Skip to main content
Psalmlog Logo

Psalm 107

Psalm 107 recounts God’s rescues from distress and calls the redeemed to thank him and attend to his loving kindness.

People redeemed from an adversary and gathered from distant lands are called to thank YHWH. The unnamed psalmist recounts four scenes of distress: desert wanderers, prisoners, people near death through disobedience, and sailors caught in a storm. Each group cries to God, receives help, and is called to praise him. The closing verses describe God changing landscapes and overturning human fortunes. The psalm ends by calling the wise to consider his loving kindness; no single historical occasion is named.

gratitudeanswered prayerpraise and worship
Read
1Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his loving kindness endures forever.
2Let the redeemed by the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
3and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.
5Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7He led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.
8Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
9For he satisfies the longing soul. He fills the hungry soul with good.
10Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron,
11because they rebelled against the words of God, and condemned the counsel of the Most High.
12Therefore he brought down their heart with labor. They fell down, and there was no one to help.
13Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke away their chains.
15Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
16For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut through bars of iron.
17Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.
18Their soul abhors all kinds of food. They draw near to the gates of death.
19Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble, and he saves them out of their distresses.
20He sends his word, and heals them, and delivers them from their graves.
21Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
22Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his deeds with singing.
23Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business in great waters,
24these see the LORD’s deeds, and his wonders in the deep.
25For he commands, and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.
26They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts away because of trouble.
27They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
28Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress.
29He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.
31Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness, for his wonderful deeds for the children of men!
32Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.
33He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground,
34and a fruitful land into a salt waste, for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35He turns a desert into a pool of water, and a dry land into water springs.
36There he makes the hungry live, that they may prepare a city to live in,
37sow fields, plant vineyards, and reap the fruits of increase.
38He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly. He doesn’t allow their livestock to decrease.
39Again, they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
40He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
41Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction, and increases their families like a flock.
42The upright will see it, and be glad. All the wicked will shut their mouths.
43Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things. They will consider the loving kindnesses of the LORD.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected. Tap a number for its page.
Key verses
Psalm 107:1The opening call grounds every account of rescue in YHWH’s goodness and enduring loving kindness.
Psalm 107:9God’s care for hungry wanderers reaches its conclusion in satisfaction, giving concrete substance to the call for praise.
Psalm 107:35The desert becoming a place of water displays God’s rule over the land and his provision for the hungry.
Where this chapter reaches

Isaiah shares Psalm 107’s imagery of deserts becoming places of water, linking renewed land with God’s provision for his people. Matthew’s account of Jesus calming a storm shares the psalm’s scene of frightened sailors, an appeal for help, and the stilling of waves.

Psalm 107's chapter linksAll strongest linksHover or tap a book
Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Which account of distress and rescue most shapes how you understand the psalm’s repeated call to thanks?

Write on this

What do the closing reversals of land and human fortunes add to your understanding of God’s loving kindness?

Write on this

Questions people ask about Psalm 107

Who wrote Psalm 107, and when was it written?

Psalm 107 does not name its author or date. Its opening describes people redeemed from an adversary and gathered from distant lands. This can fit a return from exile, but the psalm does not identify a particular return. Its four rescue scenes describe several kinds of distress.

What are the four groups in Psalm 107?

The four groups are wanderers without a home, prisoners bound because of rebellion, people near death because of disobedience, and sailors overwhelmed by a storm. Each account follows a repeated pattern: distress, a cry to YHWH, rescue, and a call to thank him for his loving kindness.

Does Psalm 107 say all sickness is caused by sin?

Verses 17–22 describe a particular group whose affliction is linked to their disobedience. The passage does not say that every illness has this cause, nor does it supply a rule for judging another person’s sickness. Its focus is God’s response when these sufferers cry to him for help.

Read it. Now write it.

Start an entry on Psalm 107. Your words go beside the text, and you get one next step for the week.

Psalms · 150 chapters
123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150
What the Bible says about gratitude →What the Bible says about worship →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).