Psalm 107 opens Book V of the Psalter with a great litany of redemption. The redeemed are gathered from east and west and north and sea, and then four pictures of human distress are set before us: wanderers in the wilderness, prisoners in darkness, the sick brought low through iniquity, and mariners swallowed by the terror of the deep. In every case the same pattern returns: affliction, cry, deliverance, thanksgiving. St Augustine says the Psalm was given to the Church so “that it might know itself therein as in a mirror.”
Its spiritual center is not merely rescue from crisis, but the merciful pedagogy of God. The Psalm teaches the Church how to read her own history and the history of every soul: hunger that must be satisfied in God, bondage that must be broken by repentance, sickness healed by the sent Word, storms stilled only by the Lord, and providential reversals that reveal the mercies of God to the wise.
Psalm 107 (LXX 106) - Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good
Psalm Metadata
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| NKJV / Masoretic numbering | Psalm 107 |
| Septuagint / Coptic numbering | Psalm 106 |
| Accepted author | Alleluia. |
| Period in author’s life | No precise personal event is given; the Psalm is a communal thanksgiving, likely post-exilic in shape, at the head of Book V. |
| Christ prophecy status | Typological and ecclesial. The redeeming, gathering, healing, and storm-stilling work of God reaches its fullest light in Christ and His Church. |
| Coptic lectionary/service use | Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings. |
| Numbering issue | This note embeds Brenton LXX Psalm 106. Local lectionary rows, if any, would preserve printed Psalm 107 references. |
Historical and Scriptural Context
Psalm 107 is the first psalm of the final book of the Psalter and functions like a threshold. The exile is behind the people, but memory still needs healing. The Psalm therefore gathers the language of Exodus, wilderness, imprisonment, sickness, and storm into a single hymn of deliverance.
Augustine reads it as the voice of the universal Church, not merely of ancient Israel. The gathering from the four directions points to the ingathering of the nations. The four distress-scenes are not random anecdotes. They are recurring spiritual conditions of the soul and of the people of God: lostness, bondage, inner corruption, and helplessness before chaos. The wisdom at the end of the Psalm is the wisdom to read all of life through the mercies of God.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
The Psalm moves through wilderness, city, prison-darkness, sickness, sea, haven, desert, fruitful land, and settled habitation. Each landscape becomes a theological image. The Lord does not redeem in one kind of place only. He rules hunger, prison, disease, storm, drought, and human settlement alike.
The Characters 👥
The Lord. The Redeemer whose mercy endures forever, who hears the cry of the afflicted and reverses impossible conditions.
The redeemed. Those gathered from every direction and commanded to confess publicly what the Lord has done.
The wanderers. The hungry and thirsty who have lost the road to the city.
The captives. Those sitting in darkness and shadow because rebellion has hardened into bondage.
The sick. Those brought low through iniquity until even food is loathsome.
The mariners. Those whose skill fails when the deep rises against them.
🕯️ Light from the Word
Psalm 106:1-3, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
106:1 Alleluia. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever. 106:2 Let them say so who have been redeemed by the Lord, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 106:3 and gathered them out of the countries, from the east, and west, and north, and south.
The Psalm opens with the confession that mercy precedes every other theme. The redeemed are not merely relieved; they are gathered and taught to speak. Thanksgiving is the public language of the saved.
Augustine hears in the gathering from the four directions the world-wide Church. This is why the Psalm is so useful pastorally. It does not address one spiritual temperament only. It calls the whole redeemed people to remember that they have been brought out from the hand of the enemy and reassembled into one people of praise.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good”; “gathered them out of the countries.”
- Emphasize: redemption gathers the scattered into one thankful people.
- Avoid: reducing thanksgiving to private gratitude only.
Psalm 106:4-9, they wandered in the wilderness
106:4 They wandered in the wilderness in a dry land; they found no way to a city of habitation. 106:5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. 106:6 Then they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and he delivered them out of their distresses. 106:7 And he guided them into a straight path, that they might go to a city of habitation. 106:8 Let them acknowledge to the Lord his mercies, and his wonderful works to the children of men. 106:9 For he satisfies the empty soul, and fills the hungry soul with good things.
The wanderers are not simply lost geographically. Their condition is existential: no city, no bread, no water, no strength. Yet the Lord does not leave them to self-discovery. He guides them into a straight path and brings them toward habitation.
Augustine reads this as the soul’s discovery that the world cannot become a lasting city. Hunger and thirst are not accidental embarrassments; they are revelations of need. Christologically, the straight path and the satisfying of the hungry soul point to Christ Himself, the Way and the Bread of life, who leads the restless into the city of God.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “their soul fainted in them”; “he satisfies the empty soul.”
- Emphasize: spiritual hunger is meant to drive the soul toward God, not away from Him.
- Avoid: presenting wilderness seasons as signs of abandonment.
Psalm 106:10-16, them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death
106:10 Even them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death, fettered in poverty and iron; 106:11 because they rebelled against the words of God, and provoked the counsel of the Most High. 106:12 So their heart was brought low with troubles; they were weak, and there was no helper. 106:13 Then they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and he saved them out of their distresses. 106:14 And he brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds asunder. 106:15 Let them acknowledge to the Lord his mercies, and his wonders to the children of men. 106:16 For he broke to pieces the brazen gates, and crushed the iron bars.
Here the Psalm is painfully explicit: bondage is not unfortunate mood, but rebellion grown heavy. The heart that resists the words of God eventually learns the weight of its own chains.
Yet the cry of repentance is still heard. Augustine treats the breaking of brass gates and iron bars as proof that no bondage is too strong for the Lord. In Christ, the Church hears not only moral correction but Paschal power. The One who descends into death breaks what we cannot break from within.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “they rebelled against the words of God”; “broke their bonds asunder.”
- Emphasize: sin imprisons, but no prison is stronger than the mercy of God.
- Avoid: speaking of grace as though it bypasses repentance.
Psalm 106:17-22, he sent his word, and healed them
106:17 He helped them out of the way of their iniquity; for they were brought low because of their iniquities. 106:18 Their soul abhorred all meat; and they drew near to the gates of death. 106:19 Then they cried to the Lord in their affliction, and he saved them out of their distresses. 106:20 He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them out of their destructions. 106:21 Let them acknowledge to the Lord his mercies, and his wonderful works to the children of men. 106:22 And let them offer to him the sacrifice of praise, and proclaim his works with exultation.
This third scene is not prison but sickness. Sin has now become inward corruption. The soul has reached the terrible state in which it loathes even what ought to nourish it. Augustine’s diagnosis is piercing: “It is a sort of corruption of the mind to loathe what is sweet.”
That line makes the section spiritually weighty. It is possible for a person to become so ill within that prayer, Scripture, sacrament, or holy counsel feel tasteless. But the answer is not self-rescue. The Lord “sent his word, and healed them.” The Fathers naturally hear Christ here: the Word sent from the Father heals not by advice alone, but by His saving presence.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “Their soul abhorred all meat”; “He sent his word, and healed them.”
- Emphasize: spiritual disgust is itself a symptom that must be confessed and healed.
- Avoid: assuming that indifference toward holy things is harmless or mature detachment.
Psalm 106:23-32, they that go down to the sea in ships
106:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in many waters; 106:24 these have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 106:25 He speaks, and the stormy wind arises, and its waves are lifted up. 106:26 They go up to the heavens, and go down to the depths; their soul melts because of troubles. 106:27 They are troubled, they stagger as a drunkard, and all their wisdom is swallowed up. 106:28 Then they cry to the Lord in their affliction, and he brings them out of their distresses. 106:29 And he commands the storm, and it is calmed into a gentle breeze, and its waves are still. 106:30 And they are glad, because they are quiet; and he guides them to their desired haven. 106:31 Let them acknowledge to the Lord his mercies, and his wonderful works to the children of men. 106:32 Let them exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the seat of the elders.
The mariners are not faithless men; they are competent men. That is why the section is so powerful. They know the sea, and yet the sea defeats their wisdom. “All their wisdom is swallowed up.”
Augustine sees in this the tumults of the present age, public upheavals, ecclesial distress, and the storms that reveal the limits of merely human mastery. The Church therefore reads the desired haven Christologically. The Lord who calmed the sea in the Gospel is the same Lord who brings His people through chaos into peace.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “all their wisdom is swallowed up”; “he guides them to their desired haven.”
- Emphasize: human skill has limits; the Lord remains master of the deep.
- Avoid: turning the Psalm into a promise of an easy life free from storms.
Psalm 106:33-43, who is wise, and will observe these things
106:33 He turns rivers into a desert, and streams of water into a dry land; 106:34 a fruitful land into saltness, for the wickedness of them that dwell in it. 106:35 He turns a wilderness into pools of water, and a dry land into streams of water. 106:36 And there he causes the hungry to dwell, and they establish for themselves cities of habitation. 106:37 And they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and they yield fruit of increase. 106:38 And he blesses them, and they multiply exceedingly, and he diminishes not the number of their cattle. 106:39 Again they become few, and are brought low, by the pressure of evils and pain. 106:40 Contempt is poured upon their princes, and he causes them to wander in a desert and trackless land. 106:41 But he helps the poor out of poverty, and makes him families as a flock. 106:42 The upright shall see and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. 106:43 Who is wise, and will observe these things, and understand the mercies of the Lord?
The Psalm does not end with one more rescue-story. It ends by teaching providence. Fruitful lands can be judged. Wildernesses can become fruitful. Princes can be emptied. The poor can be made to flourish. Wisdom is the ability to observe these reversals and to understand the mercies of the Lord rather than reading history superficially.
Augustine hears an ecclesial warning in the line about becoming few: those who leave the place of grace do not become larger in spirit by separation. They become diminished. At the same time, the Lord makes the poor into families as a flock. Mercy is not merely individual. It is household-forming, city-forming, Church-forming.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “He helps the poor out of poverty”; “Who is wise, and will observe these things?”
- Emphasize: divine mercy is discovered not by sentiment alone, but by spiritually reading God’s providence.
- Avoid: calling every reversal a simple punishment formula. The Psalm teaches reverent discernment, not simplistic analysis.
The Church’s Voice in Worship 📖
Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings.
Iconography Connection 🖼️
Psalm 107 connects naturally with icons of Christ calming the storm, the Good Shepherd gathering the lost, and the Resurrection as the final liberation from darkness and death. The desired haven and the healed soul both converge in Christ.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
- Learn the rhythm of affliction, cry, deliverance, and thanksgiving. The Psalm gives the soul a pattern for remembering grace.
- Do not hide your hunger. The Lord satisfies the empty soul, not the self-sufficient one.
- Confess spiritual sickness honestly. Loathing what is holy is a sign that the heart needs healing.
- Cry to the Lord before the storm breaks you. Human wisdom has limits.
- Ask for wisdom to read providence. The end of the Psalm is about discernment, not mere memory.
Teacher's Notes
- Timing: 10 minutes for the gathered redeemed, 10 minutes for wilderness and city, 10 minutes for prison and release, 10 minutes for sickness and the healing Word, 10 minutes for storm and haven, 10 minutes for providential reversals and wisdom.
- Where to linger: Psalm 106:17-22 and Psalm 106:43.
- Key phrase to say slowly: “that it might know itself therein as in a mirror.”
- Pastoral warning: do not use the Psalm to promise immediate physical resolution in every trouble. Its deepest promise is that mercy meets the cry of the afflicted and draws the soul into wiser thanksgiving.
Glossary
- Redeemed from the hand of the enemy: Those delivered from spiritual and physical bondage.
- City of habitation: In patristic reading, a fitting image of settled life in God and the Church.
- Shadow of death: The realm of deepest darkness and affliction.
- Desired haven: The peace to which the Lord guides His people through chaos.
Translation and Source Notes
Embedded Scripture is Brenton’s English Septuagint, Psalm 106. Verse 17 reflects the Brenton / LXX wording of the sickness unit rather than the more familiar Masoretic wording, and the note deliberately preserves that distinction. The study title uses NKJV numbering first, Psalm 107, with LXX 106 in parentheses.
Sources
Primary sources: Brenton Septuagint, Psalm 106; Exodus themes; exile-restoration themes; Gospel storm narratives.
Patristic sources: St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 107 (page title Psalm CVII / inline LXX Psalm 106 material), especially his reading of the Psalm as the Church’s mirror and his remark on the mind corrupted into loathing what is sweet; Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms on deliverance, providence, and thanksgiving.
Coptic Orthodox / liturgical sources: Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings.