1 Give ye thanks to Jehovah, for he [is] good; for his mercy [is] for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of Jehovah say [so], whom he redeemed from the oppressor’s hand;
3 And he gathered them from the lands, from east and from west, from north and from south (sea).
4 They wandered in the wilderness, in a desert way; no city of habitation they found.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 And they cried unto Jehovah in their distress: out of their strait he delivereth them.
7 And he led them by the right way to go to a city of habitation.
8 O that [they] might give thanks to Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men!
9 For he satisfied the craving soul, and filled with good the hungry soul.
10 Dwellers in darkness and death-shade, bound in affliction and iron,
11 Because they resisted the words of God (El), and despised the counsel of the Most High,
12 Therefore (and) he bowed down their heart with labor; they stumbled, and [there was] no helper.
13 And they cried unto Jehovah in their distress: out of their straits he saveth them;
14 He bringeth them out of darkness and death-shade, and their bonds he rendeth.
15 O that [they] might give thanks to Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men!
16 For he broke the gates of brass and cut off the bars of iron.
17 Fools, by [the] way of their transgression, and by their iniquities, are afflicted,
18 All food their soul abhorreth; and they draw near to the gates of death.
19 And they cried unto Jehovah in their distress: out of their straits he saveth them.
20 He sendeth his word, and delivereth them from their destructions (pits).
21 O that [they] might give thanks unto Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men!
22 And let them sacrifice sacrifices of praise and declare his works with singing.
23 They that in down to the sea in the ships, that do business in great waters,
24 These saw Jehovah’s works and his wonders in the deep.
25 And he said, and there arose a tempestuous wind, which lifted up its billows.
26 They rise [to] the heavens, they sink [to] the depths; their soul melteth with evil,
27 They reel and stagger like the drunkard, and all their wisdom is confounded.
28 And they cried unto Jehovah in their distress, and out of their straits he bringeth them.
29 He stilleth the tempest, and their billows are silent.
30 And they are glad because they be quiet; and he guideth them to the haven of their desire.
31 O that [they] might give thanks unto Jehovah [for] his mercy and his wonders to the sons of men!
32 And let them exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the session of the elders.
33 He turneth rivers to a wilderness, and water-springs to a thirsty ground,
34 A fruitful land to saltness for the wickedness of those dwelling in it.
35 He turneth a wilderness to a pool of water and a dry land to water-springs.
36 And he settleth there hungry [men], and they establish a city of habitation,
37 And sow fields, and plant vineyards, and gain fruits of increase.
38 And he blesseth them, and multiplieth greatly and their cattle he doth not diminish.
39 And they were diminished and brought low from oppression, evil, and sorrow.
40 He poureth contempt upon princes, and made them wander in a waste without a way.
41 And he set high the needy one from affliction and made families like the sheep.
42 The upright shall see and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop its mouth.
43 Whoso [is] wise and observeth these things, even they shall understand the mercies of Jehovah.
Notes on Psalm 107
“Give ye thanks to Jehovah,” &c. Israel affords the great object-lesson of man’s folly and distress in the land and out of it, as on the sea; crying to Jehovah and heard in His unfailing mercy; at last delivered from the enemy and gathered out of the lands on every side (not a few Jews from Babylon merely) to enjoy the kingdom. It is in no way the church blessed with Christ in the heavenly places, though the church may well profit from all, and enjoy the truth and the mercy here described.