Psalms 107:8

Oh that men would praise the Lord, &c.— Let them acknowledge to the Lord his mercy, and his wonderful works, &c. Mudge, and so in the following intercalary verses. Dr. Hammond remarks very properly, that this is a psalm of answering, or parts, to be sung alternately; having a double burden or intercalary verse oft recurring. See Psalms 107:6; Psalms 107:13, &c. This 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. This the Targum confirms, supposing the psalm to have been written before the captivity, but to have been a prophesy of it; and it paraphrases the 9th verse as spoken of the children of Israel at large; but the 10th as spoken of Zedekiah, thus; "Of Zedekiah and the princes of Israel, he prophesied and said, Zedekiah and the princes of Israel, who dwelt in darkness and the shadow of death," &c. It is observable, that after each of the intercalary verses one is added, expressive of deliverance or praise. I would further observe, that if the psalm be supposed to be made with a view to the alternate response of one side of the choir to the other, then it may be considered as if it was written exactly after the method of the ancient pastorals; where, be the subject of their verse what it will, each swain endeavours to excel the other; and one may perceive their thoughts and expressions gradually to rise upon each other; and I think we may from hence discover a manifest beauty in the composition of this divine pastoral. We will suppose then, that the author composed it for the use of his brethren the Jews, when in the joy of their hearts they were assembled after their return from their captivity. At such a time, what theme could be so proper for the subject of his poem, as the manifest goodness of Almighty God? The first performers therefore invite the whole nation to praise God for this; a great instance of it, being their late deliverance and return from captivity. At Psalms 107:10 the other side take the subject, and rightly observe, that the return of their great men, who were actually in chains, was a more remarkable instance of God's mercy to them, than the return of the people in general, who were only dispersed, as we may suppose, up and down the open country. Then the first performers beautifully compare this unexpected deliverance to that which God sometimes vouchsafes to the languishing dying man, when he recals, as it were, the sentence of death, and restores him to his former vigour. The others again compare it, with still greater strength and expression, to God's delivering the affrighted mariner from all the dreadful horrors of the ungovernable and arbitrary ocean. But the first, still resolved to outdo the rest, recur to that series of wonderful works which God had vouchsafed to their nation, Psalms 107:32 and of which they had so lately had a convincing proof. Wherefore at last, as in a common chorus, they all conclude with exhorting each other to a serious consideration of these things, and to make a proper return to Almighty God for them. No doubt the composition of this psalm is admirable throughout; and the descriptive part of it adds, at least, its share of beauty to the whole: but what is most to be admired is the conciseness, and withal the expressiveness of the diction, which strikes our imagination with inimitable elegance. The weary and bewildered traveller, the miserable captive in the hideous dungeon, the sick and dying man, the seaman foundering in a storm—are described in so affecting a manner, that they far exceed any thing of the kind, though never so much laboured. See Lowth's 29th Prelection.