Today’s Passage: Psalm 107
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, and let the redeemed of the LORD say so. This psalm gathers up four kinds of trouble, and each one runs the same way, with people in distress, one cry lifted to the LORD, and one rescue that answers it. Again and again the same words come back around: then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble.
As you read, hold this: Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.
Context Gathered from the lands
He has gathered them from east and west, from north and south, and the psalm opens with the people already brought home and told to say so.
Psalm 107:1-9 (BSB)
¹ Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His loving devotion endures forever. ² Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy ³ and gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. ⁴ Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no path to a city in which to dwell. ⁵ They were hungry and thirsty; their soul fainted within them. ⁶ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress. ⁷ He led them on a straight path to reach a city where they could live. ⁸ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ⁹ For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Let the goel, pronounced go-ALE. Strong's H1350, kinsman-redeemer, one who redeems or avenges on behalf of a relative. It is the word for a kinsman who steps in to buy his own people back. This is not only a feeling to be kept quiet inside. The redeemed are to say so, so that a private rescue is spoken out loud where others can hear it. say so. Some of them wandered in the waste with no city to live in, and when they cried out, He delivered them and led them by a straight road to a place of their own. So the thanks begins.
Psalm 107:10-16 (BSB)
¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and chains, ¹¹ because they rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. ¹² He humbled their hearts with hard labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. ¹³ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. ¹⁴ He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke away their chains. ¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ¹⁶ For He has broken down the gates of bronze and cut through the bars of iron.
This time the distress was their own doing. They had rebelled and were left sitting in darkness and chains, yet when they cried out, He saved them anyway, breaking their chains and tearing down the very gates of bronze that held them.
Psalm 107:17-22 (BSB)
¹⁷ Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction. ¹⁸ They loathed all food and drew near to the gates of death. ¹⁹ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. ²⁰ He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit. ²¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing.
These were fools who had brought affliction on themselves and come near the gates of death, and still, when they cried out, He sent forth His word and healed them. Now let them declare His works with rejoicing.
Psalm 107:23-32 (BSB)
²³ Others went out to sea in ships, conducting trade on the mighty waters. ²⁴ They saw the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. ²⁵ For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea. ²⁶ They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths; their courage melted in their anguish. ²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunkards, and all their skill was useless. ²⁸ Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distress. ²⁹ He calmed the storm to a whisper, and the waves of the sea were hushed. ³⁰ They rejoiced in the silence, and He guided them to the harbor they desired. ³¹ Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ³² Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the council of the elders.
He spoke, and a tempest rose that made all their skill useless, so that seasoned sailors reeled and staggered like drunken men. Then they cried out, and He calmed the storm to a whisper and guided them to the harbor they longed for.
Study notes He stood in the boat
The Gospels do not leave this rescue at a safe distance.
"Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm." Mark 4:39 (BSB)
Where this psalm says that God calmed the storm, Jesus does the very same thing with a word, standing there in the boat. That reading is settled, and so, once more, let the redeemed of the LORD say so.
Psalm 107:33-43 (BSB)
³³ He turns rivers into deserts, springs of water into thirsty ground, ³⁴ and fruitful land into fields of salt, because of the wickedness of its dwellers. ³⁵ He turns a desert into pools of water and a dry land into flowing springs. ³⁶ He causes the hungry to settle there, that they may establish a city in which to dwell. ³⁷ They sow fields and plant vineyards that yield a fruitful harvest. ³⁸ He blesses them, and they multiply greatly; He does not let their herds diminish. ³⁹ When they are decreased and humbled by oppression, evil, and sorrow, ⁴⁰ He pours out contempt on the nobles and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland. ⁴¹ But He lifts the needy from affliction and increases their families like flocks. ⁴² The upright see and rejoice, and all iniquity shuts its mouth. ⁴³ Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
He turns rivers into deserts and deserts into pools of water, and He lifts the needy up out of their affliction. Whoever is wise will stop and take these things to heart and consider the loving devotion of the LORD. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.