Psalm 107 explained: Four Rescues and a Call to Thanks

Tell the story (vv. 1-3)

The psalm opens with a familiar call to thank the LORD for a love that never runs out, then asks those he rescued to say so out loud. Gathering people from every direction most likely recalls Jewish exiles coming home after captivity in Babylon, though the psalm widens beyond that one event.

Lost in the desert (vv. 4-9)

The first picture is travelers wandering with no road, food or water until God leads them to a town where they can settle. Some readers hear an echo of Israel's long years in the wilderness, while others take it as any desperate traveler.

Prisoners in chains (vv. 10-16)

The second picture is people in dark prisons, and the psalm openly says their own rebellion against God put them there. Even so, when they cry out he breaks open bronze gates and iron bars, which many readers take to mean rescue is offered even to those who brought trouble on themselves.

Sick near death (vv. 17-22)

The third picture is people so ill they cannot eat, and again the psalm ties the illness to their wrongdoing, though it does not claim all sickness works this way. The offerings of thanks it mentions were gifts brought to the temple after a rescue, usually shared as a meal with others.

Sailors in a storm (vv. 23-32)

The fourth picture is merchants thrown about by huge waves until they stagger like drunks, and then God calms the sea and brings them to harbor. Christians have often read this alongside the story of Jesus calming a storm on a lake.

God turns things around (vv. 33-43)

The repeated refrain stops as God turns rivers into desert and desert into springs, humbling the powerful and lifting up the poor. Scholars are unsure how this closing section connects to the four scenes, but it ends by urging the wise to think about the LORD's faithful love.

Key verse: Psalm 107:1

Something to think about

When you look back on a time you came through something hard, what or whom do you credit for getting you out?