Reflections on Psalm 107

 

Psalm 107 (Contemporary English Version)


1. Shout praises to the LORD! He is good to us, and his love never fails.
   
2. Everyone the LORD has rescued from trouble should praise him,
   
3. everyone he has brought from the east and the west, the north and the south.
   
4. Some of you were lost in the scorching desert, far from a town.
   
5. You were hungry and thirsty and about to give up.
   
6. You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you.
   
7. Right away he brought you to a town.
   
8. You should praise the LORD for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.
   
9. To everyone who is thirsty, he gives something to drink; to everyone who is hungry, he gives good things to eat.
   
10. Some of you were prisoners suffering in deepest darkness and bound by chains,
    
11. because you had rebelled against God Most High and refused his advice.
    
12. You were worn out from working like slaves, and no one came to help.
    
13. You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you.
    
14. He brought you out of the deepest darkness and broke your chains.
    
15. You should praise the LORD for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.
    
16. He breaks down bronze gates and shatters iron locks.
    
17. Some of you had foolishly committed a lot of sins and were in terrible pain.
    
18. The very thought of food was disgusting to you, and you were almost dead.
    
19. You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you.
    
20. By the power of his own word, he healed you and saved you from destruction.
    
21. You should praise the LORD for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.
    
22. You should celebrate by offering sacrifices and singing joyful songs to tell what he has done.
    
23. Some of you made a living by sailing the mighty sea,
    
24. and you saw the miracles the LORD performed there.
    
25. At his command a storm arose, and waves covered the sea.
    
26. You were tossed to the sky and to the ocean depths, until things looked so bad that you lost your courage.
    
27. You staggered like drunkards and gave up all hope.
    
28. You were in serious trouble, but you prayed to the LORD, and he rescued you.
    
29. He made the storm stop and the sea be quiet.
    
30. You were happy because of this, and he brought you to the port where you wanted to go.
    
31. You should praise the LORD for his love and for the wonderful things he does for all of us.
    
32. Honor the LORD when you and your leaders meet to worship.
    
33. If you start doing wrong, the LORD will turn rivers into deserts,
    
34. flowing streams into scorched land, and fruitful fields into beds of salt.
    
35. But the LORD can also turn deserts into lakes and scorched land into flowing streams.
    
36. If you are hungry, you can settle there and build a town.
    
37. You can plant fields and vineyards that produce a good harvest.
    
38. The LORD will bless you with many children and with herds of cattle.
    
39. Sometimes you may be crushed by troubles and sorrows, until only a few of you are left to survive.
    
40. But the LORD will take revenge on those who conquer you, and he will make them wander across desert sands.
    
41. When you are suffering and in need, he will come to your rescue, and your families will grow as fast as a herd of sheep.
    
42. You will see this because you obey the LORD, but everyone who is wicked will be silenced.
    
43. Be wise! Remember this and think about the kindness of the LORD.

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Whatever our circumstance, when we turn to the Lord He will deliver us. That is the theme of this 107th psalm, and is repeated throughout the psalm. The theme is introduced by giving thanks to the Lord for His faithful love which endures forever. Those who are redeemed of the Lord, as is repeatedly described throughout this psalm, should proclaim it. Examples given of God's deliverance are:

• Some wandered lost in the wilderness. They were hungry and thirsty. They cried out to the Lord and He rescued them.
  
• Others sat in the darkness and gloom of a prison because they rebelled against God. Then they cried out to the Lord and He saved them.
  
• Fools suffered affliction because of their rebellious ways. They cried out to the Lord in their trouble and He saved them.
  
• Others went to sea in ships. The Lord raised a tempest that stirred the waves of the sea. They reeled and staggered and all their skill was useless. Then they cried out to the Lord and He brought them our of their distress.

These examples of God's deliverance not only point out God's deliverance but that our own rebelliousness gets us into the circumstances requiring His deliverance. But the deliverance only comes when we turn to the Lord and ask for His help. It is interesting how people will blame God for their troubles or at least for allowing them but will not turn to Him for deliverance. Why, in their thinking, will they credit Him with powers to cause the trouble but not with powers to deliver them from it? Or why do they think He would cause their troubles in the first place? Why do they not consider that they may have caused their own trouble or that it may have some other cause? Stranger yet are those who claim there is no God but then blame Him for allowing suffering in the world.

The theology of this psalm is rather simple. Yes, God allows suffering in the world but it is a result of man's rebelliousness and sin. However, when man turns to God for help He gives it. There is nothing so great that His deliverance cannot overcome. That is about the extent of the theology of this psalm, and, in a nutshell, of all scripture. The question then becomes, why will man not turn to the Lord and seek His deliverance? The last verse of the psalm, verse 43, says, "Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things (referring to the examples of God's deliverance) and consider the Lord's acts of faithful love."