Psalm 107 celebrates the Lord’s lovingkindness and wonders towards the sons of man. It has six stanzas.
Introduction, verses 1–3
The Lord’s Care in the Wilderness, verses 4–9
The Lord’s Breaking of Chains, verses 10–16
The Lord’s Deliverance from Destruction, verses 17–22
The Lord’s Calming of a Storm, verses 23–32
Conclusion, verses 33–43
One of the main questions about the psalm is whether there is any unity of theme or purpose in the four central stanzas other than the idea of his kindness and his miracles.
Some have suggested that verse 3 provides the answer. The Lord gathered the redeemed “from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” Each of the following stanzas then relates an event of Israel’s history to one of the four directions.
That theory receives some impetus from a more literal translation of the Hebrew. The word that most of the translations render as “south” is actually “sea,” and stanza 5 is about calming a storm on the sea. Since “the sea” often refers to the Mediterranean, the Scriptures sometimes use it as a substitute for west (cf. Isa. 11:14 and 49:12), but that makes no sense here; the immediately preceding line of the verse has already referred to west. Translators and commentators have therefore substituted the word south, which is similar to the word sea in Hebrew.
However, though we may associate care in the wilderness with Israel’s journey from Egypt to Canaan and entrance into Canaan from the east, it is more difficult to associate the breaking of chains with an event in the west. And there are no particular verbal connections to these four directions in the recording of the Lord’s acts of lovingkindness and wonders in the four stanzas.
A more likely interpretation of the psalm sees it as a celebration of the return from exile in Babylon. Striking similarities of language between the psalm and various passages in the prophecy of Isaiah point strongly in this direction.
One might think that the gathering of the redeemed from all four directions could not possibly refer to the return from exile in Babylon, which was to the east of Israel. Yet it is precisely verse 3 which relates directly to the prophecy of Isaiah. One passage in particular stands out, Isaiah 43:5–6: I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!’ Bring my sons from afar, And my daughter from the ends of the earth. The interesting thing is that Isaiah is probably also the prophet who most emphasizes that eventually the Gentiles will also be added to the people of God.
There are a couple other clues in the first stanza that also point to Babylon as the context. The first is the name “redeemed” in verse 2. This is one of Isaiah’s favorite names for the people of God (see 43:1, 14 for one example). He uses it more than twenty times, especially in chapters 40–66. The other is the word “gathered” in verse 3. This is another word that Isaiah uses frequently to describe the Lord’s work of bringing his people back to their own land. Chapter 43:5 is an example: I will… gather you from the west.
Stanza 1, therefore, has clear references to Isaiah. The same is true of stanza 2. Though the language is deliberately reminiscent of Israel’s journey from Egypt to Canaan, Isaiah uses it to describe the exile and the Lord’s care for his people during it. Again, chapter 43 (vv. 19–20) is one place to look: I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. The city to dwell in (26:1, 37:13, 26, 33–35, 45:13, 52:1, 60:14, 62:12), hunger and thirst (29:8, 32:6), their satisfaction (66:11), deliverance (note especially 36:14, 15, 18–20 and 43:13), and leading (42:16, 48:17) are also ideas that appear in Isaiah.
Stanza 3 contains many references to Isaiah. Darkness (appears about ten times in the prophet), the shadow of death (9:2), prisoners (14:17), affliction (48:10), iron (10:34, 44:12, 45:2, 48:4, 60:17), rebellion (1:20, 3:8, 50:5, 63:10), falling down or stumbling (about 10 times), chains (28:22, 52:2) and breaking bonds in pieces (5:27, 33:20, 58:6). But verse 16 stands out as the psalm’s pre-eminent connection with the prophet: He has broken the doors of bronze, and the bars of iron he has cut in two. Isaiah 45:1–2 says, Thus say the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron. This is the Lord’s assurance that he will remove every hindrance to the work which he has appointed Cyrus to do, returning the captive of Israel to their own land.
Stanza 4 has particularly close connections with the well-known prophecy of Christ in chapter 53: transgressions (53:5, 8), afflicted (53:4, 7), draw near (53:4), and heal (53:5). But it also is very similar in thrust to stanza 3. Both speak of judgment for sin, though in the first the judgment is captivity and in the second sickness that brings them near to death. These two stanzas should be considered together as different ways of describing the exile and deliverance from it.
Stanza 5 talks about those who go down to the sea (see Isa. 42:10), a great storm (Isa. 29:6, 40:24, 41:16) and waves of the sea (Isa 51:15), and staggering (Isa. 24:20) like a drunk (Isa. 19:14, 28:1–8, 29:9). Here, it must be admitted the connections are more tenuous. If one were to disagree with my interpretation, this would be the place to start.
Stanzas 3 and 4 are closely related; so also are stanzas 2 and 6. Both of the latter two describe the people of God as being in a wilderness. In the first the Lord takes them from the wilderness into a city for a dwelling. In the second he turns their fruitful land into a wilderness, but then changes it again from a wilderness to a fruitful Land. This is exactly what happened in the exile and return. Isaiah has references to rivers drying up (50:2), bringing low (5:15, 26:5, 29:4), oppression (53:8), and sorrow (35:10, 51:11), but also to parched ground becoming a pool (35:7) and springs being renewed (41:18, 43:19–20, 58:11), sowing (30:23), planting vineyards (65:21–22), multiplying (9:3, 51:2), and people like flocks (63:11, 65:10).
It seems likely to me, therefore, that Psalm 107 was written around the time of the return from exile and deliberately uses the language of Isaiah to celebrate it. The four central stanzas then describe the blessing of the return under different metaphors: coming from the wilderness to a city for a dwelling place and to a fruitful land, being released from prison, being healed of a terminal illness, and being saved from a great storm on the sea. But stanza 1—in the language of east, west, north and the sea—and stanza 5—again with its reference to the sea—seem to be reminding us that Isaiah also talks many times about the gathering of the Gentiles. The deliverances of this psalm are also ours, for God gathers his redeemed from the four corners of the earth, brings them from the wilderness of this world into a fruitful and abundant land, liberates them from the bondage of sin, heals their corruption, and shows to them his lovingkindness and wonders toward the sons of man. And stanza 6 reminds us that having been redeemed does not mean that we are therefore no longer subject to judgment, for the Lord can turn our pleasant lives into a waste and make us again spiritually hungry and thirsty, so that we cry to him in our trouble. Let men praise the Lord for his lovingkindness and for his wonders to the sons of man, and also, Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.