Chapter Text
Give Thanks to the LORD
O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
2Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
3And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.
4They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
5Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
9For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
Those in Darkness
10Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron;
11Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High:
12Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help.
13Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
15Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
16For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
Those Who Were Sick
17Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death.
19Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses.
20He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
21Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
22And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Those at Sea
23They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
24These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
25For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
27They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
28Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
29He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
32Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
God's Bountiful Provision
33He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
34A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
35He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings .
36And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation;
37And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase.
38He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
39Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow.
40He 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.
42The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
43Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.
Summary
Psalm 107 opens Book V with a call to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good and His mercy endures forever. The psalm presents four vivid portraits of people in distress: wanderers lost in the wilderness, prisoners bound in darkness, fools afflicted by their own transgressions, and sailors tossed by a terrible storm.
In each case, the people cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them. The refrain repeats: oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and His wonderful works to the children of men. The psalm concludes with a meditation on God's power to transform landscapes and reverse fortunes.
Meaning
This psalm teaches that God's redemptive mercy follows a consistent pattern: distress, crying out, deliverance, and thanksgiving. Each of the four portraits represents a different dimension of human suffering, yet the remedy is always the same: calling upon the Lord.
The psalm's theology of deliverance is comprehensive. God rescues from geographical lostness, from bondage, from the consequences of foolish choices, and from forces of nature beyond human control. No form of trouble lies outside His ability to save.
The closing section reveals that God sovereignly governs the prosperity and adversity of nations, turning rivers into deserts and deserts into fruitful fields. The wise person observes these things and understands the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Background
This psalm has no author attribution and opens Book V of the Psalter. Its call for the redeemed of the Lord to say so suggests a post-exilic setting when scattered Israelites had been gathered from the nations.
The four portraits of distress may correspond to different experiences of the returning exiles, making this a psalm of national thanksgiving for the end of captivity.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-3Call to the Redeemed to Give Thanks
- vv. 4-9Wanderers Led to a City
- vv. 10-16Prisoners Freed from Darkness
- vv. 17-22The Sick Healed by His Word
- vv. 23-32Sailors Delivered from the Storm
- vv. 33-38God Transforms Land and Fortunes
- vv. 39-43The Wise Discern His Lovingkindness
Key Verses
“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”— 107:1
This opening call to thanksgiving is one of the most repeated refrains in the Psalter, echoing 1 Chronicles 16:34 and Psalms 106, 118, and 136. It establishes covenant praise rooted in the LORD's enduring chesed (lovingkindness).
“Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;”— 107:2
A foundational verse on the duty of testimony — the redeemed are commanded to speak. It has shaped Christian hymnody and remains a touchstone for personal witness to God's saving acts.
“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.”— 107:20
Often read christologically as foreshadowing the incarnate Word (John 1:14) who heals and delivers. The verse links divine speech with concrete rescue, a pattern fulfilled in Christ's ministry.
“For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.”— 107:9
Echoed in Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:53), this verse celebrates God as the satisfier of human need. It anchors a theology of divine provision for both physical and spiritual hunger.
People & Places
Places
- The wilderness — The trackless desert through which the lost wander before being led to a city of habitation, symbolic of exile and disorientation.
- The sea / great waters — The realm of merchants and sailors who witness God's wonders in the deep, a place of peril and divine deliverance.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Verse 3's gathering of the redeemed 'from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south' anticipates the eschatological ingathering Jesus describes in Matthew 8:11 and Luke 13:29. Verse 20, 'He sent his word, and healed them,' is read by Christian interpreters as a foreshadowing of the incarnate Logos (John 1:14) whose word healed the sick and raised the dead. Verse 16's broken gates of brass echoes Isaiah 45:2 and is applied in early Christian tradition to Christ's harrowing of the grave.
Devotional
Psalm 107 is a gallery of rescue stories: the lost wanderer, the prisoner in chains, the sick fool, the storm-tossed sailor. Four times the same refrain returns — they cried, and he delivered. The pattern is meant to be recognized in your own life.
Wherever you find yourself today — disoriented, bound by consequences of your own choices, weakened by illness, or terrified by circumstances beyond your control — the invitation is the same: cry out. And when deliverance comes, do not pocket it silently. Let the redeemed say so. Gratitude spoken aloud is the proper response to mercy received.
Literary Style
Hebrew thanksgiving psalm (todah) structured around four vignettes, each marked by a fixed refrain (vv. 6, 13, 19, 28 and vv. 8, 15, 21, 31). Features vivid narrative imagery, synonymous parallelism, and a concluding wisdom coda calling the hearer to discernment.