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Psalm 107:4

They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way. They found no city to live in.

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.
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← Psalm 107:3Psalm 107:5 →
Notice

A desert road and no city to live in make wandering a matter of shelter and survival, with no place yet to stop.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What does “no city to live in” suggest about what these wanderers lacked?

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Where, if anywhere, does your life resemble a search for a place to settle?

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What changes when you read this wandering within the redeemed people’s account of God’s help?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

11 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
Deuteronomy 32:10He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye.Both passages describe a desert wilderness; Deuteronomy names God’s care there, while this verse describes the wanderers’ lack of a home.
Ezekiel 34:6My sheep wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth. There was no one who searched …Both describe wandering without relief: people find no city in the psalm, and scattered sheep have no one searching in Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 34:12As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all …Both concern people without a settled place; Ezekiel describes them as scattered sheep whom God promises to seek and deliver.
Numbers 14:33Your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your prostitution, until your dead bodies are consumed in the wilderness.Both name wilderness wandering; Numbers specifies forty years and judgment, while Psalm 107:4 states no cause for the wandering.
Job 5:24You will know that your tent is in peace. You will visit your fold, and will miss nothing.The shared concern is a place to live: the psalm describes its absence, while Job’s passage describes a tent in peace.
Genesis 21:14Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a container of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder; and gave her the child, and …Hagar wanders in the wilderness of Beersheba, sharing the wilderness wandering described here without being identified as one of these travelers.
Job 12:24He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth, and causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no way.Both describe wilderness wandering; Job names chiefs deprived of understanding, while this verse leaves the wanderers’ identity and cause unstated.
Psalm 107:40He pours contempt on princes, and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.Wandering through barren country appears in both verses; verse 40 names princes under God’s contempt, while verse 4 describes people finding no city.
Hebrews 11:38of whom the world was not worthy—wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.Both describe people wandering in deserts; Hebrews also names mountains and caves and says the world was unworthy of those wanderers.
Psalm 107:7He led them also by a straight way, that they might go to a city to live in.The city they could not find in verse 4 becomes the destination toward which God leads them in verse 7.
Ecclesiastes 10:15The labor of fools wearies every one of them; for he doesn’t know how to go to the city.Both mention failure to reach a city; Ecclesiastes names a fool’s lack of knowledge, while the psalm describes wilderness wandering.
Where this verse fits

Waiting. loneliness. fear for the future.

What the Bible says about patience →What the Bible says about loneliness →What the Bible says about fear →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Write down what changes between Psalm 107:4 and 107:7

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Encouragement

The redeemed people’s account includes a desert where they found no home. Their later deliverance does not erase that hardship; Scripture records the wandering as part of their story.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 107:4. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 107 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

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).