Psalm 107--Let the Redeemed of the LORD Say So

Psalm 107
English Standard Version

Book Five
Let the Redeemed of the LORD Say So
107 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
    whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

4 Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to a city to dwell in;
5 hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
    till they reached a city to dwell in.
8 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul,
    and the hungry soul he fills with good things.

10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    prisoners in affliction and in irons,
11 for they had rebelled against the words of God,
    and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
12 So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor;
    they fell down, with none to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
    and burst their bonds apart.
15 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
16 For he shatters the doors of bronze
    and cuts in two the bars of iron.

17 Some were fools through their sinful ways,
    and because of their iniquities suffered affliction;
18 they loathed any kind of food,
    and they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent out his word and healed them,
    and delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
22 And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
    and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!

23 Some went down to the sea in ships,
    doing business on the great waters;
24 they saw the deeds of the LORD,
    his wondrous works in the deep.
25 For he commanded and raised the stormy wind,
    which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths;
    their courage melted away in their evil plight;
27 they reeled and staggered like drunken men
    and were at their wits' end.
28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He made the storm be still,
    and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,
    and he brought them to their desired haven.
31 Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
    for his wondrous works to the children of man!
32 Let them extol him in the congregation of the people,
    and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

33 He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the evil of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water,
    a parched land into springs of water.
36 And there he lets the hungry dwell,
    and they establish a city to live in;
37 they sow fields and plant vineyards
    and get a fruitful yield.
38 By his blessing they multiply greatly,
    and he does not let their livestock diminish.
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39 When they are diminished and brought low
    through oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 he pours contempt on princes
    and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
41 but he raises up the needy out of affliction
    and makes their families like flocks.
42 The upright see it and are glad,
    and all wickedness shuts its mouth.

43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
    let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

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This starts "Book Five" of the Psalms which covers Psalms 107-150.  These psalms mostly have a theme of giving he people who are in Exile hope that they will once again return, and the LORD will be with them wherever they go, even if it is Assyria, Babylon, or Persia.  We start with a reminder of how the LORD delivered them from exile and slavery once before out of Egypt (exactly where we left off in Book 4), but this time the focus is different.  It's not so much about remembering history and making sure to not repeat it (for book 4 was mostly a call for people to obey God and repent so that they would not experience the curses of the Law and be sent into Exile), but this time it is meant to comfort the people that the LORD would be with them and would once again be their Redeemer and Deliverer.  His steadfast love endures forever!  They should not forget it, even when they are far away from the Temple and the Promised Land.  That is why this psalm begins with a promise to once again gather them in from the east and the west.  However, that means this psalm is talking about something bigger than the Assyrian and Babylonian Exile because all of the exiles went to the East with their captures.  None of them went to the West until the time of the Diaspora (around circa 70 A.D. when Herod's Temple was destroyed).  At that time, Jews scattered across the whole known world, including the province of Asia (what we would today Turkey) and for sure going into Europe as far away as Italy (there was a community of Jews in Rome that Aquilla and Priscilla ministered to).  In later years, the Jews travelled even further away from home as they had no Temple to return to three times and year and they travelled through all of Europe and to the United States and Canada.  It is fair to say that when the LORD once again gathers His people into the Land, He will be doing so from the East and from the West, and from every corner of the Earth.  We are starting to see this play out before our very eyes today as more and more Jewish people feel compelled to return to the Promised Land and live there among their brothers and sisters.

In all times and in all places, even through the darkest of times like the Holocaust, the steadfast love of the LORD endures forever, and His covenant love has watched over and protected and delivered His people.  That is not to say that the affliction and atrocities were light or to be winked at, but to say that God saved a remnant of His people for His Name's sake and because He still has covenant promises to fulfill to them in future generations.  The LORD is Faithful and True to each and every generation.  I am sure this particular psalm was one that many of them turned to in those darkest hours for comfort and hope that the LORD had not abandoned them and that His steadfast love was sure, no matter what may come.

It reminds me of the words of Romans 8:31-39 that speaks of the everlasting, covenant love of the Lord for His people and asks, "Can anything separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord?,."  The answer is a resounding, "No!"

​God's Everlasting Love​
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The sentiment is much the same here is Psalm 107 for the Jewish people.  Where Psalm 106 was full of past examples, Psalm 107 is full of prophetic promises pointing all the way to the coming Kingdom that is prepared for the LORD's people.  There is also a spiritual dimension though to what is being promised that many missed at first.  The LORD brings those who are far off and estranged near to Him through Christ.  He takes those who were dead and makes them alive in Christ.  He takes the dry and worthless places of the curse of sin and reverses the curse to make rivers of living water flow and to cause life to grow where no one thought life was possible through Christ.  In Christ, and through the steadfast love demonstrated in the gospel, all these things are possible, not just for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles.

There are some blessings here regarding the Land and the People that belong specifically to ethnic Israel, but the blessings of peace with God, deliverance, salvation, redemption, and a place that is being prepared for us belong to all who are part of the family of God by Election and Adoption--both Jews and Gentiles alike.  No matter where we are, or what we go through, the LORD has not abandoned us, and His covenant love is working to accomplish His perfect plans and purposes in us, through us, and unto us.  May we have that perspective even in the darkest of times.