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Psalm 107:33
He turns rivers into a desert, water springs into a thirsty ground,
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.
Notice
Rivers become desert under God's hand, a stark reversal that unsettles the thought that life's sources of water and food are secure in themselves.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes in your reading when God is the one turning rivers into desert?
Write on thisHow does the next line's mention of wickedness shape your understanding of this dried ground?
Write on thisWhat source of provision are you tempted to treat as beyond loss or change?
Write on thisConnect
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
Isaiah 32:15until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.Both passages describe transformed landscapes under God's power, though Isaiah describes wilderness becoming fruitful while the psalm describes water becoming desert.
Isaiah 50:2Why, when I came, was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it can’t redeem? Or have I no power to …Both passages name God as the one who turns rivers into wilderness, removing the water that sustains life.
Isaiah 42:15I will destroy mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs. I will make the rivers islands, and will dry up the pools.Both passages describe God drying up waters and changing the land through which rivers flow.
Amos 4:7–8“I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on …Both passages attribute the loss of life-sustaining water to God, with Amos naming withheld rain and a withered field.
Jeremiah 51:36Therefore the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry.Both passages describe God drying up sources of water; Jeremiah names a sea and fountain in a declaration of vengeance.
Isaiah 34:9–10Its streams will be turned into pitch, its dust into sulfur, and its land will become burning pitch.Both passages portray a devastating change to streams and land, though Isaiah describes burning pitch rather than desert.
Psalm 74:15You opened up spring and stream. You dried up mighty rivers.Both psalms name God's power to dry up rivers, while Psalm 74 also speaks of his opening spring and stream.
Joel 1:20Yes, the animals of the field pant to you, for the water brooks have dried up, and the fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.Both passages depict water sources drying up; Joel adds the animals' thirst and their cries to God.
Nahum 1:4He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, and dries up all the rivers. Bashan and Carmel languish. The flower of Lebanon languishes.Both passages describe God drying up rivers, with Nahum also naming the sea and the languishing land.
Zephaniah 2:13He will stretch out his hand against the north, destroy Assyria, and will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as the wilderness.Both passages describe God making a place dry as wilderness; Zephaniah names Nineveh as the place facing destruction.
Jeremiah 14:3Their nobles send their little ones to the waters. They come to the cisterns, and find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They are disappointed …Both passages describe the absence of needed water; Jeremiah shows people returning from empty cisterns with empty vessels.
Zephaniah 2:9Therefore, as I live, says the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, surely Moab will be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, a possession of nettles …Both passages describe land becoming desolate, though Zephaniah names Moab and Ammon as the targets of judgment.
Where this verse fits
Sermon or Bible study notes. fear for the future.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not have to read every loss as a verdict against you. Here, the next line names judgment, and even the rivers are subject to God's rule.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 107:33. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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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).