The character of the Psalm,” says Perowne, “changes at this point. We have no longer distinct pictures as before: the beautiful double refrain is dropped, the language is harsher and more abrupt. Instead of fresh examples of deliverance from peril, and thanksgiving for God’s mercies, we have now instances of God’s providential government of the world exhibited in two series of contrasts. The first of these is contained in Psa_107:33-39, and expresses a double change—the. fruitful well-watered land smitten, like the rich plain of Sodom, with desolation, and changed into a salt-marsh; and anon, the wilderness crowned with cities, like Tadmor (of which Pliny says, vasto ambitu arenis includit agros), and made fertile to produce corn and wine. The second is contained in Psa_107:40-41, and expresses the change in the fortunes of man (as the last series did those of countries)—viz., how the poor and the humble are raised, and the rich and the proud overthrown.”
Here are three chief points for consideration:—
I. Revolutions in countries. Psa_107:33-39. Here is—
1. A picture of a fertile land reduced to barrenness. “He turneth rivers into a wilderness,” &c. (Psa_107:33-34).
(1) This change was effected by God. “HE turneth,” &c. He can dry up rivers, and make the fruitful plain a salt waste or sandy desert.
(2) This change was effected by God by reason of the wickedness of its inhabitants. “For the wickedness of them that dwell therein.” There is an allusion here to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the change of “the plain well watered everywhere, as the garden of the Lord,” into a salt sea and a salt soil on which nothing grows. “If the land be bad, it is because the inhabitants are so.”
2. A picture of a barren land made fertile. (Psa_107:35-38.) The 35th verse is taken from Isa_41:18. The arid wilderness is transformed into a well-watered country, the barren desert into a scene of fruitfulness and beauty; where solitude reigned, a populous city is found; and where no life was, both human and animal life increases and multiplies. This transformation is brought about by—
(1) The labour of man. “They prepare a city for habitation; and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.” Labour is an eternal and immutable condition of prosperity both for individuals and for communities.
(2) The blessing of God. The Divine blessing precedes and prepares for human labour. “He turneth the wilderness into a standing water,” &c. The Divine blessing succeeds and crowns human labour. “He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied,” &c. Some expositors have connected these verses with certain historical events; but, as Perowne points out, “the language employed is far too general to be limited to one event. It describes what frequently has occurred. The histories of Mexico and of Holland might furnish examples of such a contrast.” Matthew Henry says: “The land of Canaan, which was once the glory of all lands for fruitfulness, is said to be at this day a fruitless, useless, worthless spot of ground, as was foretold (Deu_29:23). This land of ours, which formerly was much of it an uncultivated desert, is now full of all good things.”
3. A reminder that the temporal prosperity of communities is inconstant and uncertain. “Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.”
(1) The most prosperous communities are not exempt from calamities.
(2) The most prosperous communities are sometimes brought low by calamities. Barnes: “God so deals with the race as in the best manner to secure the recognition of Himself;—not always sending prosperity, lest men should regard it as a thing of course, and forget that it comes from Him;—and not making the course of life uniformly that of disappointment and sorrow, lest they should feel that there is no God presiding over human affairs. He visits now with prosperity, and now with adversity;—now with success and now with reverses, showing that His agency is constant, and that men are wholly dependent on Him.” Matthew Henry: “Worldly wealth is an uncertain thing, and often those that are filled with it, ere they are aware, grow so secure and sensual with it that, ere they are aware, they lose it again.”
II. Revolutions in human life. Here is—
1. The humiliation of the highest. “He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way.” If men of exalted rank do evil and dishonour God He will bring them down from their elevation, make them to be scorned of men, and reduce them to helpless embarrassment. “He bringeth the princes to nothing, He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.”
2. The exaltation of the lowest. “Yet setteth He the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock.” God exalts the poor above their enemies, and out of the reach of their troubles. He raises them from suffering and adversity into joy and prosperity. He blesses them with large increase in their families,—“maketh families like a flock,” a figure denoting a great multitude. Amongst the Hebrews large families were accounted a blessing. Over all these revolutions God presides. “His kingdom ruleth over all.” “God is to be acknowledged,” says Matthew Henry, “both in setting up families and in building them up. Let not princes be envied, nor the poor despised, for God has ways of changing the condition of both.”
III. The salutary impression of such revolutions. The Psalmist represents the result as threefold.
1. To the righteous, joy. “The righteous shall see it and rejoice.” The manifestation of God’s righteous government of the world is a source of gladness to the upright.
2. To the wicked, silence. “All iniquity shall stop her mouth.” “The Divine dealings shall be manifestly so just, and so worthy of universal approval, that even though the wicked are disposed to complain against God, they will be able to find nothing which will justify them in such complaints.”—Barnes.
3. To the thoughtful, increased acquaintance with God. “Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.”
(1) In the revolutions in human history there is a manifestation of the goodness of God. His rule is beneficent.
(2) This manifestation of the goodness of God is perceived only by the attentive observer of those revolutions. The significance of God’s works and ways cannot be discovered by a glance, or by the superficial observer. But he who will consider them attentively and reverently, shall find in them sufficient reason for intelligent and hearty confidence in Him.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 I. In all the changes of this mortal life,…
Psa 107:6
I. In all the changes of this mortal life, the psalmist sees no real chance, no real change, but the orderly education of a just and loving Father, whose mercy endureth for ever, who chastens men as a father chastens his children, for their profit, that they may be partakers of His holiness, in which alone are life and joy, health and wealth. It seems at first the worst of news, that which the Ninth Article tells us: that our original sin, in every person born into this world, deserves God’s wrath and curse. And so it would be the worst of news if God were merely a Judge, inflicting so much pain and misery for so much sin, without any wish to mend us and save us. But if we remember the blessed message of the Psalm; if we will remember that God is our Father, that God is educating us, that God hath neither parts nor passions, and that therefore God’s wrath is not different or contrary to His love, but that God’s wrath is His love in another shape, punishing men just because He loves men, then the Ninth Article will bring us the very best of news. If our sin had not deserved God’s anger, then He would not have been angry with it; and then He would have left it alone, instead of condemning it and dooming it to everlasting destruction as He has done; and then, if our sin had been left alone, we should have been left alone to sin and sin on, growing continually more wicked till our sin became our ruin. But now God hates our sin and loves us; and therefore He desires above all things to deliver us from sin and burn our sin up in His unquenchable fire, that we ourselves may not be burned up therein.
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II. If these words seem strange to some of you, that will only be a fresh proof to me that the Bible is inspired by the Holy Ghost. Nothing shows me how wide, how deep, how wise, how heavenly, the Bible is, as to see how far average Christians are behind the Bible in their way of thinking, how the salvation which it offers is too free for them, the love which it proclaims too wide for them, the God whom it reveals too good for them, so that they shrink from taking the Bible and trusting the Bible in its fulness and believing honestly the blessed truth that God is love.
C. Kingsley, Town and Country Sermons p. 446.
Psa 107:7
Notice one or two particular features of the leadings in the wilderness.
I. The Israelites had a very little way to go, and they were a very long time about it. What seemed a matter of days took many years. Is it so with you? Have you been a very long time getting on a very little way?
II. The fightings of God’s people in the wilderness were all at the beginning and at the end of it. It is generally so with God’s saints.
III. They had strange ups and downs. Their road, as we trace it on the map, is a perfect riddle, now quite near and then back again, far, far away, almost to where they set out.
IV. It was all in dependence—most absolute and humble dependence for everything. Not a drop nor a crumb, nothing, came from the wilderness, all direct from God Himself. Who ever went the road to heaven without learning, temporally and spiritually, the same humiliating but assuring lesson?
V. The leading was the clearest where the need was the greatest, God’s universal method. In our sunny days His hand dimly seen, and His voice low, but in our darkest hours bright, distinct, glorious.
VI. It was a restless life they lived these forty years, just as perhaps life has been to us. We are but strangers and pilgrims. We must sit loose and not tarry long by the way. It is "the right way," but it is only a way. And we are prone to say, "It was good for me to be here!" and mistake our tabernacles for our houses, while He is all the while leading us forth to go to a city of habitation.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 12th series, p. 213.
I. The company. Any considerable company of men is imposing; but here is a company more illustrious than any other upon earth, a company overwhelming in its vastness and yet ever growing in numbers, calm in aspect and yet irresistible in power. These are "the redeemed of the Lord, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." We are redeemed from spiritual perils and foes: from sin, from wrath, from the lure of the world, from the wiles of the devil, and from selfishness, sluggishness, lust, passion, pride, fear, doubt, dismay. It is impossible that a man can be "led forth into the right way" until this deliverance is accomplished, until it is at least begun.
II. The Leader. The Leader of this ransomed company is the Lord Himself. "He led them forth." The Bible abounds with intimations of the nearness of God, and particularly with assurances of His actual and perpetual presence with His people as their Guide, and Guard, and everlasting Friend. "Be still, and know that He is God"—God to supply all your need, to guide all your way, to give far more than He takes, to do for you "exceeding abundantly above all that you can ask or think."
III. The way. This way, as God’s appointed way, is right, whatever may be its present aspect to us. Haply to some it is covered with the clouds of disappointment; to others it is bleak and cold with the gales of adversity; to others it is drenched with the rains of sorrow. It has places of heart-wringing separation from fellow-pilgrims, and even deep, dark gulfs of sin; but notwithstanding all its mystery, as God’s way, it is always right.
IV. The end. The end is arrival and rest in "the city of habitation"—in some secure and permanent abode; the wanderer finds at last a settled rest: the lost and worn traveller is conducted back into the way, and the way leads him home. And what more appropriate end could there be to such a way as that of the Christian through this life than the heaven that has been promised and prepared for all who are truly seeking it? The mystic company has not been gathered and redeemed with such cost and toil only to be scattered again and lost. The Leader has not assumed His position at their head to see them falling and vanishing away, for "He is able to make them stand." The way has not been opened and consecrated for short distances only, with gulfs and deserts left in it that cannot be crossed; it stretches away beyond earthly territory and mortal sight, and ends at the open gate of heaven.
A. Raleigh, Farewell Sermon Preached in Glasgow, Dec. 12th, 1858.
References: Psa 107:7.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 143; Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 127; T. L. Cuyler, Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iii., p. 29; J. Eadie, Good Words, 1861, p. 413; M. Nicholson, Redeeming the Time, p. 18. Psa 107:8.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 338.
Psa 107:14
The Bible does not aspire to provide checks for the excesses of freedom, but to instruct us in the nature of freedom, to stimulate an appetite for it, to make us ashamed of our contentment without it, to explain under what conditions we may obtain the highest measure of it.
I. Do we not hear men complaining continually that they cannot do what they would, or be what they would? Each may shift the burden on a different place, but each feels it. If the sigh for pardon has not yet risen out of our hearts, that sigh may yet be working in another form—apparently, not really another. We may cry for an Absolver, for One who will set us free from the bonds of those sins which by our frailty we have committed. The voice of God, be sure, is not monotonous; it does not speak in one accent only, and that one measured, and adapted, and reduced by human art. Whatever a man’s perplexity is, whatever it be which makes his actions irregular, his thoughts unquiet, his life contradictory, that is a band which needs to be broken for him, and which, after infinite fretting, he will find that he cannot break for himself, not if he has all the machinery of nature and art to help out his individual weakness. He must turn to the Lord of his will, to One who can meet him there, in a region which the vulture’s eye has not seen.
II. It is the Son who makes us free, because He brings us the adoption of sons. It is the faith that in Him these spirits of ours may claim God for their Father, because He has in Him claimed them for His sons and given them His Spirit, that they may cry, "Abba, Father"—it is this faith which raises us above the flesh that has claimed to be our master, when it was meant to be our slave; above that world of which we were intended to offer the fruits to God, but which has demanded our worship for itself; above that spirit of evil which would persuade us that there cannot be freedom in the service of a loving God, and if we listen to it, would make us the slaves of self-will and hatred.
F. D. Maurice, Sermons, vol. iii., p. 149.
References: Psa 107:14.—G. S. Barrett, Old Testament Outlines, p. 142. Psa 107:17-20.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1824. Psa 107:19.—Preacher’s Latern, vol. iii., p. 117. Psa 107:20.—H. Thompson, Concionalia, 2nd series, p. 529; Sermons for Sundays, Festivals, and Fasts, p. 271. Psa 107:21.—J. Baldwin Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., pp. 312, 321, 341, 357, and 375. Psa 107:23, Psa 107:24.—C. Kingsley, Discipline, and Other Sermons, p. 23. Psa 107:23-31.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 236. Psa 107:30.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages of the Psalms, p. 323. Psa 107:34.—J. Keble, Sermons Occasional and Parochial, p. 101. Psa 107:40.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 369. Psa 107:40, Psa 107:41.—J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages of the Psalms, p. 238. Psa 107:43.—E. Thring, Uppingham Sermons, vol. i., p. 392. Psa 108:4.—Pulpit Analyst, vol. i., p. 213. Psa 108:12.—G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 242. Psalm 108—Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 121. Psa 109:4.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 15.
Psa 107:30
These words naturally lead us to consider two things:—
I. The joy of being at rest. There are several kinds of rest which may indeed be subjects of thankfulness and gladness. There is the rest from enemies without; there is the rest from passions within; and there is the eternal rest of heaven. But the kind of rest of which we think today is the rest from doubt, doubt especially as to what it is needful to believe and to do if we seek to get to heaven. The very idea of rest implies something on which to rest; that is, it implies something above and beyond ourselves: it proves that in and of ourselves we can never have rest. Moses, speaking to the children of Israel, says, "Ye shall not do as we do here this day: every man that which is right in his own eyes." And why not? "For ye are not come unto the rest and the land which the Lord your God giveth you." No man has any more right to believe what he likes than to do what he likes; there is but one thing every one ought to do, which is right, and but one thing every one ought to believe, which is truth: and a man will as surely be punished for believing wrong as he will be for doing wrong.
II. But how can we believe? you will ask. And that brings us to our second head; namely, that we must be at rest before we can reach "the haven where we would be." In other words, unless we believe rightly, we shall never enter into heaven. No man can live as he ought without believing as he ought. Our Saviour, Christ, has promised this. "If any man," He says, "will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God." Therefore it follows that no man who believes wrong can be living right.
J. M. Neale, Sermons on Passages of the Psalms, p. 226.
Reference: Psa 109:7.— J. E. Vaux, Sermon Notes, p. 94.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Constant and harmonious.
Constant and harmonious.
The first psalm proclaims the unchanging, harmonious goodness of Jehovah, which finds the way of blessing for His people, spite of, and yet as recognizing, their sinful and rebellious behavior. The discipline of the way is the method of a grace which will not give up the objects of it; the furnace of affliction being provided for in the original covenant with Abraham, and of this the Egyptian bondage was but one example, even as their wilderness journey as redeemed from Egypt was but the prototype of their many wanderings since. The wilderness is now once for all exchanged for the "city of habitation," implying the abiding rest into which they are brought.
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1. Jehovah is the name they celebrate, who has acted in a loving kindness which is always His characteristic, and redeemed them from the hand of the oppressor. They are gathered now from the east and west and north, and from the sea, the highway to so many countries then unknown that lie beyond it.
They have long been wanderers in a solitary way, with the brand of Cain upon them; always seeking possession of the earth, and finding in it but Aceldama, their own fatal purchase. Ahungered and athirst, with more than physical need, their soul fainted in them. Until, brought to seek from God alone, they cried unto Jehovah in their strait, and found deliverance from Him. A very simple and a very common story, but which needs, for all that, constant repetition. Now rest is before them; and their way is right (or straight) toward the city they are to inhabit. A crooked way is, on that account, a long one; and Deuteronomy marks how long they had made the way for themselves the first time in the wilderness by their crooked ways with God. Since then how long the road had been; indeed! Only the loving kindness of Jehovah could have brought them where they now were.
Let them answer to it then, and let His wondrous works be fittingly acknowledged by souls whose longing had found satisfaction; whose hunger had been appeased with good.
2. Israel come before us, however, not merely as in the wilderness, but as in the prison-house also, -in captivity to their enemies because of their sins. Thus they sat in darkness and the shadow of death, the light of life withdrawn; the iron bondage entering into their souls. There they abode without help or hope, save in the very One against whom they had rebelled, compelled now to own the supremacy of Him whose counsel they had despised. They had to realize their sin; bowed down with travail, stumbling and with none to help.
With the cry of need came, however, another experience, and He became their Saviour. His government, which had held them fast, now released them from their prison-house, and the darkness around them was dispersed. And again the call rings out for confession and praise for this great deliverance.
3. "The sufferings of the foolish nation (Deu 32:6), when; filled with Jehovah’s indignation; they find a snare in that which should have fed them (Rom 11:9-10), and pine beneath the pressure of a more grievous famine than that of bread (Amo 8:11-13), until, in answer to the cry of sorrow, the word of saving health is sent them from above (Deu 30:1-20, comp. Rom 10:1-21), seem to be indicated in the next division. The language of ver. 22 is in agreement with this. Those who had vainly gone about to establish their own righteousness are called now to offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving (Heb 13:1-25), and to declare His works with singing." -Pridham, on the Psalms.
It is the deepest and most fundamental need, then; that is met here. Christ, the bread of life, had been rejected by them, and they are necessarily on the way to death. This strait His word alone can heal, and thus they are rescued from their pitfalls. Well may they now give Him, then, their thanks.
4. Pridham again says: —
"Besides the obvious force and beauty of the following verses (23-30) in their simple meaning and their general application; we have, I believe, a figure of Jacob’s restless trouble when; like a vexed and frightened mariner, he wandered up and down the wide sea of nations without ease (Deu 28:65), a friendless pilgrim of the Lord’s displeasure, until the long-desired rest was gained at last, under the faithful guidance of Him who seeks His people in the dark and cloudy day (Eze 34:12). Accordingly we find in the hortatory remembrancer of praise that follows (ver. 32) a mention of the gathered people and their elders, who are now called on to celebrate, in the quiet resting-places of Immanuel’s land, His faithful goodness and His might who had turned the long-endured tempest of affliction to the calm sunshine of perpetual peace. (Isa 54:11-13)."
True as the special application is, yet here is the general lot of the people of God, who are, as it were, by their very occupation; mariners, called to see the works of the Lord upon the deep. The numerical structure is here as plain and significant as indeed His meaning in such trial and the fitness of it should be. The "haven" is, as we see by the number, in the new scene, which has in it the promise of eternity.
5. In the last part Jehovah’s ways in general are celebrated: ways which are characterized by power, love, and holiness.
He fashions and refashions the earth at His will, commanding fruitfulness into barrenness, but this because of the wickedness of those that dwell in it. Again He restores and makes fruitful the barren land; and here it is not said that there must be a moral reason: the Creator rejoices in the works of His hands, and requires a moral reason only for not acting according to this delight.
His love is naturally much more dwelt upon. He shows it in His provision for the hungry of that fixed abode which is the first thing needed by man for his development; with the city for association; and the fields with their need of sowing and planting for increase. So by His blessing they multiply as fenced by His hand, with the cattle He has prepared for them as servants and allies.
But evil is here, attending on man’s sin, and oppression is found and various trial. He takes up the cause of the needy and down-trodden, pouring contempt upon nobles, and making them wander in a pathless waste who cared not for the fellows God had provided for them while He lifts the needy up out of his humiliation; and makes families like a flock.
Holiness is manifest in all His ways: the upright are made glad as they see it; iniquity itself has its mouth stopped. Whoever would be wise will observe this: such shall discern the loving kindness of Jehovah.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 Book 5
Book 5
This book, which seems originally to have been joined with Book 4, contains forty-four Pss., the vast majority of which are of late date. The contents of these Pss. are a surer guide to the period to which they belong than is the case in the other books, as many of them give either direct references or unmistakable hints regarding experiences of the exile or the return. Thus Psa_107:10-16 refers to the years of captivity, as does also Psalms 137. Other Pss., such as 126, refer to the joy of the return, and others still, e.g. 132, are prompted by the rebuilding of the Temple.
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The feature of this book which is most marked is its liturgical character. Many (though not all) of the Pss. contained in it are not individualistic but congregational, and bear traces of having been composed for use in public worship. Psa_115:9-18; Psa_116:12-19; Psalms 118, 135, 136 may be cited as good illustrations. Many smaller groups have been incorporated in this book, and can be easily recognised. The principal are the Hallel Psalms (113-118), the Songs of Ascents or Pilgrim Psalms (120-134), and the Hallelujah group (145-150). Psalms 108 is composed of Psa_57:7-11 and Psa_60:5-12, and was obviously compiled for liturgical purposes. Psalms 136 is a chant with responses for choir or congregation after each verse.
Fifteen of the Pss. of this book bear the title 'Of David,' indicating that they were taken by the final editor from the earliest or Davidic psalter. One of these (Psalms 142) has a historical note, which describes it as 'a prayer when he was in the cave'; but there is nothing in the Ps. to justify the reference. The book is Jehovistic in its choice of the divine name, Jehovah occurring 236 times and Elohim only 7 times.
The Psalmist sings the lovingkindness of the Lord, giving examples from (a) Israel in the wilderness (Psa_107:4-9), (b) people in captivity (Psa_107:10-16), (c) people in sickness (Psa_107:17-22), (d) vicissitudes of sea-going men (Psa_107:23-32), (e) and a rescue from drought (33-42). The Ps. has a refrain at intervals (Psa_107:8, Psa_107:15, Psa_107:21, Psa_107:31).
1. For his mercy endureth for ever] evidently a well-known refrain: cp. Psalms 136. Mercy] better, 'lovingkindness.'
2. Redeemed] perhaps from exile.
3. Lands] i.e. foreign lands.
4. The v. might refer to wanderings on the way from Egypt, but the reference to 'a city of habitation' (Psa_107:7) points rather to return from Babylon to Jerusalem.
10. Sit] RV 'sat.' Iron] perhaps metaphorically: cp. Psa_105:18. The reference is evidently to captivity, i.e. slavery.
11. The words of God] as declared by His prophets.
14. Bands] i.e. their state of subjection: cp. Psa_2:3.
16. Cp. Isa_45:2.
17. A new illustration. Read, probably, 'Sick men, because of the way of their transgression,' etc.
20. Sent] RV 'sendeth.' The phrase is noteworthy as heralding, unconsciously perhaps, the Word (Joh_1:14).
23-30. A striking description of mariners in a storm.
27. Are at their wit's end] RM 'all their wisdom is swallowed up.'
30. Their desired haven] RM 'the haven of their desire.' The word rendered 'haven' is an Assyrian loan-word, and properly means an 'emporium' or 'mart.' It is found here only.
33. General instances of God's kindness in various districts. Some suggest that this is a later addition to the Ps. It has great likenesses to Job and Isaiah 40-66.
34. Barrenness] better, RV 'a salt desert'—perhaps thinking of Sodom: cp. Job_39:6.
35. Cp. Isa_41:18.
39. Again] better, 'and when'; but the v. is abrupt and the connexion obscure.
40. Quoted from Job_12:21, Job_12:24. It interrupts the connexion, and by some is omitted.
41. Cp. Job_21:11 : 'He set the needy on high from (above) affliction, and established (for him) families as a flock.'
43. Cp. Hos_14:9, a closing admonition.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v2 Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
redeemed
Heb. "goel," Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield "Isa 59:20").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 THE DEUTERONOMY SECTION: BOOK FIVE: Psalm 107-150
THE DEUTERONOMY SECTION: BOOK FIVE: Psalm 107-150
The final section of the book of Psalms, the fifth, is just like Deuteronomy. It shows God’s ways with Israel, the end of these ways in deliverance not only for His people, but for their land, for the nations of the earth, for all creation. The book ends with the Hallelujah Chorus of redemption.
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Psalm 107 Psalm 108
Psalm 107
Israel’s Deliverances
1. The wanderers regathered (Psa 107:1-9)
2. The prisoners released (Psa 107:10-16)
3. The fools healed (Psa 107:17-22)
4. Brought to the haven of rest (Psa 107:23-32)
5. The praise of His ways (Psa 107:33-43)
In the book of Deuteronomy, in Moses’ great prophecies, we read of the scattering of the nation, the lot which should befall them as a disobedient people, becoming wanderers among the nations. But we read also of the promised regathering and the promises of restoration (Deu 30:1-20). How harmonious it is to find the first Psalm of the Deuteronomy section celebrating this promised regathering and restoration! Again we see the divine power which guided the hand of the instrument who arranged these Psalms. And they thank and praise Him for this accomplished salvation. As wanderers amongst the nations they suffered and yet perished not as the peculiar nation; but now they are brought back to the city of habitation, to their own land. They had rebelled against the words of God and sat as prisoners in darkness and shadow of death; but now they are released and He brought them out of the darkness, out of judicial blindness, out of national and spiritual death, into life and light. They were fools on account of their transgressions; but now His Word has healed them. They were the storm tossed nation upon the restless waves of the sea, the emblems of the nations of the world; but now the storm is passed, the sea of nations is calm and He has brought them into the desired haven. For all this they praise Him. They are now “Israel His glory” through whom and in whom He has glorified Himself.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 10, 17 Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Various Troubles.
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Various Troubles.
v. 1. O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, He reveals His gracious providence to All men in the various emergencies which come upon them; for His mercy endureth forever, His unmerited favor and kindness upon men lasts throughout eternity.
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v. 2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, the returned exiles, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, from the power of oppression and misery,
v. 3. and gathered them out of the lands, whither they had been led away captive, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, literally, "from the sea," the reference being either to Egypt or to Arabia.
v. 4. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way, in loneliness and far from human habitations; they found no city to dwell in, where they would be received in a hospitable manner.
v. 5. Hungry and thirsty, on account of the absence of both food and drink in the desert, their soul fainted in them, literally, "was muffled," grew dim, was near to extinction.
v. 6. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses, by a quick and complete deliverance.
v. 7. And He led them forth by the right way, the true and proper road leading to deliverance, that they might go to a city of habitation, the reference being to Palestine, and specifically Jerusalem.
v. 8. Oh, that men, that is, such as had the experiences here enumerated, would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men, that is, proclaiming their own wonderful deliverance to others and thus to exalt the Lord.
v. 9. For He satisfieth the longing soul, the soul languishing for deliverance, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. The application of this entire section to spiritual distress and religious persecution readily suggests itself, both the earnest crying for deliverance and the praise after deliverance being recommended.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20 General Information:
General Information:
Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. (See: Poetry and Parallelism)
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his covenant faithfulness endures forever
The abstract noun "faithfulness" can be translated with an adjective. AT: "he remains faithful to his covenant forever" (See: Abstract Nouns)
the redeemed of Yahweh
"The redeemed" refers to the people whom Yahweh has saved. AT: "those whom Yahweh has saved" (See: Nominal Adjectives)
speak out
This means to tell others about something. AT: "tell about what Yahweh has done" (See: Idiom)
from the hand of the enemy
Here "hand" refers to power. AT: "from the power of the enemy" (See: Metonymy)
from the east ... and from the south
Here the four directions are given to emphasize that he gather them from everywhere. AT: "from every direction" or "from every part of the world" (See: Merism)
from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south
This describes the places that Yahweh gather his people from. AT: "he has gathered them from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south" (See: Ellipsis)
translationWords
Yahweh
good
covenant faithfulness
endure
eternity
redeem
adversary
alien
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 17, 20 Ps 107 This psalm is a hymn of praise…
Ps 107 This psalm is a hymn of praise to God the Redeemer. After an introduction exhorting the redeemed to praise God for his goodness (107:1-3), the psalmist brings together four case studies of people whom the Lord redeemed from adversity (107:4-32). He then sums up the Lord’s sovereignty (107:33-42) and concludes with an invitation to discern God’s unfailing love in all areas of life (107:43).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.