Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 107:31

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 107:31. O that men — The intercalary verse, or burden, as before. See Psalms 107:8.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 107-108 Specific thanksgivings

Psalms 107:0 seems to be particularly appropriate to the time of the Jews’ return to their homeland after their exile in Babylon. It is a song of thanksgiving to be sung by those who have been saved from some great affliction or danger (107:1-3). Four different cases are introduced by verses 4, 10, 17 and 23. Each of the cases describes the danger, notes the prayer, outlines the answer and concludes with a word of instruction and warning.

The first thanksgiving is that of homeless wanderers. Lonely, hungry and thirsty, they cried to God and were led to a place of safety and security. They should now bear in mind that complete satis faction is found only in God (4-9). The second thanksgiving is that of people who were in prison or slavery because of their sins, but when they cried to God he set them free. They should remember that no bondage is too strong for God (10-16). The third thanksgiving is that of the sick who once suffered for their wrongdoings but have now been healed. They should respond to God’s grace by telling others of what he has done for them (17-22). The fourth thanksgiving is that of people who have been saved from terrible storms at sea. They should bear in mind that God is the one who brings all peace and calm (23-32).
When people are wicked, God may turn nature against them, punishing them with thirst and hunger. But when thirsty and hungry people are in need, God sends his generous blessings of nature upon them (33-38). When rulers are wicked, God may turn them into homeless wanderers. But when the poor are oppressed, God lifts their families into places of honour (39-43).

Psalms 108:0 was composed for some special occasion by combining portions of two other psalms. It is a song of assurance that God will give victory on the basis of his promises. For 108:1-5 see notes on Psalms 57:7-11; for 108:6-13 see notes on Psalms 60:5-12.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE METAPHOR OF THE DANGEROUS SEA-VOYAGE

The fourth metaphorical description of Israel’s rescue from captivity presents it as a near-fatal ocean voyage from which disaster God rescued them.

“They that go down to the sea in ships, That do business in great waters; These see the works of Jehovah, And his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, Which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths: Their soul melteth away because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. And are at their wits end. Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble, And he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, So that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they are quiet; So he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his lovingkindness, And for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people, And praise him in the seat of the elders.”

As Leupold suggested, “The ship about to be lost at sea here is Israel, that is, their ship of state, an expression which is like our current usage of it when men say, `the ship of state is threatened.’“H. C. Leupold, p. 759. Leupold further elaborated this comparison.

“The storm of the Captivity had swept over the nation; all seemed lost. The threatening billows could have destroyed the nation forever.”Ibid.

This paragraph is much like the previous three. The danger is stated; the people cry for Jehovah’s help (the first refrain); and there is a somewhat longer declaration before the second refrain.

THE LONGER DECLARATION

“He maketh the storm a calm… they (those on the ship) are glad because they (the waves) are quiet… He brings them unto their desired haven” God’s bringing them to “their desired haven,” is a reference to his returning them to Jerusalem.

“Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people… the seat of the elders” This is not a picture of sailors, having escaped a storm, praising God in a group, but it is a picture of Restored Israel praising God in the public assemblies in Jerusalem, the seat of the elders.

THE LAST ELEVEN VERSES

Addis declared that, “These verses have no strict connection with the preceding,”W. E. Addis, p. 391. and also assigned them to another author. However McCaw, it appears to us, has a much better understanding of their meaning.

“The purpose of these two remaining stanzas is to reduce the illustrative material of the psalm to a statement of principle, namely that the Lord is both steadfast and loving to his redeemed.”The New Bible Commentary, Revised, p. 520.

The RSV divides the rest of this psalm into two stanzas of six verses in the first and five in the second. In both of these, there appears a contrast between the wicked and the upright as evidenced by God’s dealings with them.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Oh that men... - See Psalms 107:8, note; Psalms 107:15, note; Psalms 107:21, note. Assuredly they who are thus delivered from the dangers of the sea should praise the Lord; they who have seen the wonders of God on the great ocean should “never” forget God.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Let's turn now in our Bibles to Psalms 107:1-43 . The hundred and seventh psalm begins with an exhortation to us to

Give thanks unto the LORD ( Psalms 107:1 ),

And the basis for the thanksgiving is His goodness and His mercy. Two things that we really should be thankful for: the goodness of God to us, and then God's mercy unto us. How thankful I am for the mercy of God. Were it not for the mercy of God, where would I be tonight? Surely not here. But,

for his mercy that endureth for ever ( Psalms 107:1 ).

Now, as we go through the psalm, the first verse exhorts us to praise. But then the psalm goes on and begins to talk about certain people and their condition. And then we find the oft-repeated phrase. In fact, it's repeated about three times, or four times through the psalm, "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and His wonderful works to the children of men!" Oh that men would really learn to just praise God for His goodness to us. I think that we reflect too little upon God, because I really don't think that you can seriously reflect upon God without praising and without thanksgiving. When you really just start to reflect on His goodness, on His blessings, on all that He's done, the praises just sort of come.

Second verse he said,

Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy ( Psalms 107:2 );

We've been redeemed, Peter tells us, "not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ" ( 1 Peter 1:18 , 1 Peter 1:19 ). You've been redeemed; you ought to talk about it. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. We were actually in the bondage of sin. We were slaves to Satan. Paul said, "Who in times past walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that even now works in the children of disobedience: among whom you all had your manner of living in times past as you walked after the lust of your own heart and your own mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" ( Ephesians 2:2-3 ). But from that disastrous state, the Lord has redeemed you. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy."

And he gathered them out of the lands, from the east, from the west, the north, the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Then hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of all their distresses ( Psalms 107:3-6 ).

So he is describing, really, the condition of the nation of Israel that God has gathered out of all of the lands. The people who wandered after the dispersion, "hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of all their distresses."

And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness ( Psalms 107:7-9 ).

Now that goes back to verse Psalms 107:5 , where it speaks of their condition, "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted." Verse Psalms 107:9 , "For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." The longing soul-the soul is the consciousness of man. And somehow there is a consciousness in every man that life must be something more than what I have yet experienced. Somehow I feel there is more to life. The longing soul of man He satisfies.

Now we start into the second strophe of this psalm as he begins to describe another group.

Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High ( Psalms 107:10-11 ):

So the second group he is talking about, a group who are bound in afflictions and irons, men who are in real trouble. And the reason for their trouble: their rebellion against the words of God, their scorn for the counsels of God. How many times have we gotten into trouble when we rebelled against the counsels of God? I can do it my way. Just leave me alone, Lord. I'll go my own way. And I am trying to do my own thing, and it has led me into bondage so many times. Sometimes we wonder, how in the world could I ever get in such a mess? It's because we rebelled against the words of God. We scorned His counsel.

Therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then ( Psalms 107:12-13 )

In this sad condition,

they cried unto the LORD in their trouble ( Psalms 107:13 ),

Going back to verse Psalms 107:6 , the first group who cried unto the Lord in their trouble.

and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in two ( Psalms 107:13-14 ).

Now the breaking of the bands in two go back to verse Psalms 107:10 , "Being bound in affliction and iron." God breaks the bondage that we experience.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! ( Psalms 107:15 )

And then going back once again.

For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder ( Psalms 107:16 ).

Now he deals with another category.

Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted ( Psalms 107:17 ).

We bring a lot of grief on ourselves.

Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat ( Psalms 107:18 );

Now this to me is interesting, because it seems to be describing a vegetarian and it calls them fools. And they do act a little funny at times if you observe them. They seem to be lacking protein in their diet. "Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat."

and they draw near unto the gates of death ( Psalms 107:18 ).

And again,

Then [in this condition] they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from his destructions ( Psalms 107:19-20 ).

How many times God uses His Word to heal, to deliver, to set us free. How many times when I've had a particular problem and I was very concerned and as I was praying, the Lord would send His Word. He would give me a scripture in my heart. A scripture would flash in my mind, and that scripture was just what I needed. How many times when the Word of God has flashed in my mind in a particular circumstance, I said, "Thank You, Lord, I really needed that." For the scripture was just exactly what I was needing at that time. And it ministered to me, and it was strength to me, and it brought me through.

Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing ( Psalms 107:21-22 ).

Now, in the Old Testament, in order to approach God they had to come to the priest with sacrifices. And there were different sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament. There were the sin offerings, the sacrifices for sin of which we are all very familiar. But there were also what they called the peace offerings, which was just really... the idea behind the peace offering was communion with God. It was bringing a sacrifice and they would barbecue it for you and then you'd sit down and eat with God. Part of it would be burned unto the Lord, His portion, and then you would eat your portion, and it was just an offering of communion. I want to just draw close to God and just sit down and have a meal with the Lord. And so you'd offer a peace offering unto God.

Then there was also the burnt offering sacrifices. And the burnt offering sacrifices were sacrifices of consecration unto God. God, I want to consecrate myself to You. And so I would offer to the Lord a burnt offering sacrifice which was a sacrifice signifying my commitment of myself to God. So the different sacrifices that were offered.

Now we say, "Well, we're living now in the gospel of grace, and Jesus sacrificed Himself once and for all." Yes, as a sin offering. And that takes care of the sin sacrifice completely. But there are sacrifices of the New Testament that we are exhorted to offer unto God. Not animal sacrifices, but fruit sacrifices. "Let us offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, even the fruit of our lips" ( Hebrews 13:15 ). And so praising God becomes actually a peace offering. As through praise, I come into communion with God. "For the Lord inhabits the praises of His people" ( Psalms 22:3 ). The sacrifice of praise and that of commitment of myself as I am worshipping the Lord and I just yield my life to Him.

So there are sacrifices of praise and here, the psalmist said, "Let them sacrifice the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and declare His work with rejoicing." We were talking with a group of people today and we were saying, "We need to get together some night and just talk about the Lord and all of the wonderful things He's doing." Just spend an evening. Just getting together talking about the goodness of God, and the work of God, and the blessings of God. What a profitable evening that would be, as we just sit together and we just talk about, "Oh, you remember what the Lord did? Oh, isn't that glorious?" And just rejoicing, you know, as you talk about the glorious works of God.

There's an interesting thing when people get together to talk about the Lord. The Lord is always interested in it. He's interested in what you have to say about Him. Just like you're interested when people talk about you; you want to know what they're saying. And you get a chance, you know, you hear your name, and you know how you tune in on your name and you get real quiet and you listen to see what they're saying. Well, the Bible indicates that God does something like that, too. It says, "They that love the Lord spake often of Him" ( Malachi 3:16 ). And the Lord made a record of the things that they were saying. God kept a record. And in that day, they shall be accounted as jewels. God loves people to talk about Him. And so here, "Declare His works with rejoicing."

Now we come into a fourth category of people. A fourth section of this psalm. This is for the sailors.

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do their business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep ( Psalms 107:23-24 ).

The ocean is always a marvel. I love... I'm a very water-oriented person. I love the water. I love diving down and looking at the coral and the various fish, and it's just the works of God. "They see the works of the LORD, His wonders in the deep."

For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven, they go down again into the depths: and their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, they're at their wit's end ( Psalms 107:25-27 ).

You ever been in a storm at sea? Huge waves.

And then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distress. And he makes the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they're quiet; so he brings them into their desired haven ( Psalms 107:28-30 ).

The work of God bringing us into the desired haven. Beautiful.

Now the psalm ends with just exhortations unto, again, of praising the Lord for His works, and it begins to list many of the works of the Lord.

Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. For he turneth the rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; And sow the fields, and plant the vineyards, which may yield the fruits of increase. He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly; and he allowed not their cattle to decrease. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. And he poured contempt upon the princes, and causes them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh his families like a flock. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the LORD ( Psalms 107:32-43 ).

So the final verses just sort of a conclusion to the psalm saying that "Whoever is wise, and will observe these things." What things? Praising, thanksgiving. "Even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD." "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 107

An unknown writer sought to motivate the Lord’s redeemed people to praise Him by reviewing some of His mighty acts.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. Specific instances of deliverance 107:4-32

The writer cited four times when the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance and He saved them (Psalms 107:6; Psalms 107:13; Psalms 107:19; Psalms 107:28; cf. Judges 2:18; Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21; Romans 10:13). These situations were answers to the prayer Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple (cf. 1 Kings 8:46-53). At the end of each section, the psalmist reminded the redeemed to thank God with the same refrain (Psalms 107:8; Psalms 107:15; Psalms 107:21; Psalms 107:31). The Gospels record Jesus producing the same kinds of deliverance during His earthly ministry.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Fourth, God delivered sailors when they cried out to Him in storms. He calmed the seas and brought them safely to their ports (cf. Matthew 8:23-27; Luke 8:22-25). This, too, demands public praise from those who were rescued.

"The thank offering of the Psalms appears to be one pledged by the worshiper during or after some zero hour of his life. On the basis of Psalms 107 the rabbis spoke of four occasions when the thank offering was appropriate: safe return from a voyage (Psalms 107:23-32), safe return from a desert journey (Psalms 107:4-9), recovery from illness (Psalms 107:17-22), and release from prison (Psalms 107:10-16)." [Note: Ibid., p. 154. See also Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, p. 219.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness,.... Seafaring men particularly, before mentioned, as Jonah's mariners did, Jonah 1:16, or all the four sorts of persons instanced in, as Kimchi thinks: and even all men whatsoever should do this, high and low, rich and poor, of every age, sex, and condition; since they all receive favours from the Lord, and should return thanks to him; and especially good men, who are blessed with spiritual blessings by him: these should all

confess to the Lord his goodness; as it may be rendered,

Jonah 1:16- :, they should own the mercy received as the Lord's doing, and acknowledge their unworthiness of it, and give him the glory of it.

And for his wonderful works to the children of men! or, "confess and declare his wonderful works to the children of men": the wonderful works of creation and providence, which those that go to sea, see in the deeps, and everything of the same kind which others observe; and especially the wonderful works of grace, or what God has done in a wonderful manner for the souls of his people; see

Psalms 66:16.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;   24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.   25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.   26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.   27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.   28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.   29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.   30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.   31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!   32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.

      The psalmist here calls upon those to give glory to God who are delivered from dangers at sea. Though the Israelites dealt not much in merchandise, yet their neighbours the Tyrians and Zidonians did, and for them perhaps this part of the psalm was especially calculated.

      I. Much of the power of God appears at all times in the sea, Psalms 107:23; Psalms 107:24. It appears to those that go down to the sea in ships, as mariners, merchants, fishermen, or passengers, that do business in great waters. And surely none will expose themselves there but those that have business (among all Solomon's pleasant things we do not read of any pleasure-boat he had), but those that go on business, lawful business, may, in faith, put themselves under the divine protection. These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders, which are the more surprising, because most are born and bred upon land, and what passes at sea is new to them. The deep itself is a wonder, its vastness, its saltness, its ebbing and flowing. The great variety of living creatures in the sea is wonderful. Let those that go to sea be led, by all the wonders they observe there, to consider and adore the infinite perfections of that God whose the sea is, for he made it and manages it.

      II. It especially appears in storms at sea, which are much more terrible than at land. Observe here, 1. How dangerous and dreadful a tempest at sea is. Then wonders begin to appear in the deep, when God commands and raises the strong wind, which fulfils his word,Psalms 148:8. He raises the winds, as a prince by his commission raises forces. Satan pretends to be the prince of the power of the air; but he is a pretender; the powers of the air are at God's command, not at his. When the wind becomes stormy it lifts up the waves of the sea, Psalms 107:25; Psalms 107:25. Then the ships are kicked like tennis-balls on the tops of the waves; they seem to mount up to the heavens, and then they couch again, as if they would go down to the depths,Psalms 107:26; Psalms 107:26. A stranger, who had never seen it, would not think it possible for a ship to live at sea, as it will in a storm, and ride it out, but would expect that the next wave would bury it and it would never come up again; and yet God, who taught man discretion to make ships that should so strangely keep above water, does by his special providence preserve them, that they answer the end to admiration. When the ships are thus tossed the soul of the seaman melts because of trouble; and, when the storm is very high, even those that are used to the sea can neither shake off nor dissemble their fears, but they reel to and fro, and tossing makes them giddy, and they stagger and are sick, it may be, like a drunken man; the whole ship's crew are in confusion and quite at their wits' end (Psalms 107:27; Psalms 107:27), not knowing what to do more for their preservation; all their wisdom is swallowed up, and they are ready to give up themselves for gone, Jonah 1:5-11, c. 2. How seasonable it is at such a time to pray. Those that go to sea must expect such perils as are here described, and the best preparation they can make for them is to make sure a liberty of access to God by prayer, for then they will cry unto the Lord,Psalms 107:28; Psalms 107:28. We have a saying, "Let those that would learn to pray go to sea;" I say, Let those that will go to sea learn to pray, and accustom themselves to pray, that they may come with the more boldness to the throne of grace when they are in trouble. Even heathen mariners, in a storm, cried every man to his god; but those that have the Lord for their God have a present and powerful help in that and every other time of need, so that when they are at their wits' end they are not at their faith's end. 3. How wonderfully God sometimes appears for those that are in distress at sea, in answer to their prayers: He brings them out of the danger; and, (1.) The sea is still: He makes the storm a calm,Psalms 107:29; Psalms 107:29. The winds fall, and only by their soft and gentle murmurs serve to lull the waves asleep again, so that the surface of the sea becomes smooth and smiling. By this Christ proved himself to be more than a man that even the winds and the seas obeyed him. (2.) The seamen are made easy: They are glad because they are quiet, quiet from the noise, quiet from the fear of evil. Quietness after a storm is a very desirable thing, and sensibly pleasant. (3.) The voyage becomes prosperous and successful: So he brings them to their desired haven,Psalms 107:30; Psalms 107:30. Thus he carries his people safely through all the storms and tempests that they meet with in their voyage heaven-ward, and lands them, at length, in the desired harbour. 4. How justly it is expected that all those who have had a safe passage over the sea, and especially who have been delivered from remarkable perils at sea, should acknowledge it with thankfulness, to the glory of God. Let them do it privately in their closets and families. Let them praise the Lord for his goodness to themselves and others, Psalms 107:31; Psalms 107:31. Let them do it publicly (Psalms 107:32; Psalms 107:32), in the congregation of the people and in the assembly of the elders; there let them erect the memorials of their deliverance, to the honour of God, and for the encouragement of others to trust him.