The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"the redeemed," Hebrew ge'ulei (גְּאוּלֵי). These are people bought back, "whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." The Fifth Book of the Psalter opens by naming them, for the whole psalm is their testimony.

"say so," yomeru (יֹאמְרוּ). The opening command sets the tone for the whole psalm. If God has redeemed you, do not keep quiet about it. The redeemed have a duty to speak, to tell what the Lord has done; silence is not an option for a rescued soul.

"gathered them out of the lands," qibbetzam (קִבְּצָם). They are pulled in "from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south", a people collected from all the corners of the earth into one company of thanksgiving.

"a solitary way," derekh (דֶּרֶךְ) with none to dwell. The first of the psalm's four portraits of trouble is lost wanderers on a road where no one lives. "They found no city to dwell in," hungry, thirsty, fainting, with no home and no way through; it is a picture of the lost soul, adrift and unable to find rest anywhere.

"cried unto the LORD," vayyitz'aqu (וַיִּצְעֲקוּ). Here is the pattern that will repeat four times over, for it is the spine of the whole psalm: "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses." Trouble drives them to cry; the cry reaches God; God delivers, and leads the homeless wanderers home.

"satisfieth the longing soul," hisbia nefesh shoqeqah (הִשְׂבִּיעַ נֶפֶשׁ שֹׁקֵקָה). The very thing the wanderers could not find in the wilderness, rest and fulness, God gives to all who cry to Him. He "filleth the hungry soul with goodness."

Explanation

The opening command sets the tone for the whole psalm: "Let the redeemed of the LORD say so." If God has redeemed you, do not keep quiet about it, say so. The redeemed have a duty to speak, to tell what the Lord has done, to add their voice to the thanksgiving. Silence is not an option for a rescued soul. And these redeemed are "gathered out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south", pulled in from every direction, a people collected from all the corners of the earth. Then the psalm gives the first of its four portraits of trouble: lost wanderers. They "wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in," hungry, thirsty, fainting, with no home and no way through. It is a picture of the lost soul, adrift, unsatisfied, unable to find rest anywhere. And now watch the pattern that will repeat four times over, for it is the spine of the whole psalm: "Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses." Trouble drives them to cry; the cry reaches God; God delivers. He "led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation", the homeless wanderers are brought home. And the fitting response is named: "Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness." He is the God who "satisfieth the longing soul", the very thing the wanderers could not find in the wilderness, rest and fulness, God gives to all who cry to Him.

Gospel Focus

"Let the redeemed of the LORD say so", we who are in Christ are the redeemed in the fullest sense, "not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold... But with the precious blood of Christ" (1 Peter 1:18-19), and so we must say so, tell what He has done. The lost wanderers with no city picture every soul before Christ, restless and homeless, but He gathers His people "from the east and west, from the north, and from the south" into His kingdom (compare Matthew 8:11), and leads them home to the city "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10), for "here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come" (Hebrews 13:14). And He "satisfieth the longing soul," for Jesus says, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger" (John 6:35). The wandering, hungry heart finds in Christ both the way home and the food that satisfies. If He has found and fed you, then say so.

Word Study

"fools," Hebrew evilim (אֱוִלִים). This third portrait is the most sobering, because the sufferers are named for their folly. These are not the innocent caught in someone else's disaster; the trouble begins in themselves.

"because of their transgression," midderekh pish'am (מִדֶּרֶךְ פִּשְׁעָם). The affliction is entirely self-inflicted; it comes by way of their own rebellion. These people are reaping what they sowed, brought low by their own sin and folly.

"abhorreth all manner of meat," teta'ev... okhel (תְּתַעֵב אֹכֶל). The ruin has reached the body: they cannot even eat, loathing the very food that would keep them alive. Sin has taken away the appetite for life itself.

"the gates of death," sha'arei mavet (שַׁעֲרֵי מָוֶת). They "draw near unto the gates of death." They are dying, and it is their own fault, which is exactly what makes the next line so full of grace: God does not turn away the fool whose ruin is his own doing.

"he sent his word, and healed them," yishlach devaro veyirpa'em (יִשְׁלַח דְּבָרוֹ וְיִרְפָּאֵם). Notice the means of the rescue. God did not merely change their circumstances; He spoke, and His word carried healing. The word of God is the medicine; He sends it, and the dying are made whole.

Explanation

This third portrait is the most sobering, because the trouble here is entirely self-inflicted. "Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted." This is not innocent suffering; these people are reaping what they sowed, brought low by their own sin and folly, until "their soul abhorreth all manner of meat", they cannot even eat, "and they draw near unto the gates of death." They are dying, and it is their own fault. And that is exactly what makes the next line so full of grace: "Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them." God does not turn away the fool whose ruin is his own doing. The cry of the self-destructive is still heard; grace stoops even to those who cannot blame anyone but themselves. And notice the means of the rescue: "He sent his word, and healed them." God did not merely change their circumstances; He spoke, and His word carried healing. The word of God is the medicine; He sends it, and the dying are made whole. This is a beautiful foreshadowing, that healing comes when God sends forth His word, and it points ahead to the day when the Word Himself would be sent to heal a world dying of its own sin. The right response, again, is thanksgiving, "let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing."

Gospel Focus

"He sent his word, and healed them", this is fulfilled beyond the psalmist's sight in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, for "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). God's ultimate sending of His word to heal was the sending of His Son. In His earthly ministry Christ healed with a word, as the centurion knew: "speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed" (Matthew 8:8). And He came for exactly the kind of people this passage describes, those sick and dying because of their own sin, for "they that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick" (Matthew 9:12). The fool ruined by his own transgression, like the prodigal who wasted everything, is met not with rejection but with a healing word and a welcome home. So if your trouble is your own fault, if you are reaping the bitter fruit of your own folly and drawing near the gates of death, cry to the Lord. He sends His word, the Lord Jesus Himself, and heals even those who have no one to blame but themselves.

Word Study

"the stormy wind," Hebrew ruach se'arah (רוּחַ סְעָרָה). The storm is not an accident of weather: "he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind." It was under God's command from the first, which is why it can be stilled at His word.

"their soul is melted," nafsham... titmogag (נַפְשָׁם תִּתְמוֹגָג). The waves toss the ship so violently that the men "mount up to the heaven" on the crest and plunge "down again to the depths" in the trough, until their courage dissolves inside them.

"at their wits' end," vekhol-chokhmatam titballa (וְכָל־חָכְמָתָם תִּתְבַּלָּע), all their wisdom is swallowed up. These are not landlubbers; they are experienced seamen, and the storm has stripped away every scrap of their competence. They have run clean out of answers, and it is precisely then that they finally do the one thing that avails and cry to the LORD.

"he maketh the storm a calm," yaqem se'arah lidmamah (יָקֵם סְעָרָה לִדְמָמָה). Notice who calms the sea. The same God who raised the stormy wind in verse 25 is the God who stills it in verse 29, "so that the waves thereof are still."

"their desired haven," mechoz cheftzam (מְחוֹז חֶפְצָם). The deliverance has a goal. He does not merely still the storm and leave them adrift; He brings them home to the harbour they longed for, and "then are they glad because they be quiet."

Explanation

This fourth scene is the most vivid in the psalm. Sailors "that go down to the sea in ships" are caught in a storm that God Himself sends, "he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind." The waves toss the ship so violently that the men "mount up to the heaven" on the crest and plunge "down again to the depths" in the trough; "their soul is melted because of trouble." And here is the telling detail: "they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end." The Hebrew says all their wisdom is swallowed up. These are not landlubbers; they are experienced seamen, skilled in the ways of the sea, and the storm has stripped away every scrap of their competence. They have run clean out of answers. And it is precisely then, when human skill is exhausted, that they finally do the one thing that avails: "Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses." Notice who calms the sea, "He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still." The same God who "raiseth the stormy wind" (verse 25) is the God who stills it (verse 29); the storm was under His command from the first. And the deliverance has a goal: "so he bringeth them unto their desired haven." He does not merely still the storm and leave them adrift; He brings them home to the harbor they longed for. When your own wisdom is swallowed up and you are at your wits' end, that is the moment to cry to the Lord of the storm.

Gospel Focus

"He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still", these words came true in the flesh when the Lord Jesus stood in a boat on a storm-tossed sea, "and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (Mark 4:39). The terrified disciples were the sailors of Psalm 107, at their wits' end, crying, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?", and the One who stilled the storm with a word is the LORD of this psalm, who both raises the wind and lays it to rest. When your wisdom is swallowed up and every human resource has failed, He is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30), and He is able to speak peace to the wildest storm. And He brings His own to "their desired haven," the safe harbor of the soul, and at last to the eternal rest of heaven. So cry to Him in the storm. The Christ who calmed Galilee still makes the storm a calm, and He will bring you home to the haven you long for.