For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 107:1-9

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    his love endures for ever.

2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story –
    those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
    from east and west, from north and south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
    finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
    and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
    to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

A. Find Out:

1. Who does the psalmist encourage to do what? v.1,2
2. Where have they come from? v.3
3. Who were the first group mentioned? v.4,5
4. What did they do with what result? v.6,7
5. What should they do and why? v.8,9

B. Think:

1. What is the purpose of this psalm according to v.1-3?
2. What was the plight of the first group of people?
3. What did the Lord do for them?

C. Comment:

  The psalm is a psalm of praise (v.2) to be sung by those whom God has redeemed (v.2) out of the world (v.3). Historically this would suggest they are people returning from the Exile, but it may have a more general meaning, and there may be clear spiritual applications as well.

  The first group of the redeemed are those who wandered in desert places (v.4a) who had no home to settle in (v.4b) and who were hungry and thirsty (v.5), who came to a point of desperation where they cried out to the Lord who delivered them (v.6).

  The means of their deliverance is quite specific: the Lord took them by a straight path, the most direct and shortest, to a city where they could settle (v.7) and where, obviously, their hunger and thirst could be satisfied. The natural response should be thanks (v.8) for He is a God who satisfies those who are hungry and thirsty (v.9).

  That God did this with wandering Jews at various times is no doubt true, but the bigger sense is of spiritual truths encompassed by this psalm. The world without God, life without knowledge of Him, is pictured as a barren desert that is devoid of all spiritual life. People strive for meaning in all sorts of ways, but nothing satisfies the longing they have for spiritual life; they hunger and thirst for it. They cry to God and He saves them. He brings them speedily into a place of security, the city of God, a place of fellowship and wonderful provision.

D. Application:

1. We lived in a wilderness and God delivered us.
2. We were hungry and thirsty, and He satisfied us.

Passage: Psalm 107:10-22

10 Some sat in darkness, in utter darkness,
    prisoners suffering in iron chains,
11 because they rebelled against God’s commands
    and despised the plans of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labour;
    they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness, the utter darkness,
    and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
    and cuts through bars of iron.

17 Some became fools through their rebellious ways
    and suffered affliction because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food
    and drew near the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them;
    he rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank-offerings
    and tell of his works with songs of joy.

A. Find Out:  

1. Where were the next group of people? v.10
2. Why were they there? v.11,12
3. What did they then do and what did the Lord do? v.13,14
4. What did others do? v.17,18
5. What did they then do and what did God do? v.19,20
6. What were they both exhorted to do? v.15,21,22

B. Think:

1. Why were the two groups here in affliction?
2. What was the key to change?

C. Comment:

  This, remember, is a psalm exhorting the redeemed people of God to remember where they have come from and to give thanks to the Lord for His deliverance. Here are two further groups of people.

  The first group are prisoners (v.10) who appear to be in cells and in chains. This surely is the strongest picture possible of people who are utterly helpless. The reason for their predicament is clearly stated: they rebelled against what God said (v.11), and so He allowed them to be subjected to ‘hard labour’ (v.12).

  The second group are now people for whom food has become an object of loathing (?anorexia) and who are on the edge of death (v.18) and again the cause of this is because they have rebelled against God (v.17).

  In both cases when the people come to their senses they cry to the Lord and He did what was humanly impossible – He set them free (v.13,19). The first group He simply set free and brought them out of darkness (v.14), – seen as breaking down gates of bronze and cutting through bars of iron (both signifying the immense strength that held them – v.16), and the second group He healed (v.20). Both groups are exhorted to thank God for their miraculous deliverance (v.15,21,22)

  The order is quite clear: sin, bondage, repentance and then deliverance.

D. Application:

1. Only God can deliver man from the mess he gets into.
2. The Lord is simply waiting to hear the words of repentance.

Passage: Psalm 107:23-38

23 Some went out on the sea in ships;
    they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,
    his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke and stirred up a tempest
    that lifted high the waves.
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
    in their peril their courage melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards;
    they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper;
    the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
    and he guided them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
    and his wonderful deeds for mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
    and praise him in the council of the elders.

33 He turned rivers into a desert,
    flowing springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into a salt waste,
    because of the wickedness of those who lived there.
35 He turned the desert into pools of water
    and the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,
    and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
    that yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,
    and he did not let their herds diminish.

A. Find Out:

1. Who next are mentioned? v.23
2. What happened to them? v.24-29
3. So what are they exhorted to do? v.30-32
4. What had the Lord done, and why? v.33,34
5. What did He then do? v.35
6. So what could happen? v.36-38

B. Think:

1. What is the point of verses 23 to 32?
2. What is the point of verses 33 to 38?
3. How do these verses differ from what has gone before?

C. Comment:

  The next group that the Lord deals with are simply merchants (v.23) who travel the globe. They tend to be prosperous men, men of self confidence, but the sea is not a place to feel self-confident, for there the Lord showed them His power (v.24). There the Lord stirred up a massive storm (v.25,26) and brought them to the place of despairing of their lives (v.27). In their distress they cried out to the Lord (v.28) and He stilled the storm (v.29). Suddenly they had a new awareness of the Lord’s goodness, a reason to thank and praise Him (v.30-32).

  Then the psalmist moves from the Lord dealing with specific groups to His general activity upon the earth. Where there are the wicked prevailing (v.34b), the Lord removes His blessing from the land and the land deteriorates (v.33,34a), but He doesn’t stop there. It is not the Lord’s intention to utterly destroy but simply to turn people to Himself. That must be inferred here even if it is not said, because next He changes that deteriorating land into a blessed land (v.35) so that He can bring people to live here and form communities (v.36). There He blesses them and their harvests are plentiful (v.38) and they multiply in numbers (v.39). Whether the psalmist had an historical period in Israel ‘s life in mind is not clear but it seems He is just reminding us of God who disciplines but God whose overall intention is to bless.

D. Application:

1. If we are foolish and wander, God disciplines to bring us back to Him.
2. God’s desire is to use the earth to bless His people.

Passage: Psalm 107:39-43

39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled
    by oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on nobles
    made them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their affliction
    and increased their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
    but all the wicked shut their mouths.

43 Let the one who is wise heed these things
    and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

A. Find Out:

1. Then what happened? v.39
2. What was the Lord doing? v.40
3. But what did He do for the needy? v.41
4. How do the different observers react? v.42
5. What concluding advice does he give? v.43

B. Think:

1. How does the Lord deal with the arrogant ‘upper class’?
2. How does He deal with the needy ‘lower class’?
3. What is the warning given?

C. Comment:

  As the psalmist comes to the end of his reflections on the ways God has dealt with various groups of mankind, he tends to summarise. Being a poet and not an historian he doesn’t give details, just broad pictures, so when he speaks of numbers decreasing (v.39a) he doesn’t explain that it would have been at times of enemy incursions, but just speaks of it being ‘oppression’ (v.39b). He sees it as God’s acts against the rich rulers of the land (v.40) who were obviously godless and unrighteous and who tend to be the first taken when an enemy comes.

  In doing this the Lord is acting to release the poor and needy from their affliction (v.41a) under repressive rulers who, once they are taken are no longer property grabbers, so that growth and prosperity follow for these people (v.41b). Those who are upright in heart (righteous) see this and will rejoice over the removal of these oppressive rulers (v.42a) while those who are wicked and side with those rulers just grimly keep their mouths shut (v.42b) for they know the truth of what has happened.

  Because it does become obvious what has happened, the psalmist makes this general concluding call for wise people to heed these things (v.43) and realise that it is the Lord acting on behalf of the needy that He loves. All that we have been considering is the Lord who acts into the midst of humanity to bring goodness.

D. Application:

1. God will not tolerate ongoing wickedness and arrogance.
2. The Lord acts on behalf of the poor.