1071 O give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy is unchanging for ever. 2 Let those whose cause the Lord has taken up say so, his people whom he has taken out of the hands of their haters; 3 Making them come together out of all the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 4 They were wandering in the waste places; they saw no way to a resting-place. 5 Their souls became feeble for need of food and drink. 6 Then they sent up their cry to the Lord in their sorrow, and he gave them salvation out of all their troubles; 7 Guiding them in the right way, so that they might come into the town of their resting-place. 8 Let men give praise to the Lord for his mercy, and for the wonders which he does for the children of men! 9 He gives its desire to the unresting soul, so that it is full of good things.
10 Those who were in the dark, in the black night, in chains of sorrow and iron; 11 Because they went against the words of God, and gave no thought to the laws of the Most High: 12 So that he made their hearts weighted down with grief; they were falling, and had no helper. 13 Then they sent up their cry to the Lord in their sorrow, and he gave them salvation out of all their troubles. 14 He took them out of the dark and the black night, and all their chains were broken. 15 Let men give praise to the Lord for his mercy, and for the wonders which he does for the children of men! 16 The doors of brass are broken by his arm, and the bands of iron are cut in two.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 107:1-16
Commentary on Psalm 107:1-9
(Read Psalm 107:1-9)
In these verses there is reference to the deliverance from Egypt, and perhaps that from Babylon: but the circumstances of travellers in those countries are also noted. It is scarcely possible to conceive the horrors suffered by the hapless traveller, when crossing the trackless sands, exposed to the burning rays of the sum. The words describe their case whom the Lord has redeemed from the bondage of Satan; who pass through the world as a dangerous and dreary wilderness, often ready to faint through troubles, fears, and temptations. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, after God, and communion with him, shall be filled with the goodness of his house, both in grace and glory.
Commentary on Psalm 107:10-16
(Read Psalm 107:10-16)
This description of prisoners and captives intimates that they are desolate and sorrowful. In the eastern prisons the captives were and are treated with much severity. Afflicting providences must be improved as humbling providences; and we lose the benefit, if our hearts are unhumbled and unbroken under them. This is a shadow of the sinner's deliverance from a far worse confinement. The awakened sinner discovers his guilt and misery. Having struggled in vain for deliverance, he finds there is no help for him but in the mercy and grace of God. His sin is forgiven by a merciful God, and his pardon is accompanied by deliverance from the power of sin and Satan, and by the sanctifying and comforting influences of God the Holy Spirit.