Psalm 107
1O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
2Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble
3and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;
5hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
6Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress;
7he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town.
8Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
9For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
10Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons,
11for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help.
13Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
14he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder.
15Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
16For he shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars of iron.
17Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
18they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
19Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
20he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
21Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
22And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.
23Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters;
24they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.
25For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity;
27they reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits’ end.
28Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;
29he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
31Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
32Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
33He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
34a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
36And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in;
37they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.
38By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their cattle decrease.
39When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41but he raises up the needy out of distress, and makes their families like flocks.
42The upright see it and are glad; and all wickedness stops its mouth.
43Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the LORD.
This psalm of thanksgiving divides into four representative manners by which the faithful have been saved by their God: hunger and thirst, imprisonment and oppression, sickness and nearing death, and bombarded by wind and waves upon the sea. These four life threatening events are matched to the four cardinal directions of the compass in most English translations.[1] The LORD, the God of Israel, is the one who rescues from the wilderness of the desert and the dangers of the sea, from the bondage and oppression as well as sickness because of sinful ways. God responds to the cries of a lost and scattered people and provides them food and drink, recovery and rescue.
Like many psalms, this psalm focuses on the steadfast love (hesed) of God. God’s unending steadfast love is the reason for the song, but the steadfast love is recognized through the redemption that has been received. The desert wastes were a theme of both the people’s original journey from Egypt to the promised land, and an exilic theme as God promises the people a new exodus leading them from exile to their home. The land of Israel is bordered by the Syrian and Arabian deserts to the east as well as the Saharan desert to the south. Although there are fertile places in the Middle East, and much of Israel is a productive land, any extended travel over land involves traversing the desert. Within the desert waste it is very easy to become lost, and both food and water are precious commodities away from one’s home. Yet in the song they cry to the LORD and there is an immediate (in the progression of the text) reply to the cry of distress. The LORD hears the hungry and thirsty and satisfies them with good things. The LORD hears the lost and leads them on a straight path to a town where they can receive shelter and nourishment. Although hunger and thirst play a significant role in the narrative of the exodus and the words of the prophets pointing to a return to the promised land it is only mentioned here in the psalms, with the exception for hungering and thirsting for God (Psalm 42,43). (Mays, 1994, p. 345)
The second tribulation that the people cry out from is imprisonment and oppression. This also echoes the original situation of the people at the beginning of the exodus as well as the exile, yet the only other psalm that mentions imprisonment is Psalm 142. Here the imprisonment is because they rebelled and spurned the words of God and likely reflects the experience of the community in exile rather than one individual imprisoned, yet even this experience of imprisonment and oppression the people call, and God responds. No bronze doors or iron bars can prevent the LORD from rescuing the people of God when they cry out for deliverance.
The sickness experienced, like the imprisonment in the previous section, is a result of sin and iniquity. The Hebrew term translated sickness (‘awal) means ‘foolish ones.’ (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 818) The petitioner is suffering as a result of their own actions, and they are at the point where they can no longer eat and stand at the gate of death. Yet even the gate of death is not too far for the LORD to hear their call and respond in steadfast love. Sickness and imprisonment, hunger and thirst, being lost in the desert and even lost at sea the people of God remainonly a cry away from the experience of the steadfast love of God.
Finally, the faithful are rescued from calamity on the sea. Seafaring was not a large part of Hebrew culture and the only other psalm speaking about the sea is Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2. Yet, like the wanderers lost in the desert these seafarers are lost in the wind and waves of the sea. Once again, the mighty wonders of the LORD on the sea may terrify, but the LORD’s mighty deliverance is reason for praise. Sailors are reduced to reeling like drunkards until the LORD delivers them from the wind and waves which threaten their ship and their lives. The action of Jesus to still the wind and the waves with a word[2] echoes the obedience of the waves and wind to the LORD in verse twenty-nine. The LORD brings those lost at sea back to a haven.
Martin Luther captures the essence of this psalm which responds to all the LORD has done when he states, “For all of this I owe it to God to thank and praise, serve and obey him.” (Luther, 1978, p. 25) Later hymnwriters would try to lift up their thanks in songs like William Whitings “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” and Martin Rinkhart’s “Now Thank We All Our God.” For God has led God’s people through desert and sea, sickness and suffering. Yet, God can also turn the fertile places to infertile. The princes who wield power are humbled before the power of the LORD, but the humble crying out for deliverance are saved. The God of the psalms is the God who created and sustains the heavens and the earth. This God can turn the current reality in creation upside down: deserts can become fertile, while rivers can run dry, storms can be stilled, and even the chaotic sea tamed. The Weak can turn to their God of steadfast love for deliverance but the proud and foolish princes may find their way frustrated by the same God. Wisdom to the psalmist is considering the steadfast love of God which does amazing things for the faithful ones who cry out for deliverance.
[1] No Hebrew Manuscript has ‘south’ in verse three. Instead in Hebrew the word is sea, and several other translations also have sea (including the Septuagint and the Vulgate).
[2] Matthew 8: 23-27, Mark 4: 35-41, Luke 8: 22-25.
Sign of the Rose 