O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Psalms 107:1-43.-Thank Yahweh (Psalms 107:1); because He hath redeemed Israel from the east, west, north, and south (Psalms 107:2-3); like men wandering hungry and thirsty in a wilderness, and at last led to a city of habitation (Psalms 107:4-9); as men found in a prison, then released from bonds (Psalms 107:10-16); as men brought to death's door by sickness, then, upon praying, healed by Yahweh's word (Psalms 107:17-22); as men threatened with destruction by a storm at sea, then saved by Yahweh (Psalms 107:23-32). The order in all these cases is the trouble, the prayer, the deliverance, and the thanksgiving. But in Psalms 107:33-42 Israel declares in thanksgiving, Yahweh is turning the rivers of the world's prosperity into a wilderness, and the Church's wilderness into a standing water (Psalms 107:33-35); her change to prosperity in the city, the lands, and the cattle (Psalms 107:36-39); contempt poured on the world-princes, and the poor set on high, so that the righteous rejoice, and the oppressor stops his mouth (Psalms 107:40-42); the wise will observe and bless Yahweh for His loving-kindness (Psalms 107:43). The occasion (Psalms 107:32) was at an "assembly of the people and elders," a national feast at which thank offerings were presented (Psalms 107:22): probably the feast of tabernacles celebrated after the return from Babylon, 536 BC, when sacrifices were offered on the newly raised altar (Ezra 3:1-6). No mention of the temple occurs in our psalm; because its foundation was not laid until the next year (535 BC, Ezra 3:4; Ezra 3:8-13). Psalms 107:2; Psalms 107:11 show that the PRIMARY reference is not to the deliverances vouchsafed by God to men in general, but that to Israel from captivity. Not 'Elohiym (H430) (God in His relation to the world), but Yahweh (His covenant name to Israel) is He to whom those in trouble cry (Psalms 107:6; Psalms 107:13; Psalms 107:19; Psalms 107:28). What was prayed for in Psalms 106:47, with the promise of thanksgiving in the event of God hearing, is here thanked for.