BOOK V (Psalms 107-150)
Gratitude for God’s Deliverance
107 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His gracious love exists forever.
2 Let those who have been redeemed by the Lord declare it—
those whom he redeemed
from the power[a] of the enemy,
3 those whom he gathered from other lands—
from the east, west, north, and south.[b]
4 They wandered in desolate wilderness;
they found no road to a city where they could live.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
their spirits[c] failed.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them in a straight way
to find a city where they could live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for his gracious love
and his awesome deeds for mankind.
9 He has satisfied the one who thirsts,
filling the hungry with what is good.
10 Some sat in deepest darkness,
shackled with cruel iron,
11 because they had rebelled against the command of God,
despising the advice of the Most High.
12 He humbled them[d] through suffering,
as they stumbled without a helper.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
he delivered them from their distress.
14 And he[e] brought them out from darkness and the shadow of death,[f]
shattering their chains.
15 Let them give[g] thanks to the Lord for his gracious love,
and for his awesome deeds to mankind.
16 For he shattered bronze gates
and cut through iron bars.
17 Because of their rebellious ways,
fools suffered for their iniquities.
18 They[h] loathed all food,
and even reached the gates of death.
19 Yet when they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
he delivered them from certain destruction.
20 He issued his command[i] and healed them;
he delivered them from their destruction.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his gracious love,
and for his awesome deeds for mankind.
22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and talk about his works with shouts of joy.
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
who work in the great waters,
24 witnessed the works of the Lord—
his awesome deeds in the ocean’s depth.
25 He spoke and stirred up a windstorm
that made its waves surge.
26 The people[j] ascended skyward and descended to the depths,
their courage[k] melting away in their peril.
27 They reeled and staggered like a drunkard,
as all their wisdom became useless.
28 Yet when they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
the Lord brought them out of their distress.
29 He calmed the storm
and its waves[l] quieted down.
30 So they rejoiced that the waves[m] became quiet,
and he led them to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his gracious love
and for his awesome deeds on behalf of mankind.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the counsel of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
springs of water into dry ground,
34 and a fruitful land into a salty waste,
due to the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into a pool of water,
dry land into springs of water.
36 There he settled the hungry,
where they built a city to live in.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a productive harvest.
38 Then he blessed them, and they became numerous;
he multiplied their cattle.[n]
39 But they became few in number, and humiliated
by continued oppression, agony, and sorrow.
40 Having poured contempt on their nobles,
causing them to err aimlessly in the way.
41 Yet he lifted the needy from affliction
and made them families like a flock.
42 The upright see it and rejoice,
but the mouth of an evil person is shut.
43 Let whoever is wise observe these things,
that they may comprehend the gracious love of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Psalm 107:2 Lit. hand
- Psalm 107:3 Lit. and the sea; i.e. the Reed Sea
- Psalm 107:5 Lit. soul
- Psalm 107:12 Lit. humbled their hearts
- Psalm 107:14 So LXX DSS 4QPsf; MT reads He
- Psalm 107:14 So LXX; MT reads and gloom
- Psalm 107:15 So MT LXX; DSS 4QPsf reads Give
- Psalm 107:18 Lit. their souls
- Psalm 107:20 Lit. word
- Psalm 107:26 Lit. They
- Psalm 107:26 Lit. souls
- Psalm 107:29 So MT LXX; DSS 4QPsf reads and the waves of the sea; cf. Psa 107:25
- Psalm 107:30 Lit. they
- Psalm 107:38 Or he didn’t let their cattle become few