PSALM CVII _A thanksgiving of the people for deliverance from difficulties_ _and dangers; their state compared to a journey through a_ _frightful wilderness_, 1-9; _to confinement in a dreary dungeon_, 10-16; _to a dangerous malady_, 17-22; _to a tempest at sea_, 23-32. _The psalmist calls on... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:2. _LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY_ SO] For they have had the fullest proof of this goodness, in being saved by the continuing stream of his mercy.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:3. _AND GATHERED THEM OUT OF THE LANDS_] Though many Jews returned into Jerusalem from various parts of the world, under the reigns of _Darius Hystaspes, Artaxerxes_, and _Alexander the Great_; yet this prophecy has its completion only under the Gospel, when all the ends of the eart... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:4. _THEY WANDERED IN THE WILDERNESS_] Here begins the FINEST _comparison_: the Israelites in captivity are compared to a _traveller in a dreary, uninhabited, and barren desert_, spent with hunger and thirst, as well as by the fatigues of the journey, Psalms 107:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:6. _THEN THEY CRIED UNTO THE LORD_] When the Israelites began to pray heartily, and the eyes of all the tribes were as the eyes of one man turned unto the Lord, then he delivered them out of their distresses.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:7. _THAT THEY MIGHT GO TO A CITY OF HABITATION._] God stirred up the heart of _Cyrus_ to give them liberty to return to their own land: and _Zerubbabel, Ezra_, and _Nehemiah_, at different times, brought many of them back to Judea.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:8. _O THAT_ MEN _WOULD PRAISE THE LORD_] This is what is called the _intercalary_ verse, or _burden_ of each _part_ of this _responsive song_: see the _introduction_. God should be praised because he is _good_. We naturally speak highly of those who are eminent. God is infinitely ex... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:9. _FOR HE SATISFIETH THE LONGING SOUL_] This is the reason which the psalmist gives for the _duty_ of thankfulness which he prescribes. _The longing soul_, נפש שוקקה nephesh shokekah, _the_ _soul that pushes forward in eager desire_ after salvation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:10. _SUCH AS SIT IN DARKNESS_] Here begins the SECOND _similitude_, which he uses to illustrate the state of the captives in Babylon, viz., that of a _prisoner in a dreary dungeon_. 1. _They sit in_ or _inhabit darkness_. They have no light, no peace, no prosperity. 2. "In the sha... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:11. _BECAUSE THEY REBELLED AGAINST THE WORDS OF GOD_] 1. God showed them their duty and their interest, and commanded them to obey his word; but they cast off all subjection to his authority, acted as if they were independent of heaven and earth, and broke out into open rebellion a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:12. _HE BROUGHT DOWN THEIR HEART WITH LABOUR_] He delivered them into the hands of their enemies. and, as they would not be under subjection to GOD, he delivered them into slavery to wicked men: "So they fell down, and there was none to help ;" God had forsaken them because they had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:13. _THEN THEY CRIED UNTO THE LORD IN THEIR TROUBLE_] This was the salutary effect which their afflictions produced: they began to cry to God for mercy and help; and God mercifully heard their prayer, and reversed their state; for,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:14. _HE BROUGHT THEN OUT OF DARKNESS_] 1. Gave them again peace and prosperity. 2. Repealed the _sentence of death_. 3. "Unbound the poor prisoners." 4. Broke their iron bonds in sunder.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:15. _O THAT MEN, C._] This is the _intercalary verse_, or _burden_, of the _second_ part, as it was of the _first_. See Psalms 107:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:16. _FOR HE HATH BROKEN_] This is the _reason_ given for thanks to God for his deliverance of the captives. It was not a simple deliverance; it was done so as to manifest the _irresistible_ power of God. He tore the prison in pieces, and cut the bars of iron asunder.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:17. _FOOLS BECAUSE OF THEIR TRANSGRESSION_] This is the THIRD _comparison_; the captivity being compared to _a person in a_ _dangerous malady_. Our Version does not express this clause well: _Fools_ מדרך פשעם midderech pisham, because of the way of their _transgressions, are afflict... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:18. _THEIR SOUL ABHORRETH ALL MANNER OF MEAT_] A natural description of a sick man: appetite is gone, and all desire for food fails; nutriment is no longer necessary, for death has seized upon the whole frame. See a similar image, Job 33:20.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:19. _THEN THEY CRY_] The effect produced by affliction as before.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:20. _HE SENT HIS WORD, AND HEALED THEM_] He spoke: "Be thou clean, be thou whole;" and immediately the disease departed; and thus they were _delivered from the destructions_ that awaited them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:21. _O THAT MEN, C._] The _intercalary_ verse, or _burden_, as before.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:22. _AND LET THEM SACRIFICE_] For their _healing_ they should bring a _sacrifice_; and they should offer the _life_ of the innocent animal unto God, as he has spared their _lives_; and let them thus _confess_ that God has spared _them_ when they deserved to die; and let them _declar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:23. _THEY THAT GO DOWN TO THE SEA IN SHIPS_] This is the FOURTH _comparison_. Their captivity was as dangerous and alarming as a dreadful tempest at sea to a weather-beaten mariner.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:24. _THESE SEE THE WORKS OF THE LORD_] Splendid, Divinely impressive, and glorious in _fine weather_. _HIS WONDERS IN THE DEEP._] Awfully terrible in a _tempest_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:25. _FOR HE COMMANDETH_] And what less than the command of God can raise up such winds as seem to heave old Ocean from his bed?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:26. _THEY MOUNT UP TO THE HEAVEN_] This is a most natural and striking description of the state of a ship at sea in a storm: when the _sea_ appears to _run mountains high_, and the vessel seems for a moment to stand on the sharp ridge of one most stupendous, with a valley of a _frig... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:29. _HE MAKETH THE STORM A CALM_] He causes the storm to stand _dumb_, and _hushes_ the waves. See the original, where _sense_ and _sound_ emphatically meet: - גליהם ויחשו לדממה סארה יקם galleyhem vaiyecheshu _li_demamah _searah yakem_ He shall cause the whirlwind to stand _dumb_,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:30. _THEN ARE THEY GLAD BECAUSE THEY BE QUIET_] The turbulence of the sea being hushed, and the waves still, they rejoice to see an end to the tempest; and thus, having fine weather, a smooth sea, and fair wind, they are speedily brought to the _desired haven_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:31. _O THAT MEN_] The _intercalary_ verse, or _burden_, as before. See Psalms 107:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:32. _LET THEM EXALT HIM ALSO IN THE CONGREGATION_] Their deliverance from such imminent danger, and in a way which clearly showed the Divine interposition, demands, not only gratitude of heart and the song of praise at the end of the storm, but when they come to _shore_ that they _p... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:33. _HE TURNETH RIVERS INTO A WILDERNESS_] After having, as above, illustrated the state of the Jews in their captivity, and the deliverance which God wrought for them, he now turns to the general conduct of God in reference to the poor and needy; and his gracious interpositions in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:36. _AND THERE HE MAKETH THE HUNGRY TO DWELL_] All this seems to apply admirably to the first colonists of any place. They flee from a land of want, an _ingrata terra_ that did not repay their toil, and they seek the wilderness where the land wants only cultivation to make it produ... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:39. _AGAIN, THEY ARE MINISHED_] Sometimes by war, or pestilence, or famine. How minished and brought low was the country already spoken of, by the long and destructive war which began in 1775, and was not ended till 1783! And what desolations, minishings, and ruin have been brought... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:40. _HE POURETH CONTEMPT UPON PRINCES_] How many have lately been raised from _nothing_, and set upon thrones! And how many have been cast down from thrones, and reduced to nothing! And where are now those mighty troublers of the earth? On both sides they are in general gone to give... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:41. _YET SETTETH HE THE POOR ON HIGH_] This probably refers to the case of the _Israelites_ and their restoration from captivity. But these are incidents which frequently occur, and mark the superintendence of a _benign Providence_, and the hand of a just _God_; and are applicable t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:42. _THE RIGHTEOUS SHALL SEE IT_] The wicked are as inconsiderate as they are obstinate and headstrong. _AND REJOICE_] To have such ample proofs that God ruleth in the earth, and that none that trust in him shall be desolate. _ALL INIQUITY SHALL STOP HER MOUTH. _] God's judgments... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Psalms 107:43. _WHOSO_ IS _WISE_] That is, He that is wise, he that fears God, and regards the operation of his hand _will observe_-lay up and keep, _these things_. He will hide them in his heart, that he sin not against Jehovah. He will encourage himself in the Lord, because he finds that he... [ Continue Reading ]