Psalms · psalm 107 of 150
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Psalm 107 opens Book V of the Psalms with a call to give thanks to the Lord because he is good and his steadfast love endures forever, and for the redeemed gathered from all lands to say so. It presents four scenes of people who cried out in their distress and were saved: travelers lost in the desert, prisoners, the sick because of their rebellion and sailors in a storm. It ends with the wisdom of observing these works of the Lord.
Psalm 107 is the first of Book V of the Psalms (Psalms 107-150), which follows Book IV and the doxology of Psalm 106. It has no title. Many scholars think it was composed to celebrate the return from exile, since it speaks of the redeemed gathered from east and west, north and south. It answers the final plea of Psalm 106 to be gathered from among the nations.
The psalm begins with a call: give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
Then it presents four scenes with a similar pattern. In the first, some wandered in desert wastes with no way to a city, hungry and thirsty; they cried to the Lord, and he led them by a straight way to a city to dwell in. In the second, some sat in darkness and the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and irons, because they had rebelled against the words of God; they cried out, and he broke the doors of bronze and brought them out of darkness. In the third, fools became sick through their sinful ways and drew near to the gates of death; they cried out, and he sent his word and healed them. In the fourth, those who went down to the sea in ships saw his deeds in the deep: he commanded a stormy wind that lifted the waves, and they reeled like drunken men; they cried out, and he made the storm a calm and brought them to their desired haven.
Each scene ends with the refrain of giving thanks for his steadfast love and wondrous works. Verses 33-42 show how God changes circumstances: he turns rivers into desert and desert into pools, settles the hungry and raises up the needy, while bringing the oppressors low. The last verse says that whoever is wise will attend to these things and consider the steadfast love of the Lord.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
We are invited to give thanks to the Lord because he is good and his steadfast love endures forever, and for the redeemed to say so. Thanksgiving is not only a feeling: it is spoken aloud as testimony.
Those who wandered with no way cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. The same cry repeats in all four scenes, showing that God answers whoever calls on him in any kind of trouble.
God sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. God's word acts with power to heal and rescue, something Christians relate to Christ, the Word made flesh.
God made the storm be still and the waves hushed, and he brought them to the haven they desired. The sailors who trembled helplessly were saved by the hand of the Lord of the sea.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Because he is good and his steadfast love endures forever. — Psalm 107:1
Answer: From the lands, from the east and west, from the north and south. — Psalm 107:3
Answer: The Lord led them by a straight way to a city to dwell in. — Psalm 107:6-7
Answer: The doors of bronze and the bars of iron. — Psalm 107:16
Answer: His word. — Psalm 107:20
Answer: He made it a calm and the waves were hushed. — Psalm 107:29
Psalm 107 helps us put names to the situations in which we cry to God: lost, trapped, sick, tossed by storm. In a small group each person can say in which of the four scenes they have found themselves and tell how God answered. Telling the rescue is part of giving him thanks.
It also warns against assuming that suffering always comes from sin: in two scenes rebellion is mentioned, but not in the other two. What they share is the cry and the answer. Whoever is going through their own desert or storm today can cry out with confidence, knowing that the Lord hears, and whoever has already been rescued can say so with joy.
Psalm 107 ends by inviting us to observe the Lord's works and understand his steadfast love. Psalm 108, by David, combines two older prayers to proclaim that with God we shall do valiantly.
At Psalm 107. The Psalms are divided into five books: I (1-41), II (42-72), III (73-89), IV (90-106) and V (107-150). Each book ends with a doxology, and Book V closes with Psalm 150, which praises the Lord with everything that has breath.
After each rescue an invitation is repeated to give thanks to the Lord for his steadfast love and wondrous works to the children of man. It stresses that God does not act only for his chosen people: his goodness reaches any person who cries out to him.