Holy Bible

O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy en-dureth for ever . Psalm 107:1-31 Men and mercy Homilist. I. MEN CONSCIOUSLY NEEDING THE MERCY OF HEAVEN. Morally, we are all distressed travellers, captives, invalids, mariners. The worst feature of this moral distress is that the subjects are not conscious of it. II. MEN EFFECTUALLY DELIVERED BY THE MERCY OF HEAVEN. 1. Just in time. Each had reached the extremity. The lamp of hope was all but extinct, and black despair was settling on the soul, when mercy came to the rescue. 2. After the prayer, God listens to the cries of His distressed children. III. MEN URGED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE MERCY OF HEAVEN. 1. The mercy of Heaven is generally unacknowledged. 2. The acknowledgment of this mercy is an urgent obligation.(1) Because a proper recognition of God's mercy is essential to the extinction of the evil in man.(2) Because a proper recognition of God's mercy is essential to the generating of good in man. ( Homilist. ) Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. Psalm 107:2 "Say so T. De Witt Talmage. An overture, an antiphon, a doxology is this psalm, and in my text the psalmist calls for an outspoken religion, and requests all who have been rescued and blessed no longer to hide the glorious facts, but to publish them, and, as far as possible, let all the world know about it. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." If you have in your heart the pearl of great price, why not let others see it? If you got off the wreck in the breakers, why not tell of the crew and the stout lifeboat that safely landed you? If from the fourth storey you are rescued in time of conflagration, why not tell of the fireman and the ladder down which be carried you? If you have a mansion in heaven awaiting you, why not show the deed to those who may by the same process get a home on the same boulevard? By the last two words of my text the psalmist calls upon all of us who have received any mercy at the hand of God to stop impersonating the asylums for the dumb, and, in the presence of men, women, angels, devils, and all worlds, say so. What a thrill went through the meeting in Portland, Oregon, when an ex-Attorney-General of the United States arose and said: "Last night I got up and asked the prayers of God's people. I feel now perfectly satisfied. The burden is rolled off and all gone, and I feel that I could run or fly into the arms of Jesus Christ!" What a confirmation would come if all who had answers to prayers would speak out! If all merchants in tight places because of hard times would tell how, in response to supplication, they got the money to pay the note! If all parents who prayed for a wandering son to come home would tell how, not long after, they heard the boy's hand on the latch of the front door! This psalm from which I take my text mentions several classes of persons who ought to be outspoken; among them all those who go on a journey. What an opportunity you have, you who spend so much of your time on rail-trains or on shipboard, whether on lake or river or seal Spread the story of God's goodness and your own redemption wherever you go. ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) The duty of confessing indebtedness M. D. Hoge, D.D. A heart without gratitude is like a grate filled with fuel unlighted, and the room all the colder because of the unfulfilled promise of glow and warmth. A grateful heart is one in which the fire of holy love is kindled. Let those who have received favours and feel their obligation either to God or man, give some expression of it. The world is filled with illustrations of the propriety of such acknowledgments. You must have observed how in great campaigns it is customary for commanders to make honourable mention of those who have distinguished themselves by successful valour — not for the purpose of ministering to the soldier's pride or flattering his vanity, but for awarding him a tribute founded in justice and truth. It is right that the soldier who has stood upon the bloody front of battle and vindicated his valour and patriotism should receive the grateful acknowledgment of the country he has served. The leader of brave men is not content with thinking well of the prowess of those who have done nobly; he proclaims it as something due to those who have struggled and triumphed. In kind words from such a source there is both inspiration and reward. There was something pathetic in the appeal which a little boy made to his father, when he cried, "I often do wrong, I know, and then you scold me and I deserve it; but, father, sometimes I do my best to do right! Won't you let me know when I do please you?" Let the discriminating parent, pleased with the child's progress in any right direction — "say so." So, too, there are parents who have to wait long for the recognition of their devotion to their children — a devotion which gathers into itself the prayers, the anguish, the sacrifices of body, soul, and spirit. An old Virginia minister said lately, "Men of my profession see much of the tragic side of life. I have seen men die in battle, have seen children die, but no death ever seemed so pathetic to me as the death of an aged mother in my church. The children gathered around her bedside. The oldest son took her in his arms. He said, 'You have been a good mother to us.' That was not much to say, was it? It was much to her, who had never heard anything like it. A flush came ever her pallid face, and with husky voice she whispered, 'My son, you never said so before!'" The text directs our thought and affection to what we owe to the very Father of mercies. "His mercy endureth for ever." How illimitably broad is the field which is thus opened before us — the field of the Divine mercy! It is like the field of creation. In that field the telescope cannot pierce to depths of space where shining worlds do not declare the glory of God — nor can the microscope search out a point which is not still bright with evidences of His handiwork. The eye of sense looks out and everywhere goodness and mercy rise before it, until the horizon shuts down and bounds the vision. And then the eye of faith opens, and new fields, measureless and glorious, meet its gaze, until, in its turn, its powers fail. Yes, its powers fail, but the field has not failed; onward it stretches, illimitably, and over it the redeemed shall range with every new delight to all eternity. God's mercy is from everlasting, and so the treasures of memory will ever be increasing; it is to everlasting, and so the anticipations of hope can never be diminished. ( M. D. Hoge, D.D. ) Acknowledge the goodness of God We need appreciation and the expression of it in our religious life. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!" Redemption and all implied in it is surely a gift that demands acknowledgment! If you were struggling in the grip of some mysterious or deadly disease, and after many disappointments at last you found a doctor who understood your case, conquered the disease, and set you in perfect health again, what would you do? You would blazon that doctor's name abroad, you would tell everybody of his skill, you would speak of yourself as a living illustration of his healing power. Redemption acknowledged H. O. Mackey. At the Isthmian Games, A.D. 197 , Flaminius caused a trumpet to command silence and a crier to proclaim that the Roman Senate restored to the Grecians their lands, laws, and liberties. So astonished were the people that they asked the crier to repeat it. Then a shout arose that was heard from Corinth to the sea. ( H. O. Mackey. ) They wandered in the wilderness. Psalm 107:4 The sinner homeless H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M.A. The old legend of the Wandering Jew tells us how he who had struck and insulted Jesus as He left the Judgment Hall was condemned to wander homeless through many lands, a stranger, unwelcomed and uncared for, who found no city to dwell in. The legend is not without its teaching. Those who wilfully sin against Jesus and the Truth wander through the wilderness of the world out of the right way. They are in a barren and dry land where no water is — no water of life, no water of grace, no water of penitent tears. They are homeless, they find no city to dwell in. Like the Prodigal, they have left their Father's House, their true home; they have wandered from the true Food, and they are hungry; they have deserted the true Fountain, and they are athirst — "Hungry and, thirsty, their soul fainted in them." They have shut themselves out of God's House, and it is no longer home to them. ( H. J. Wilmot Buxton, M.A. ) And He delivered them out of their distresses . Psalm 107:6 The way out F. Wiseman. This psalm is an Old Testament lovefeast. In the first three verses the redeemed are exhorted to speak out their experience of the goodness of God. In response, four representative testimonies are given. Travellers who had lost their way tell how they were found and led to a city of habitation. Captives who had been brought out of dungeons repeat the story of their deliverance. Sick ones who had been restored from the gates of death speak to the praise of their Healer; and others who had been in peril on the sea declare the wonders of the Lord upon the great deep. Each recital is followed with an exhortation to praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men. There are many ways into trouble. All the people in this psalm came to distress by various ways, and the different ways led to different sorts of trouble. The travellers got lost. They strayed in the wilderness, not wilfully, but from lack of knowledge. They could find no place of habitation. Their food and water were exhausted, and they sank, in faintness and despair, a helpless prey to all the perils of the desert. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He came to their help. He led them by a straight way, that they might go to a city of habitation. They ought not to have started without a guide, but inexperience is often self-confident and apt to despise the counsels of the wise. The second class came into trouble through disobedience. They rebelled against the word of God. They held God in contempt, despised His authority, and ignored His law. It is in man's power to defy God. He rules in each life by each man's consent, and when men say they will not have Him to rule over them, He leaves them free to follow their own course. No man can break the least of His commandments without penalty and loss. To throw off the yoke of righteousness is the surest way to bondage. The third class is spoken of as fools. In the Scriptures this term is used not of mental deficiency so much as of moral perversity. According to the Old Testament method, sickness is attributed to moral delinquency; a doctrine that is considerably modified in the New. There is a close connection between iniquity and affliction. A life of sin is ruinous to health. If we would be sound in body we must be pure in heart. They that sow to the flesh, of the flesh reap corruption. The fourth class come into trouble in the course of duty. "For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind." Most of our trouble is of our own making. It is often due to our ignorance and vanity, sometimes to our downright badness, and not infrequently to our folly. But trouble comes to the best as well as the worst. It meets us not only in the ways of sin, but in the path of duty. There are forces in life over which we have no control, and for which we have neither wisdom nor strength. Winds and storms, hurricanes, and disaster make no moral distinctions, and adversity and tribulation come to the upright as well as to the disobedient. Inexperience leads to wandering and hunger. Rebellion is the way to the dungeon, with its darkness and chains. Wrong-heartedness brings the soul to the gates of death. Even duty leads us into conditions which soon find the end of our wits. How helpless we are in trouble! Lost! Captive! Sick! Storm-tossed! What can we do? We must cry to another for deliverance. There are many ways into trouble, but. there is only one way out. The lost could not find themselves, the bound had no way of escape, the dying had no healing power, and men at their wits' end could never save the ship. In their extremity they all cried unto the Lord. If they had consulted Him sooner most of them would never have needed to cry. It is good to cry when lost, but it is better to be sure of the way before the start is made. Herein is the mercy of God made manifest, that He bids us call on Him in the day of trouble. He makes no exceptions, and imposes no conditions. Need, not merit, is our passport to God. He does not stop to inquire how we got into trouble, nor ask for a certificate of character before He helps us out. Peril is a great, leveller. Distinctions of rank and worth disappear in the presence of danger. He makes haste to help. If you are in trouble, cry! No matter how you got in, cry! It is your only chance, cry aloud! If you are lost, cry! He seeks the lost. If you are in bondage, cry! He came to open the prison doors to them that are bound. If you are sick unto death, cry! In Him is the life of men. If you are in peril, cry! Even the winds and the waves obey Him. It shall come to pass that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The Lord our Deliverer. When there is none to help, the Lord is our Helper. In Him is deliverance for all. ( F. Wiseman. ) He led them forth by the right way. Psalm 107:7 The way and guide to heaven R. Davies, M.A. I. THE END for which the people of God were led forth from Egypt was that "they might come to a city of habitation"; in other words, "to a city, or cities, which they might inhabit." Are you by faith in Christ Jesus the sons of God? He, who has given you the adoption of sons here, will not withhold the inherit. ante of sons hereafter. II. THE WAY by which the believer is led to that city of habitation. 1. It is not the nearest. His heavenly Father knows t.hat it is expedient for him, as for Israel, to be led about and instructed. 2. It is not the pleasantest. Like a wilderness, it is a dry and thirsty land. The soil is barren — its waters are bitter and often fail. The road is "the narrow way," intricate to discover, difficult, to pursue, and having "but few that find it." 3. To all appearance, it is not the safest. An enemy's country. A snare at every step. 4. Yet it is the only sure road to those pleasures which are for evermore. III. THE GUIDE. 1. He is experienced. 2. He is fitted to sympathize with those who are toiling along the difficult road, in that He Himself hath suffered, being tempted. 3. He is a watchful, careful Guide. 4. He is also a supporting and upholding Guide; not. merely leading His people through every difficulty, but either removing every impediment, or enabling the pilgrim to overcome it.Conclusion: 1. See the necessity of a guide in the journey of life. 2. Is the wilderness the right way to the city of habitation? Then how easy should it make us under all the discouragements, weariness, temptations, dangers of the journey! 3. Remember that none reach that city but "the redeemed of the Lord." Is this your character? ( R. Davies, M.A. ) The way of the redeemed Preacher's Analyst. I. THE WAY OF THE REDEEMED. 1. Long. 2. Difficult. 3. Lonely. 4. A desert way. II. THE RECTITUDE OF THE WAY. It is "the right way." 1. It is the Divine way. 2. To what it leads: "the city of habitation."Two lessons. 1. Take an enlarged view of the Divine conduct. Remember the end of it. all. 2. Ever seek the Divine guidance. God goes before; follow, trust Him. ( Preacher's Analyst. ) The right way A. Raleigh, D.D. The psalm is a series of pictures; and they are not. pictures of light and joy. They are scenes of distress and uttermost extremity. The lost traveller, ready to die in the silence of the wilderness! the reeling sailor, dashed with spray, and watching every coming billow in the fear that it may be his grave! the fettered prisoner, weeping his life away in the darkness of the dungeon! the sick and dying man, clinging still to this life, but looking fearfully or. to another! — such scenes of extremity the psalmist paints; and while we are thinking that no deliverance is possible, lo! the deliverance is wrought; — the traveller is on his way; the sailor is in his haven; the prisoner is looking down to the dungeon where he lay; the sick and dying soul is filled again with life! Such are the wonders wrought by Divine goodness! I. THE COMPANY. Any considerable company of men is imposing. Nothing more quickly raises our interest than a large assemblage of human beings. The march of an army, the movement of a procession, the gathering of some great multitude for deliberation or for worship, even the rush of a common city crowd, will make the heart throb with unusual emotion. But here is a company more illustrious than any other upon earth, a company overwhelming in its vastness, and yet ever growing in numbers — calm in aspect, and yet irresistible in power — aiming at the noblest objects, manifesting the purest character, adorned with supernatural symbols of distinction, and pursuing her sublime and silent march from time into eternity under the direction of a guide invisible to all but her! II. THE LEADER. The leader of this ransomed company is the Lord himself. The Bible abounds with intimations of the nearness of God, and particularly with assurances of His actual and perpetual presence with His people as their guide, and guard, and everlasting friend ( Isaiah 48:17 ; Isaiah 41:10 ; Matthew 28:20 .) III. THE WAY. Happily to some it is covered with the clouds of disappointment; to others it is bleak and cold with the gales of adversity; to others it is drenched with the rains of sorrow. It has places of heart-wringing separation from fellow-pilgrims, and even deep, dark gulfs of sin; but netwithstanding all its mystery, and all the wrongness put into it by ourselves and others, as God's way, it is always right — right in shade as well as in sunshine, — right in winter as well as in summer, — right to all alike who are in the way, — and right on to the end. IV. THE END. The idea chiefly brought before us is that of heaven as a fixed and settled home, "a peaceable habitation," "a sure dwelling," "a quiet resting-place " for ever. The way is narrow, but it leads on to the "large and wealthy place." It is rugged; but it opens at last into "green pastures," and winds beside "still waters," over which no blight or blast can come. It is a way of ceaseless toil and watchfulness; but they will be repaid by the rest that cannot be broken, by the joy that cannot end. It is long — at least in our days of suffering and dreariness we think so; but seen in retrospect, and when it has been all trodden, it will look but like the journey of a day. ( A. Raleigh, D.D. ) The right way W. M. Statham. This old Hebrew history is turned into a parable of our Christian life. There is a prophecy at the heart of it, and this prophecy says, "Judge not by the feeble glimmering light of human judgment. God's ways are higher than your ways; they take in higher issues, and immortal results. The Father will lead you by the right way. Press forward, for, as Quarles says, 'he goeth back that continueth not.'" I. THE MORAL SIDE OF LIFE IS HIGHER THAN THE MATERIAL. To please self is the aim of most men, yet most patent is the fact, that to deny self-indulgence to ourselves is beneficial. The very physical frame, its laws of health and vigour, declare that! It requires, however, little self-denial to give up what is simply pleasant to the taste or to the eye. These are mere outward things. The more thoughtful student of life will see that God places human life under a higher and more searching discipline. A man is placed where his pride must be denied, his mental prepossessions laid aside, his will subordinated, his inmost purpose chastened. II. THE PILGRIM SIDE OF LIFE IS ALWAYS PROSPECTIVE. It is no mere maze. We never return. Ours may be a long way, a winding way, but it is forward. A Christian man will feel with modesty, and yet with certainty, that his path is progress, that he does know more of the love of Christ, that his affections are more set on heaven, that salvation is nearer than when he believed, that the pilgrimage is one of temptation conquered, grace bestowed, and glory nearer to the soul. Spiritual pilgrimage is not a deceit in the moral sense. God is not allowing us to experience all these emotions merely that the circle of our little life may complete itself in the grave. We are nearing home, we shall soon be with Christ, which is far better. III. THE LEADERSHIP OF LIFE IS IN THE HANDS OF CHRIST. Tell me who is leader, and I can also tell you much. Men admire sacrifice of ease and wealth, absence of bribe and advantage; and in Greece they glorified Socrates and Aristides, and in Rome, Quintus Curtius and Regulus. Men crave leaders, and can appreciate courage and self-control; only too often, alas, men do not ponder on the sacredness of the cause, the end of the ambition, the spirit of the campaign or pilgrimage. What we have to teach and to live in this age is that the Christ-led way is the right way. IV. THE PILGRIMAGE ENDS IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF HOME. The discontinuance of things here below is the saddest of all experiences. Vessels keep coming and going out of this little bay of life. Along the roads new pilgrims appear where others rested; they loose their sandals, refresh themselves at the wells, and rise betimes for their onward way. We are quiet spectators of such pictures, and note the effects of change and time on others. For us, too, there is change and discontinuance. What we want is permanence! It is the beauty of the Christian Revelation that it uses all the symbols of a home to give our hearts rest in the thought of departure; that is what we want, that has been dearest after all to judge and soldier, merchant and statesman, monarch and peasant — the home! Yes, no image of court or temple is so inspiring as this — my Father's house. ( W. M. Statham. ) The right road T. L. Cuyler, D.D. I. THE RIGHT ROAD. Christianity is much more than sentiment; it is right living. The road that leads to the Cross of Christ. II. THE LEADER. We need these elements in a leader: 1. Strength. "Who is stronger than this mighty King of kings?" etc. 2. Wisdom. "He knoweth all things," etc. 3. Tenderness. Christ taketh in His arms the little helpless child. III. THE END OF THIS ROAD. 1. There is no entrance to the Eternal City except by this right way. 2. The Bible is the only guide-book for the pilgrim in this way. 3. The Christian who is helped by his Leader should also freely help all weak and overloaded brethren in this way. 4. Always bear in mind the end of your journey — heaven. ( T. L. Cuyler, D.D. ) The right in life Homilist. God is the leader of humanity. The way He leads is always the right way. There are many wrong ways; there is only one right. I. "The right way " IS ALWAYS GOD'S WAY. 1. His existence is the foundation of right. 2. His will is the law of right. 3. His Son is the revelation of His will to fallen man. II. "The right way" IS ALWAYS A TRYING WAY. That is, always trying to fallen man. It involves great struggles, and often much anguish. It involves the abandonment of the old and the adoption of the new. III. "The right way" IS EVER THE PROSPEROUS WAY. Right is always expedient. The path of duty is at once the path of safety and success. IV. "The right way" IS ALWAYS SUPERNATURAL. ( Homilist. ) Present dispensations the right way to glory John Hill. I. THE HAPPY PLACE TO WHICH EVERY TRUE BELIEVER IS TAKING HIS JOURNEY. How great a satisfaction does it afford, to the weary pilgrim that has borne the burden in the heat of the day, to hear of a rest to which he shall soon arrive? a city of habitation, where he shall for ever dwell? a crown of glory which he shall ever wear? And this is the lot not only of some, but of all God's children; they shall not always be tossed with tempests. II. THE INTERMEDIATE SPACE THROUGH WHICH THE BELIEVER IS TO PASS, IN HIS WAY TO THIS CITY OF HABITATION. 1. This present world is a state of distance, and in this respect it may be fitly compared to a wilderness. 2. This present world through which we were passing may be justly styled a wilderness, as it is a solitary and barren way. 3. This present world through which we are passing is also properly compared to a wilderness, as it is likewise a dangerous way. III. GOD LEADS HIS PEOPLE BY THE RIGHT WAY TO THE CITY OF HABITATION. Let us only take a view of three particular seasons, wherein we are most apt to question the lovingkindness of our God, and we may by them determine the happy issue of all the rest. 1. Let us begin with the melancholy state and condition of those from whom God hides the light of His countenance. Were He never to hide His face, we should live upon the streams rather than the fountain; we should be too ready to say with the three disciples, "Lord, it is good for us to be here"; without pressing after any further manifestations in a better world. 2. Concerning the various outward afflictions with which the believer is exercised. They are all of them, let them arise from what quarter soever, useful to us, and necessary for us. 3. The temptations of Satan every one of them answer the same general end. The powers of darkness are suffered to dwell amongst us, for the same reason that some of the Canaanites were left among the people of Israel; that is, to try us, and show us how weak we are without Christ; and how strong we are when we depend upon that grace which is treasured up in Him. IV. PRACTICAL REMARKS. 1. Has God prepared for His people a city of habitation? how great then is that grace, how free and sovereign is that love, to which this was originally owing. 2. Are we to pass through the wilderness to this city of habitation? How much need have we of a guide to show us the way, and how thankful should we be to Him who has undertaken to perform this kind office for us. 3. Is the way of the wilderness the right way to a city of habitation? How easy should this make us under all the temptations, trials, and afflictions with which we are now exercised. 4. Can none get admission into this city of habitation but the redeemed of the Lord? (ver. 2). Let this lead us to Christ Jesus, the only person who is of God made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ). ( John Hill. ) The Leader and the way to heaven Anon. I. THE LEADER. Every true man is proud of his leader. If we had asked those brave men who lately sailed to the far north whom they followed, they would have uttered, with flashing eye, the name of their captain; if we could have asked those who fought at Waterloo who was their general, they would have answered, with eager pride, "Wellington!" So we, if the world asks us of our leader, can answer Jesus, Name which is above every Name, Name of victory, Name of power, Name of love, Name of sweetness. II. THE RIGHT WAY. There is but one way to heaven, that which God chooses for us, and where Jesus leads. That way may take us through various scenes and circumstances. Some amongst us are destined to be rich, others poor; for some the way of life lies in active scenes, for others in quiet retirement; some are frequently exposed to the fierce sun of trouble, others are more sheltered from the storms of life. Still, through whatever scenes our way of life may tend, we must strive to make it the right way. What, then, is this right way? It is the King's highway, the way of holiness. ( Anon. ) The Leader and the way in providence C. G. Scott. The way by which God led them was — I. A LONG WAY. For example, the answer to prayer is sometimes long delayed; but if the blessing tarry, wait for it, — it is worth waiting for, and will come at last. II. A DESOLATE WAY. Your way to heaven lies through the wilderness — the wilderness of His world. There is no other way, and there could be no better way. There might be a smoother, easier, more flowery, less thorny path; but such a path might lead you to lose sight of your journey's end, and of your own character as pilgrims. III. A DIFFICULT WAY. All our powers are improved by exercise; the very muscles of our bodies require labour to form and bring them to their full strength. So it is with our powers of mind; their education consists in meeting and overcoming difficulties. So it is in regard to the higher powers of the soul; they are matured and perfected by the labours and difficulties that meet us in the way to heaven In all our labours we have a direct object in view, which may often seem very ignoble and temporary. Much of our time and effort are engaged in securing the bread that perisheth, gold that perisheth, and other things that perish in the using. But in this very labour, God has another object in view — our preparation for the active duties of heaven, and the forming in us of qualities that may fit us to act our part there. IV. A DANGEROUS WAY. Our pilgrimage, like theirs, is a warfare. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of darkness. Therefore we must not only be strong in the Lord, but take to ourselves the whole armour of God. V. AN UNKNOWN WAY. ( C. G. Scott. ) A trustworthy guide H. O. Mackey. A famous Swiss guide recently interviewed by a magazine writer is reported as saying: "There are guides and guides. One takes you up and trusts to luck. He is ready for anything, but does not know what is coming, he guesses where he is, when you ask: 'How far off is the peak?' I never do that. Before I start on a new track, or one I have not made before, I study it fully. I make a map of it. I watch it through the glass until I know it. When I say 'Go,' then I can see what is before me. On the mountain I must always know where I am. I'm not scientific, but I must carry my map with me and point: 'We are here.' I never start without my compass, thermometer, and aneroid, so that when you come to me at any moment and ask: 'Where are we?' I can say: 'Here, and it is so many feet from the top.' "So is it with the soul's great Guide. Jesus knows every inch of the way, has never failed a single traveller, and can say: "None lost, or ever shall be." ( H. O. Mackey. ) Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness. Psalm 107:8, 9 Thanksgiving for a good harvest A. Donnan. The importance of the harvest season is universally known. The labour and produce of the whole year depend finally on it. A good harvest is not a particular, but a general benefit. Bread is the staff of life; and as all mankind are maintained by the fruits of the ground, so they are all interested, either directly or indirectly, in the season of harvest. Now, the benefits we enjoy in common with our fellow-creatures are the most proper grounds of gratitude and praise to the universal Benefactor; and it is incumbent on us all on this occasion to unite in thanksgiving to Him who gives us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with joy and gladness. To awaken a still more lively sense of our obligation to God, let us consider the time at which it was bestowed. If we turn our attention from God to ourselves, from the Author to the object of this blessing, we shall see still fresh ground for religious gratitude, in estimating the kindness of a benefactor, the character of the beneficiary is a circumstance which is always to be taken into account. The unworthiness of those who receive a favour, enhances the kindness of him who bestows it, and should more strongly recommend him to their affection. If this consideration recommends the goodness of men, how much more does it enhance the Divine beneficence! Let our souls rise, then, in gratitude to that gracious Being, who is ever mindful of us, though we be forgetful of Him; who daily loads us with His benefits, though we perversely abuse them. To complete a sense of our obligation to God, let us consider our security for the enjoyment of this blessing which providence has bestowed upon us. He has not only blessed us with plenty; he has also given us peace to enjoy it . ( A. Donnan. ) The Divine goodness illustrated G. Hall. I. SOME ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE DIVINE GOODNESS. 1. The Divine goodness is self-evident in the creation of the world. How beautiful, how glorious, are all the works of His hand! 2. The high dominion to which man was appointed by the Divine fiat further proves the goodness of his beneficent Creator. He was not to be a vassal, not to be placed on terms of equality, but was

Benson Commentary Psalm 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 107:1-3 . O give thanks, &c. — This whole verse occurs also Psalm 106:1 ; only there the address is made to the Israelites, here, it seems, to all mankind. For his mercy endureth for ever — “Eternal mercy is the theme here proposed; and they who have tasted its sweets, are invited to join in setting forth its praises.” Let the redeemed say so — All those whom God hath redeemed, as it is expressed in the next clause, or delivered from the calamities hereafter mentioned: whom he hath redeemed from the enemy — From such as had taken them captive, either in battle, or in their travels, to which they were led, either by their own inclinations or by their necessary affairs. And gathered them out of the lands, &c. — Bringing them into their own land, out of the several quarters of the world into which they had been carried. And from the south — Hebrew, from the sea; which, in Scripture, commonly denotes the west, because the great Mediterranean sea was on the west of Canaan; but here, as appears from the opposition of this to the north, it signifies the south, so called from the Red sea, which was on the south, and which is sometimes called The Sea, simply, and without addition. “The members of the Christian Church,” says Dr. Horne, “are now, in the most proper and emphatical sense of the words, the redeemed of Jehovah, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them, by the gospel, out of all lands, and from all the four quarters of the world, to form a church, and to supply the place of the apostate Jews, whose forefathers experienced, in type and shadow, the good things prepared for them and for us, in truth and substance.” Psalm 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so , whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; Psalm 107:3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. Psalm 107:4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Psalm 107:4-7 . They wandered in the wilderness — Where there was no trodden path, no company, but a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in — Or rather, no inhabited city, or town, no lodging; no conveniences, no accommodations where they might have refreshment. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted, &c. — Spent with the fatigues of their journey, and ready to drop down for want of support. This may refer, 1st, To the wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years, when God led them about, ( Deuteronomy 32:10 ,) instructed them, and kept them as the apple of his eye. It may refer, 2d, To poor travellers in general, those particularly whose way lay through the wilds of Arabia, where, we may suppose, they were often at a loss; and yet many in that distress were wonderfully relieved, so that few perished. It is applicable, 3d, To our condition in this world; we are here as in a wilderness, have here no continuing city, but dwell in tents as strangers and pilgrims; but we are under the conduct of his wise and good providence, to which if we commit ourselves, we shall be led, in the right way, to the city that hath foundations. They cried unto the Lord in their trouble — Earnestly implored his help in their distress and misery; and he delivered them — In answer to their prayers, he mercifully extricated them out of their difficulties, and freed them from all their anxieties. And he led them forth — Out of the wilderness, where they had lost their way; that they might go to a city of habitation — To a place inhabited, where they might find relief for their necessities. “Fervent and importunate prayer to the God of our salvation will procure, from above, knowledge to dispel our ignorance, and grace to help our infirmities; the former will discover to us our road, the latter will enable us to walk in it, and both together will carry us, in due time, to the city of our eternal habitation.” — Horne. Psalm 107:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Psalm 107:6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Psalm 107:8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:8-9 . O that men would praise — Hebrew, let them praise, or, they shall praise, that is, they are highly obliged to praise. It is meant chiefly of those whom God has graciously relieved. The Lord for his goodness — To them in particular; and for his wonderful works to the children of men — To others, as well as to themselves; and to the children of men, as well as to the children of God. For he satisfieth the longing soul — The needy, who, being sensible of their wants, temporal or spiritual, earnestly desire to have them supplied; and filleth the hungry with goodness — With the fruits of his goodness, with good things, Psalm 103:5 ; with that good which they wanted and desired. Observe, reader, God’s works of mercy are wonderful works, works of wonderful power, considering the weakness, and of wonderful grace, considering the unworthiness of those to whom he shows mercy: and those who share in his works of mercy are in duty bound to return him praise for them. Dr. Hammond remarks very properly, that “this is a Psalm of answering, or of parts, to be sung alternately; having a double burden, or intercalary verse, oft recurring:” see Psalm 107:6 ; Psalm 107:13 , &c. This, indeed, is apparent upon the most transient view of it. We may suppose one side of the choir to have begun with the first of the parts, and then the other side to have taken the second, and so on. The 9th verse evidently belongs to the first part, for the 10th begins quite another subject. Psalm 107:9 For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Psalm 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Psalm 107:10-12 . Such as sit in darkness, &c. — In a disconsolate and forlorn condition, in dark prisons or dungeons; bound in affliction and iron — In afflicting or grievous irons: or, in the cords of affliction, as the expression is Job 36:8 , and particularly in iron fetters. Because they rebelled, &c. — As a just punishment for the crimes they had rebelliously committed against the express commands of God, or the plain dictates and frequent checks of their own consciences; which were the voice of the Most High, giving them wholesome counsel, though they contemned and despised it: therefore he brought down their heart — The pride, and rebellion, and obstinacy of their hearts; with labour — Hebrew, ???? , begnamal, with pain, or trouble. They fell down and there was none to help — They fell into their enemies’ hands, and into hopeless and remediless miseries. Then they cried unto the Lord, &c. — Yet, upon making their requests to the Lord, and earnestly beseeching him to take pity on their wretched condition, he was pleased mercifully to hear their prayers, and save them out of their distresses. “In this second piece of divine scenery, we behold a people groaning under all the miseries of captivity, deprived of light and liberty, chained down in horrid dungeons, and there expecting the day of execution. These calamities they are represented as having brought upon themselves, by their rebellion against God, who takes this method of humbling them. It succeeds, and brings them upon their knees to Him who alone is able to deliver them. Moved by their cries, he exerts his power on their behalf, and frees them from the house of bondage. To a state of corporal servitude, the Israelites, for their transgressions, were frequently reduced, and many times experienced, upon their repentance, the goodness of Jehovah in rescuing them from it. But the grand and universal captivity is that of sin and death; the grand and universal deliverance, for which all the redeemed of the Lord ought to praise his mercy, is that by Jesus Christ.” When this deliverance is experienced, although but in part; when the sinner, who has cried earnestly to the Lord in his trouble on account of sin, is brought out of the prison of guilt, condemnation, and wrath, and has received the Spirit of life from Christ Jesus, making him free from the law, or commanding, constraining power, of sin and death; “his chains, like those of St. Peter, fall off at the word of his deliverer; he is saved out of his distress; he is brought out of darkness and the shadow of death, into the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God. The joy consequent upon such a deliverance will be exceeded only by that which shall take place in the hearts, and be expressed by the voices of the redeemed, on the day when Christ shall accomplish the redemption of their bodies also, as he hath already effected that of his own, from the power of the grave; when he shall dash in pieces the brazen gates and adamantine bars of that prison- house; put an end for ever to the bondage of corruption, and lead captivity captive into the highest heavens.” — Horne. Psalm 107:11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Psalm 107:12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Psalm 107:13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Psalm 107:15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Psalm 107:17 Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Psalm 107:17-22 . Fools — That is, wicked men whom he calls fools, because through their own sin and folly they wrong themselves, and act against their own interest; not only their spiritual, but their secular interest; they often even prejudice their bodily health by their intemperance, and endanger their lives by indulging their appetites and fleshly lusts, as well as bring upon themselves many other evils and miseries: because of their transgressions — Hebrew, ????? ????? , because of the way of their transgressions, that is, their custom and course of sinning, as the word way is often used; are afflicted — With wasting sickness, as appears from Psalm 107:18 ; Psalm 107:20 . Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat — They not only have no desire for it, nor power to digest it, but they nauseate it; nay, they loathe and detest the very sight and smell of that which should nourish and support them; in which case, if not relieved, they must waste away, and soon draw near to the gates of death. But from those dreadful gates the power of God can snatch them, when they are just about to enter them. “To an infirm and emaciated body he can restore health; strength, and beauty; for diseases are his ministers and messengers; they visit us at his command, and at his command they retire, and we recover again. Now here, namely, in the recovery of men from sickness, we have a third image of the benefits conferred on our nature by the Redeemer. “The mind of man,” we must remember, “by reason of sin, is not less subject to infirmities than his body; these infirmities reduce him to a state of languor and listlessness; he finds himself incapable of action, indisposed for the reception of divine truths, without taste for knowledge, or inclination for virtue; he even nauseates the book of God, and the bread of heaven; and the life of faith is in great danger. But the case is not desperate, while there is breath enough left to call in, by prayer, the Physician of spirits. The most inveterate malady gives place to his efficacious medicines; appetite revives, health returns, and the believer is reinstated in the vigour and beauty of holiness. Let all, who have been thus healed and saved from destruction, either of body or soul, acknowledge to Jehovah his mercy, and his wonders wrought for the children of Adam; let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.” — Horne. Psalm 107:18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Psalm 107:19 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Psalm 107:21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. Psalm 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; Psalm 107:23-27 . They that go down to the sea in ships — He says go down, because the sea is lower than the earth, as appears by the rivers which run down into it; that do business in great waters — Whose occupation lies there as mariners, merchants, or fisher-men; or, who go to take ship as passengers. These see the works of the Lord — His wonderful works, either, 1st, Of creation, such as fishes of various kinds and shapes, and some of a prodigious size; which are not seen by other men. Or, 2d, His works of providence in bringing them into extraordinary dangers through storms, and working out for them extraordinary deliverances; they witness scenes, and experience interpositions of divine providence, such as others can scarcely form a conception of. For he raiseth the stormy wind — The winds and storms, which come not by chance, but by the order of Divine Providence. They mount up to heaven, &c. — The ships are sometimes raised so high, that it appears as if they would touch the clouds; and then sink down as low as if they would be buried in the bottom of the sea, to the great astonishment and dread of the passengers, whose soul is melted because of trouble — Who are ready to die with fear and dismay. They reel to and fro, &c. — They are so tossed and whirled about, that, as they are not able to stand upon the decks, so the most skilful mariners are at their wit’s end, and do not know which way to steer, or what course to take to save themselves from perishing; all their skill fails them, as some translate the words. “There cannot,” says Dr. Dodd, “be conceived any thing more poetical or sublime than this description of a storm at sea; a subject on which the most celebrated poets have employed their pens. It would be a pleasing task, if the nature or limits of our work allowed it, to compare this description of the psalmist with those of ancient and modern writers. But we are denied this agreeable task; and shall only add, that those who will make the comparison, will find how much superior are the ideas and expressions of the sacred poet to those of uninspired writers.” But, as Dr. Horne observes, “Experience alone can illustrate its beauty, evince its truth, and point out the propriety of the circumstances which are selected to furnish us with a full and complete idea of the whole. Few of us, indeed,” adds he, “are ever likely to be in that terrible situation. But then,” (for this is a fourth similitude portraying the danger of our present state, and the goodness of God displayed in our salvation,) “we cannot help reflecting, that there is a ship in which we are all embarked; there is a troubled sea on which we all sail; there are storms by which we are all frequently overtaken; and there is a haven which we all desire to behold and to enter. For the church is a ship; the world is a sea; temptations, persecutions, and afflictions are the waves of it; the prince of the power of the air is the stormy wind which raises them; and heaven is the only port of rest and security. Often during the voyage, for our punishment or our trial, God permits us to be thus assaulted. The succession and the violence of our troubles, the elevations and depressions of our minds, the uncertainty of our counsels, and our utter inability to help ourselves, are finely represented by the multitude and impetuosity of the waves, the tossings and agitations of the vessel, the confusion, terror, and distress among the sailors. In both cases prayer is the proper effect, and the only remedy left. We should cry unto the Lord Jesus in our trouble; we should, as it were, awake him, like the disciples, with the repetitions of, Lord, save us, we perish! Then will he arise and rebuke the authors of our tribulation, saying unto them, Peace, be still, and they shall hear and obey his voice. He will make the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof shall be still; and, at length, he will bring us in peace, joy, and gladness, to our desired haven, there to exalt him in the congregation of his chosen, and praise him in the great assembly of saints and angels.” Psalm 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. Psalm 107:25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. Psalm 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. Psalm 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. Psalm 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. Psalm 107:29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Psalm 107:30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Psalm 107:31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Psalm 107:32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. Psalm 107:33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; Psalm 107:33-38 . He turneth rivers — Land watered with rivers; into a wilderness — Into dry ground, as it follows, like a parched and barren wilderness, that has not moisture enough to produce any thing valuable; a fruitful land into barrenness — Hebrew, ????? , limleechah, into saltness, which causes barrenness; for the wickedness of them that dwell therein — He doth not inflict these judgments without cause, but for the punishment of sin in some, and the prevention of it in others. “Thus the plain of Jordan, which, before the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, was well watered everywhere, like the garden of Jehovah, ( Genesis 13:10 ,) hath, since that overthrow, been a land of salt, and sulphur, and perpetual sterility. Nay, even the fruitful Palestine itself, that flowed with milk and honey, is at this day a region of utter desolation, so that the very possibility of its ever having sufficed to maintain the people who formerly possessed it is now called in question. And, indeed, while the rain of heaven shall continue to be in the hand of God, how easy is it for him, by withholding it during a few months, to blast all the most promising hopes of man; and, instead of plenty, joy, and health, to visit him with famine, pestilence, and death.” On the other hand, ( Psalm 107:35 ,) he turneth the wilderness — The barren and desolate wilderness; into a standing water — Into a well-watered and fruitful land. “When the ways of a people please God, the rain shall descend from above, the springs shall rise from beneath, the earth shall yield her increase, the cattle shall feed in large pastures, the seasons shall be kindly, the earth salutary, and the smiling face of nature shall attest the loving-kindness of the Lord. Thus, in the dispensations of grace, hath he dealt with Jews and Gentiles. The synagogue of the former, once rich in faith, watered with the benedictions of heaven, fruitful in prophets and saints, adorned with the services of religion, and the presence of Jehovah, hath been, since the murder of the Son of God, cursed with infidelity, parched like the withered tops of the mountains of Gilboah, barren and desolate as the land of their ancient residence, whose naked rocks seem to declare to all the world the hard-heartedness and unprofitableness of its old possessors. When the fruitful field thus became a forest, the wilderness, at the same time, became a fruitful field. A church was planted in the Gentile world, and the Spirit was poured out upon it from on high. In that wilderness did waters break out, and streams in that desert. There was faith sown, and holiness was the universal product. The wilderness and the solitary place was glad, and the desert rejoiced and blossomed as the rose. It blossomed abundantly, and rejoiced even with joy and singing; the glory of Lebanon was given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. The privileges and honours of the synagogue were conferred upon the church; and the nations now saw the glory of Jehovah, and the excellency of our God, Isaiah 32:15 ; Isaiah 35:1-2 .” — Horne. Psalm 107:34 A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Psalm 107:35 He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. Psalm 107:36 And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; Psalm 107:37 And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. Psalm 107:38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease. Psalm 107:39 Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. Psalm 107:39 . Again they are minished — When they prove ungrateful to him who had enriched and exalted them, and grow proud, insolent, and secure, as the manner of men is, he quite alters the course of his providence toward them. They suddenly sink, as they suddenly rose, and end their days in as mean a condition as they began them; and brought low through oppression, &c. — He lays them low by tyrannical oppressors, into whose hands he delivers them, by dearth, and other calamities, which make them pine away in grief and sorrow. Thus it often happens with families and individuals as well as with nations: descendants lose as fast as their progenitors gained, and scatter what the others had heaped together. For worldly wealth, honour, power, and glory are uncertain things, and it often happens that those who think themselves most secure in the possession of them, are, by unexpected and even extraordinary events, stripped of them all, and reduced to the lowest state of poverty and degradation. Psalm 107:40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Psalm 107:40 . He poureth contempt upon princes — Even princes and kings cannot secure to themselves and their posterity the continuance of their dignity, glory, and authority. Though they might be honourable, adored like gods by their people, and terrible to their enemies, when God frowns upon them for their transgressions, their honour and power vanish away; they become despicable in the eyes of their own subjects, and of other nations. He causeth them to wander in the wilderness, &c. — Those that exalt themselves God abases; and in order thereto infatuates; he gives them up to foolish and pernicious counsels, by which they are exposed to contempt, and brought to their wit’s end, not knowing what course to take: or, he baffles those counsels by which they thought to support their pomp and power, so that they issue in their ruin. Or, the sense is, he deprives them of their crowns and kingdoms, banishes them from their courts, and forces them to flee into desolate wildernesses for shelter and subsistence. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction — At the same time that he bringeth down great potentates, he advances those that were obscure and contemptible; and maketh him families like a flock — Which increase very much in a little time. “Let not those, then, who have received the largest share of Heaven’s favours, boast and presume. The continuance of those favours depends upon the continuance of their fidelity and obedience. Mighty empires, with their princes, have, for their wickedness, been brought low by the arm of Jehovah, and laid in the dust; while nations, poor and feeble, and never thought of, have been taken from thence, and exalted over them. What revolutions have, in like manner, happened, and probably are still to happen in the church! Jerusalem is fallen through unbelief; and the Gentile Church stands only by faith, from which if she depart, vengeance will be executed on her likewise. Yet, even in the worst of times, there is a promise that the poor in spirit, the faithful and humble disciples of the holy Jesus, shall be preserved from the evil, and set on high from affliction; yea, that they shall be multiplied like a flock, under the care of the good Shepherd, to preserve his name, and to continue a church upon earth until he shall return again.” — Horne. Psalm 107:41 Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. Psalm 107:42 The righteous shall see it , and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Psalm 107:42 . The righteous shall see it — Or rather, shall see these things, as it is expressed in the next verse. They shall diligently observe these wonderful works of God’s mercy and justice; and rejoice — In the glorification of his attributes, and the manifestation of his dominion over the children of men. They will rejoice, not only in the mercies of God vouchsafed or offered to them and other persons, in want and misery, but also in his judgments upon his implacable enemies, because by these it is evinced, beyond dispute, that there is a God that judgeth in the earth, his honour, and the honour of piety and virtue, are advanced, impious pride is brought low, and the progress of vice and misery is checked or prevented. They will rejoice especially that, according to what is set forth by the foregoing similitudes, there is no spiritual evil out of which God is not both able and willing to deliver mankind, when they call upon him. “Are we ignorant of the way to the heavenly city? He will guide and conduct us thither. Are we bound with the chains of sin and death? He will loose and deliver us. Are our minds diseased and languid? He will heal and invigorate them. Are we in danger of being overwhelmed by the troubles of the world? He will preserve us in the midst of them until he bid them cease. Of his power and inclination to do these things for our souls he hath given assurance to all men, by those pledges of his love, the benefits and blessings conferred on the bodies of his people,” above referred to, namely, “in leading them through the wilderness to Canaan; in rescuing them so often from the miseries of captivity; in healing their diseases; and in saving those of them who did business in great waters, from the perils of the sea.” Surely these and such like particular instances of the divine mercy and goodness must afford especial matter of rejoicing to good men. And iniquity shall stop her mouth — Unrighteous and ungodly men will be put to silence. They who used to speak loftily and wickedly, and to reproach God and his providence, as either inattentive or unrighteous in the government of the world, shall now be forced to acknowledge his power and justice in those judgments which he hath brought upon them. Psalm 107:43 Whoso is wise, and will observe these things , even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD. Psalm 107:43 . Whoso is wise, and will observe these things — All who are truly wise will consider all these events, and will treasure up in their hearts the contents of this most instructive and delightful Psalm. Even they — Or, and they, namely, each of them; all such wise and considerate persons, shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord — Will see and acknowledge that God is kind and good to all, and that his tender mercies are over all his works; and that he is singularly kind and gracious to all wise and godly persons. He will not only be fully assured of God’s goodness, but will become experimentally acquainted and duly affected with it. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 107:1-43 NOTWITHSTANDING the division of Books which separates Psalm evil from the two preceding, it is a pendant to these. The "gathering from among the heathen" prayed for in Psalm 106:41 has here come to pass ( Psalm 107:3 ). The thanksgiving which there is regarded as the purpose of that restoration is here rendered for it. Psalm 105:1-45 had for theme God’s mercies to the fathers. Psalm 106:1-48 confessed the hereditary faithlessness of Israel and its chastisement by calamity and exile. Psalm 107:1-43 begins with summoning Israel as "the redeemed of Jehovah," to praise Him for His enduring lovingkindness in bringing them back from bondage, and then takes a wider flight, and celebrates the loving Providence which delivers, in all varieties of peril and calamity, those who cry to God. Its vivid pictures of distress and rescue begin, indeed, with one which may fairly be supposed to have been suggested by the incidents of the return from exile; and the second of these, that of the liberated prisoners, is possibly coloured by similar reminiscences; but the great restoration is only the starting point, and the bulk of the psalm goes further afield. Its instances of Divine deliverance, though cast into narrative form, describe not specific acts, but God’s uniform way of working. Wherever there are trouble and trust, there will be triumph and praise. The psalmist is propounding a partial solution of the old problem-the existence of pain and sorrow. They come as chastisements. If terror or misery drive men to God, God answers, and deliverance is assured, from which fuller-toned praise should spring. It is by no means a complete vindication of Providence, and experience does not bear out the assumption of uniform answers to prayers for deliverance from external calamities, which was more warranted before Christ than it is now; but the essence of the psalmist’s faith is ever true-that God hears the cry of a man driven to cry by crushing burdens, and will give him strength to bear and profit by them, even if He does not take them away. The psalm passes before us a series of pictures, all alike in the disposition of their parts, and selected from the sad abundance of troubles which attack humanity. Travellers who have lost their way, captives, sick men, storm-tossed sailors, make a strangely miscellaneous company, the very unlikenesses of which suggest the width of the ocean of human misery. The artistic regularity of structure in all the four strophes relating to these cannot escape notice. But it is more than artistic. Whatever be a man’s trouble, there is but one way out of it-to cry to God. That way is never vain. Always deliverance comes, and always the obligation of praise lies on the "redeemed of Jehovah." With Psalm 107:33 the psalm changes its structure. The refrains, which came in so strikingly in the preceding strophes are dropped. The complete pictures give place to mere outline sketches. These diversities have suggested to some that Psalm 107:33-43 are an excrescence; but they have some points of connection with the preceding, such as the peculiar phrase for "inhabited city" ( Psalm 107:4 , Psalm 107:5 , Psalm 107:36 ), "hungry" ( Psalm 107:5 , Psalm 107:36 ), and the fondness for references to Isaiah and Job. In these latter verses the psalmist does not describe deliverances from peril or pain, but the sudden alternations effected by Providence on lands and men, which pass from fertility and prosperity to barrenness and trouble, and again from these to their opposites. Lovingkindness, which hears and rescues, is the theme of the first part; lovingkindness, which "changes all things and is itself unchanged," is the theme of the second. Both converge on the final thought ( Psalm 107:43 ), that the observance of God’s ways is the part of true wisdom, and will win the clear perception of the all-embracing "lovingkindness of Jehovah." New mercies give new meaning to old praises. Fresh outpourings of thankfulness willingly run in well-worn channels. The children can repeat the fathers’ doxology, and words hallowed by having borne the gratitude of many generations are the best vehicles for today’s praise. Therefore, the psalm begins with venerable words, which it bids the recipients of God’s last great mercy ring out once more. They who have yesterday been "redeemed from captivity" have proof that "His lovingkindness endures forever," since it has come down to them through centuries. The characteristic fondness for quotations, which marks the psalm, is in full force in the three introductory verses. Psalm 107:1 is, of course, quoted from several psalms. "The redeemed of Jehovah" is from Isaiah 62:12 ."gathered out of the lands" looks back to Psalm 106:47 , and to many prophetic passages. The word rendered above "distress" may mean oppressor, and is frequently rendered so here, which rendering fits better the preceding word "hand." But the recurrence of the same word in the subsequent refrains ( Psalm 107:6 , Psalm 107:13 , Psalm 107:19 , Psalm 107:28 ) makes the rendering distress preferable here. To ascribe to distress a "hand" is poetical personification, or the latter word may be taken in a somewhat wider sense as equivalent to a grasp or grip, as above. The return from Babylon is evidently in the poet’s thoughts, but he widens it out into a restoration from every quarter. His enumeration of the points from which the exiles flock is irregular, in that he says "from north and from the sea, " which always means the Mediterranean, and stands for the west. That quarter has, however, already been mentioned, and, therefore, it has been supposed that sea here means, abnormally, the Red Sea, or "the southern portion of the Mediterranean." A textual alteration has also been proposed, which, by the addition of two letters to the word for sea, gives that for south. This reading would complete the enumeration of cardinal points; but possibly the psalmist is quoting Isaiah 49:12 , where the same phrase occurs, and the north is set over against the sea -i.e., the west. The slight irregularity does not interfere with the picture of the streams of returning exiles from every quarter. The first scene, that of a caravan lost in a desert, is probably suggested by the previous reference to the return of the "redeemed of Jehovah," but is not to be taken as referring only to that. It is a perfectly general sketch of a frequent incident of travel. It is a remarkable trace of a state of society very unlike modem life, that two of the four instances of "distress" are due to the perils of journeying. By land and by sea men took their lives in their hands, when they left their homes. Two points are signalised in this description, -the first, the loss of the track; the second, the wanderers’ hunger and thirst. "A waste of a way" is of singular expression, which has suggested various unnecessary textual emendations. It is like "a wild ass of a man," { Genesis 16:12 } which several commentators quote as a parallel, and means a way which is desert. {compare Acts 8:26 } The bewildered, devious march leads nowhither. Vainly the travellers look for some elevation, "From whence the lightened spirit sees That shady city of Palm Trees." No place where men dwell appears in the wide expanse of pathless wilderness. The psalmist does not think of a particular city, but of any inhabited spot, where rest and shelter might be found. The water skins are empty; food is finished; hopelessness follows physical exhaustion, and gloom wraps their souls; for Psalm 107:5 b, literally translated, is, "Their soul covered itself" -i.e., with despondency. { Psalm 77:3 } The picture is not an allegory or a parable, but a transcript of a common fact. Still, one can scarcely help seeing in it a vivid representation of the inmost reality of a life apart from God. Such a life ever strays from the right road. "The labour of the foolish wearieth every one of them, because he knoweth not how to come to the city." The deepest needs of the soul are unsatisfied; and however outward good abounds, gnawing hunger and fierce thirst torment at times; and however mirth and success seem to smile, joys are superficial, and but mask a central sadness, as vineyards which clothe the outside of a volcano and lie above sulphurous fires. The travellers are driven to God by their "distress." Happy they who, when lost in a desert, bethink themselves of the only Guide. He does not reject the cry which is forced out by the pressure of calamity; but, as the structure of Psalm 107:6-7 , shows, His answer is simultaneous with the appeal to Him, and it is complete, as well as immediate. The track appears as suddenly as it had faded. God Himself goes at the head of the march. The path is straight as an arrow’s flight, and soon they are in the city. Psalm 107:6 is the first instance of the refrain, which, in each of the four pictures, is followed by a verse (or, in the last of the four, by two verses) descriptive of the act of deliverance, which again is followed by the second refrain, calling on those who have experienced such a mercy to thank Jehovah. This is followed in the first two groups by a verse reiterating the reason for praise-namely, the deliverance just granted; and, in the last two, by a verse expanding the summons. Various may be the forms of need. But the supply of them all is one, and the way to get it is one, and one is the experience of the suppliants, and one should be their praise. Life’s diversities have underlying them identity of soul’s wants. Waiters on God have very different outward fortunes, but the broad outlines of their inward history are identical. This is the law of His providence-they cry, He delivers. This should be the harvest from His sowing of benefits-"Let them give thanks to Jehovah." Some would translate Psalm 107:8 , "Let them thankfully confess to Jehovah His lovingkindness, and to the children of men [confess] His wonders"; but the usual rendering as above is better, as not introducing a thought which, however important, is scarcely in the psalmist’s view here, and as preserving the great thought of the psalm-namely, that of God’s providence to all mankind. The second scene, that of captives, probably retains some allusion to Babylon, though an even fainter one than in the preceding strophe. It has several quotations and references to Isaiah, especially to the latter half ( Isaiah 40:1-31 ; Isaiah 41:1-29 ; Isaiah 42:1-25 ; Isaiah 43:1-28 ; Isaiah 44:1-28 ; Isaiah 45:1-25 ; Isaiah 46:1-13 ). The deliverance is described in Psalm 107:16 in words borrowed from the prophecy as to Cyrus, the instrument of Israel’s restoration. { Isaiah 45:2 } The gloom of the prison house is described in language closely resembling Isaiah 42:7 ; Isaiah 49:9 . The combination of "darkness and the shade of deepest gloom" is found in Isaiah 9:2 . The cause of the captivity described is rebellion against God’s counsel and word. These things point to Israel’s Babylonian bondage; but the picture in the psalm draws its colour rather than its subject from that event and is quite general. The psalmist thinks that such bondage, and deliverance on repentance and prayer, are standing facts in Providence, both as regards nations and individuals. One may see, too, a certain parabolic aspect hinted at, as if the poet would have us catch a half-revealed intention to present calamity of any kind under this image of captivity. We note the slipping in of words that are not required for the picture, as when the fetters are said to be "affliction" as well as "iron." Psalm 107:12 , too, is not specially appropriate to the condition of prisoners; persons in fetters and gloom do not stumble, for they do not move. There may, therefore, be a half-glance at the parabolic aspect of captivity, such as poetic imagination, and especially Oriental poetry, loves. At most it is a delicate suggestion, shyly hiding while it shows itself, and made too much of if drawn out in prosaic exposition. We may perceive also the allegorical pertinence of this second picture, though we do not suppose that the singer intended such a use. For is not godless life ever bondage? and is not rebellion against God the sure cause of falling under a harsher dominion? and does He not listen to the cry of a soul that feels the slavery of subjection to self and sin? and is not true enlargement found in His free service? and does He not give power to break the strongest chains of habit? The synagogue at Nazareth, where the carpenter’s Son stood up to read and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. He hath sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives." warrants the symbolical use of the psalmist’s imagery, which is, as we have seen, largely influenced by the prophet whose words Jesus quoted. The first scene taught that devout hearts never lack guidance from God. The second adds to their blessings freedom, the true liberty which comes with submission and acceptance of His law. Sickness, which yields the third type of suffering, is a commoner experience than the two preceding. The picture is lightly sketched, emphasis being laid on the cause of the sickness, which is sin, in accordance with the prevailing view in the Old Testament. The psalmist introduces the persons of whom he is to speak by the strongly condemnatory term "foolish ones," which refers not to intellectual feebleness, but to moral perversity. All sin is folly. Nothing is so insane as to do wrong. An ingenious correction has been suggested and is accepted by Cheyne in the wake of Dyserinck, Graetz, and others, by which "sick men" is read for "foolish men." But it does not appear to the present writer to be so impossible as Cheyne thinks to "conceive the psalmist introducing a fresh tableau by an ethical term such as fools." The whole verse ( Psalm 107:17 ) lays more stress on the sin than on the sickness, and the initial designation of the sufferers as "fools" is quite in harmony with its tone. They are habitual evildoers, as is expressed by the weighty expression "the way (or course) of their transgression." Not by one or two breaches of moral law, but by inveterate, customary sins, men ruin their physical health. So the psalmist uses a form of the verb in Psalm 107:17 b which expresses that the sinner drags down his punishment with his own hands. That is, of course, eminently true in such gross forms of sin as sow to the flesh, and of the flesh reap corruption. But it is no less really true of all transgression, since all brings sickness to the soul. Psalm 107:18 is apparently quoted from Job 33:20-22 . It paints with impressive simplicity the failing appetite and consequent ebbing strength. The grim portals, of which Death keeps the keys, have all but received the sick men; but, before they pass into their shadow, they cry to Jehovah, and, like the other men in distress, they too are heard, feeble as their sick voice may be. The manner of their deliverance is strikingly portrayed. "He sent His word and healed them." As in Psalm 105:19 , God’s word is almost personified. It is the channel of the Divine power. God’s uttered will has power on material things. It is the same great thought as is expressed in "He spake and it was done." The psalmist did not know the Christian teaching that the personal Word of God is the agent of all the Divine energy in the realm of nature and of history, and that a far deeper sense than that which he attached to them would one day be found in his words, when the Incarnate Word was manifested, as Himself bearing and bearing away the sicknesses of humanity, and rescuing not only the dying from going down to the grave, but bringing up the dead who had long lain there. God, who is Guide and Emancipator, is also Healer and Life-giver, and He is all these in the Word, which has become flesh, and dwelt and dwells among men. Another travel scene follows. The storm at sea is painted as a landsman would do it; but a landsman who had seen, from a safe shore, what he so vividly describes. He is impressed with the strange things that the bold men who venture to sea must meet, away out there beyond the point where sea and sky touch. With sure poetic instinct, he spends no time on trivial details, but dashes on his canvas the salient features of the tempest, -the sudden springing up of the gale; the swift response of the waves rolling high, with new force in their mass and a new voice in their breaking; the pitching craft, now on the crest, now in the trough; the terror of the helpless crew; the loss of steering power; the heavy rolling of the unmanageable, clumsy ship; and the desperation of the sailors, whose wisdom or skill was "swallowed up," or came to nothing. Their cry to Jehovah was heard above the shriek of the storm, and the tempest fell as suddenly as it rose. The description of the deliverance is extended beyond the normal single verse, just as that of the peril had been prolonged. It comes like a benediction after the hurly burly of the gale. How gently the words echo the softness of the light air into which it has died down, and the music which the wavelets make as they lap against the ship’s sides! With what sympathy the poet thinks of the glad hearts on board, and of their reaching the safe harbour, for which they had longed when they thought they would never see it more! Surely it is a permissible application of these lovely words to read into them the Christian hope of preservation amid life’s tempests, - "Safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last." God the guide, the emancipator, the healer, is also the stiller of the storm, and they who cry to Him from the unquiet sea will reach the stable shore. "And so it came to pass, they all came safe to land." As already observed, the tone changes with Psalm 107:33 , from which point onwards the psalmist adduces instances of Providential working of a different kind from those in the four vivid pictures preceding, and drops the refrains. In Psalm 107:33-38 he describes a double change wrought on a land. The barrenness which blasts fertile soil is painted in language largely borrowed from Isaiah." Psalm 107:33 a recalls Isaiah 1:2 b; Psalm 107:33 b is like Isaiah 35:7 a" (Delitzsch). The opposite change of desert into fertile ground is pictured as in Isaiah 41:18 . The references in Psalm 107:36 to "the hungry" and to "an inhabited city" connect with the previous part of the psalm, and are against the supposition that the latter half is not originally part of it. The incidents described refer to no particular instance, but are as general as those of the former part. Many a land, which has been blasted by the vices of its inhabitants, has been transformed into a garden by new settlers. "Where the Turk’s horse has trod, no grass will grow." Psalm 107:39 introduces the reverse, which often befalls prosperous communities, especially in times when it is dangerous to seem rich for fear of rapacious rulers. "The pressure" referred to in Psalm 107:39 is the oppression of such. If so, Psalm 107:40 , which is quoted from Job 12:21 ; Job 12:24 , though introduced abruptly, does not disturb the sequence of thought. It grandly paints the judgment of God on such robber princes, who are hunted from their seats by popular execration, and have to hide themselves in the pathless waste, from which those who cry to God were delivered ( Psalm 107:41 b and 4 a). On the other hand, the oppressed are lifted, as by His strong arm, out of the depths and set on high, like a man perched safely on some crag above high-water mark. Prosperity returning is followed by large increase and happy, peaceful family life, the chief good of man on earth. The outcome of the various methods of God’s unvarying purpose is that all which is good is glad, and all which is evil is struck dumb. The two clauses of Psalm 107:42 which describe this double fect, are quoted from two passages in Job-a from Job 22:19 , and b from Job 5:16 . The psalm began with hymning the enduring lovingkindness of Jehovah. It ends with a call to all who would be wise to give heed to the various dealings of God, as exemplified in the specimens chosen in it, that they may comprehend how in all these one purpose rules, and all are examples of the manifold lovingkindnesses of Jehovah. This closing note is an echo of the last words of Hosea’s prophecy. It is the broad truth which all thoughtful observance of Providence brings home to a man, notwithstanding many mysteries and apparent contradictions. "All things work together for good to them that love God"; and the more they love Him, the more clearly will they see, and the more happily will they feel, that so it is. How can a man contemplate the painful riddle of the world, and keep his sanity, without that faith? He who has it for his faith will have it for his experience. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.