Let Us Consider

Psalm 107:1–43

¹Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!

²Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has 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 a city to dwell in;

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 till they reached a city to dwell in.

⁸Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

⁹For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

¹⁰Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons,

¹¹for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.

¹²So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor; they fell down, with none to help.

¹³Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

¹⁴He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and burst their bonds apart.

¹⁵Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

¹⁶For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts in two the bars of iron.

¹⁷Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered 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 delivered them from their distress.

²⁰He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

²¹Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

²²And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

²³Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great 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 evil plight;

²⁷they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end.

²⁸Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.

²⁹He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.

³⁰Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.

³¹Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

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 evil of its inhabitants.

³⁵He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.

³⁶And there he lets the hungry dwell, and they establish a city 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 livestock diminish.

³⁹When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, evil, and sorrow,

⁴⁰he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;

⁴¹but he raises up the needy out of affliction and makes their families like flocks.

⁴²The upright see it and are glad, and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

⁴³Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! This is the recurring theme of this psalm that extols the faithfulness of our God. Within these verses we find the universal struggles that all of us face because of our lives on this sin-filled planet. There are four “stanzas” and they correspond to our lostness, hunger, confusion, and imprisonment. At different points in our lives we can sympathize with each of these emotions. Yet throughout the psalm, we are encouraged / instructed to remember to declare that our redemption has been won by God who alone is able to accomplish that task.

The four segments of the psalm are divided as follows with the same refrain in between – always return to a place of praise for the God who save.

(1) death from hunger and thirst in a trackless desert (4–9)

(2) life imprisonment with hard labor (10–16)

(3) illness leading to the gates of death (17–22)

(4) foundering in a storm at sea

Because the principles in this psalm are general, their application is universal. All who wish to be wise should apply the principles of this psalm to their own lives. They should take warning from the judgments that fall upon the disobedient. They should be strengthened by the love of God displayed in his blessings upon those who remember his covenant. The lostness, hunger, confusion, and imprisonment described in this psalm are all used as pictures of man’s natural spiritual condition elsewhere in Scripture. The helplessness of sailors in a hurricane is also an apt picture of our natural spiritual condition. It is very likely that these pictures are intended to direct our attention not only to physical dangers but also to our spiritual needs. In the same way, the “city where they could settle” (verse 36) directs our attention beyond Jerusalem and other cities on earth to the city above, which is the home of us all.

Brug, J. F. ©1989. Psalms 73–150 (2nd ed., p. 152). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.

Our title as “the Redeemed of the Lord” is coined by the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 62:12

And they shall be called The Holy People, The Redeemed of the Lord; and you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.

I love all of these titles for us – Holy People, Redeemed of the Lord, Sought Out, Not Forsaken. Each of these monikers bring our position before the Lord God in sharp focus. We are what He says we are because He has made us so through the blood of Jesus. And this rejoinder in Psalm 107 to declare our position before God is a good one that bears meditation and obedience. I am personally convicted to up my game when it comes to saying aloud how much the Lord has done for me. I am reminded that it is my joy and my responsibility share aloud that God has saved me and made me His own. I am no longer subject to the struggles of this life. They may come but they will also go and in the end, I belong to the Living God. I am redeemed and it is my joy to say so!