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Psalm 107:17
Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience, and because of their iniquities.
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.
Notice
The repeated “because” makes the link between disobedience and affliction hard to miss, exposing how costly folly is for the people described here.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
Where, if anywhere, do you recognize a link between disobedience and its cost in your life?
Write on thisHow does the cry to YHWH in verse 19 shape your reading of these fools?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Jeremiah 4:18“Your way and your doings have brought these things to you. This is your wickedness, for it is bitter, for it reaches to your heart.”Both passages trace bitter suffering to the sufferers' own wrongdoing, making the connection between conduct and consequences explicit.
Jeremiah 5:25“Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.Both name iniquities as a cause of harm: affliction in the psalm, and good withheld in Jeremiah.
Lamentations 3:39Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?Both connect sin with suffering, though Lamentations questions complaint about punishment while the psalm describes affliction caused by disobedience.
Job 5:2For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.In Job, Eliphaz links folly with deadly harm; the psalm also describes folly with painful consequences.
Proverbs 1:22“How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?Both portray folly as a moral problem: Proverbs describes fools hating knowledge, while the psalm names their disobedience.
2 Kings 18:12because they didn’t obey the LORD their God’s voice, but transgressed his covenant, even all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded, and would not hear …Disobedience is central to both passages: the psalm names it as folly, and Kings describes refusal to hear and obey God.
Psalm 14:1For the Chief Musician. By David. The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They have done abominable deeds. There is no one who …Both associate fools with wrongdoing: Psalm 14 describes corrupt deeds, while Psalm 107 names disobedience and its painful consequences.
Proverbs 7:7I saw among the simple ones. I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding,The shared thread is folly; Proverbs describes a youth lacking understanding, while the psalm goes further by naming disobedience and affliction.
Psalm 92:6A senseless man doesn’t know, neither does a fool understand this:Both speak of fools, though Psalm 92 emphasizes their lack of understanding and Psalm 107 emphasizes their disobedience and affliction.
Psalm 38:1–8A Psalm by David, for a memorial. LORD, don’t rebuke me in your wrath, neither chasten me in your hot displeasure.Both concern painful correction, though Psalm 38 pleads against God's wrath while Psalm 107 identifies disobedience as the cause of affliction.
Isaiah 65:6–7“Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosomBoth speak of consequences, though Isaiah names God's repayment and the psalm identifies disobedience as the cause of affliction.
Isaiah 57:17–18I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.Both link affliction with iniquity; Isaiah names covetousness and God's anger, while the psalm describes disobedience without naming a particular offense.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. temptation.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
This account does not explain every illness. It names the harm of disobedience, and the next lines show YHWH saving these same people when they cry to him.
Now put it in your words.
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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).