Biblion Bible Commentary
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Let the Redeemed Say So
Psalms 107:1-22
1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever. · WEB
Four kinds of people in trouble, and each group gets the same two sentences.
Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever Psalms 107:1.
The fifth and final book opens with the same line the fourth book opened its last psalm with, and it answers the plea that closed it: gather us from among the nations Psalms 106:47 is answered by gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south Psalms 107:3.
Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so Psalms 107:2.
The instruction that gives the psalm its shape. What follows is four case studies, each with the same structure: a trouble, a cry, a rescue, and a call to praise. Two refrains recur word for word in all four.
The lost. They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them Psalms 107:4–5. Then the first refrain: they cried to Yahweh in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses Psalms 107:6.
The rescue is a road: he led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city Psalms 107:7. What was needed was not supplies but direction.
The imprisoned. Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron Psalms 107:10. And here, unlike the first group, the psalm states the cause: because they rebelled against the words of God Psalms 107:11. These people are in prison deservedly.
They cry anyway, and the same refrain follows. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains Psalms 107:14. The psalm makes no distinction in the response — the guilty prisoner gets the identical sentence the lost traveler got.
The sick. Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience... Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death Psalms 107:17–18. Again a cause is named, and again it makes no difference to the answer.
He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves Psalms 107:20.
The remedy is a word, sent — the same construction the psalm has used of Moses and of Joseph, applied to a cure.
Let them praise Yahweh for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men! Psalms 107:8 Psalms 107:15 Psalms 107:21.
The second refrain, and its wording is worth noticing. Not deeds to Israel — to the children of men. Whoever these four groups are, the psalm classes them as human beings in trouble, and the only qualification any of them meets is that they cried out.
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