The difference in the style and contents of the latter part of this psalm has been noticed by almost every writer. The pictures, with their closing refrain, cease; and in a hurried way instances of God's providential government are given. It has been thought that the psalm was completed by another poet; but in that case the structure of the psalm would have been closely imitated. The peculiarity of this portion may be explained by showing that the psalmist had spoken of God's gracious relation to special forms of trouble; and he might leave the impression that God was only in them. And men might be feeling very deeply how
commonplace their life was. Without such special experiences they might take up the notion that they were out of the spheres of special Divine mercies; and so the didactic psalmist puts in a word for these: in a few skilful sentences he sketches ordinary, commonplace life, and shows God's relation to
it. The things briefly mentioned suggest -
I. THE COMMONPLACE ADVERSITIES OF LIFE. Such are the difficulties of the seasons, the rains, the floods, the drought, in their relation to agricultural life.
II. THE COMMONPLACE ENTERPRISES OF LIFE. Working for a living, tillage, building, planting, tending cattle, etc.
III. THE COMMONPLACE DISASTERS OF LIFE. Accidents, diseases, plagues, etc.
IV. THE COMMONPLACE ENMITIES OF LIFE. For few men pass through many years without suffering from the mischief-making schemes of those who, by reason of envy or masterfulness, make themselves their enemies. The psalmist urges that God is quits as truly in the commonplace as in the unusual. He is working through our everyday life experience some high and gracious moral end. And therefore every man should be quick to observe the "loving-kindness of the Lord," and ever ready to "praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men." - R.T.
He turneth rivers into a wilderness.
Homilist.
I. IT INVOLVES GREAT REVOLUTIONS.
1. In the secular department (vers. 33-38). Sodom's fertile soil was smitten with barrenness. Canaan, at one time one of the most fruitful spots under heaven, is now one of the most worthless. How does God do this generally?(1) He does it by man. To man He has given the power to change the character of the soil, to make orchards out of wildernesses, and gardens out of deserts, and thus cause the "wilderness to blossom as the rose."(2) He does it by man, with a due regard to man's character. By the moral, the wise, the industrious man, He makes the barren places fruitful; and by the corrupt, the indolent, the foolish man, He turns a fruitful land into barrenness.
2. In the social department.(1) In families. Providence has been compared to a wheel; as the wheel goes round, those who are up to-day will be down to-morrow, and the reverse.(2) In nations.
II. IT REPAYS THE STUDY OF THE WISEST MEN. There is no subject for human study of such transcendent interest and importance as that of God's management of man. kind. The study of this subject will serve three purposes.
1. To rejoice the good. "The righteous shall see it and rejoice." The righteous will see in the subject how wisely, how beneficently, how universally all things are managed, how "all things work together for good to them that love God," how even evil is overruled to answer benevolent ends.
2. To confound the wicked. "All iniquity shall stop her mouth." "It shall be," says an old author, "a full conviction of the folly of atheists, of those that deny the Divine providence, and forasmuch as practical atheism is at the bottom of all sin, it shall in effect stop the mouth of all iniquity. When sinners see how this punishment answers to their sin, and how justly God deals with them in taking away from them those gifts of His which they had abused, they shall not have one word to say for themselves. God will be justified, He will be clear."
3. To reveal God's infinite lovingkindness to all.(1) Human suffering, however great., is never equal in amount to that of human enjoyment. This is obvious from the circumstance that men, even in the greatest affliction and trial, earnestly desire the perpetuation of their life and struggle for it.(2) Human suffering is generally, if not always, ascribable to human conduct. Either their ancestors or themselves have broken those organic, moral, and social laws, the observance of which is the condition of happiness.(3) Human suffering may, and should, contribute to lasting enjoyment. Sufferings are disciplinary, they are only storms to purify the moral atmosphere of the world, medicated ingredients in the cup of life which, though bitter, are designed and suited to heal the diseases of the soul, and to make it happy and hale.
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People
David,
PsalmistPlaces
JerusalemTopics
Adversity, Affliction, Bow, Bowed, Calamity, Crushed, Decreased, Diminished, Dwindle, Evil, Humbled, Low, Minished, Misery, Oppression, Restraint, Sorrow, TroubleOutline
1. The psalmist exhorts the redeemed in praising God to observe his manifold providence4. Over travelers10. Over captives17. Over sick men23. Over sailors33. And in diverse varieties of life.Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 107:39 5567 suffering, emotional
5970 unhappiness
8276 humility
Psalm 107:1-43
5831 depression
Library
March 12. "They Wandered in the Wilderness in a Solitary Way" (Ps. Cvii. 4).
"They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way" (Ps. cvii. 4). All who fight the Lord's battles must be content to die to all the favorable opinions of men and all the flattery of human praise. You cannot make an exception in favor of the good opinions of the children of God. It is very easy for the insidious adversary to make this also all appeal to the flesh. It is all right when God sends us the approval of our fellow men, but we must never make it a motive in our life, but be content with …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth Prayer and Science
(Preached at St. Olave's Church, Hart Street, before the Honourable Corporation of the Trinity House, 1866.) PSALM cvii. 23, 24, 28. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. These are days in which there is much dispute about religion and science--how far they agree with each other; whether they contradict or interfere …
Charles Kingsley—Discipline and Other Sermons
God's Great Deliverance of his People. --Ps. Cvii.
God's great Deliverance of His People.--Ps. cvii. part I.--The Wilderness. part II.--From Captivity. part III. From Malignant Disease. part IV. Perils on the Deep. Thank and praise Jehovah's name For his mercies firm and sure, From eternity the same, To eternity endure. Let the ransom'd thus rejoice, Gather'd out of every land; As the people of his choice, Pluck'd from the destroyer's hand. In the wilderness astray, Hither, thither, while they roam, Hungry, fainting by the way, Far from refuge, …
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns
Thankfulness for Mercies Received, a Necessary Duty
Numberless marks does man bear in his soul, that he is fallen and estranged from God; but nothing gives a greater proof thereof, than that backwardness, which every one finds within himself, to the duty of praise and thanksgiving. When God placed the first man in paradise, his soul no doubt was so filled with a sense of the riches of the divine love, that he was continually employing that breath of life, which the Almighty had not long before breathed into him, in blessing and magnifying that all-bountiful, …
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield
He Accuses Abaelard for Preferring his Own Opinions and Even Fancies to the Unanimous Consent of the Fathers, Especially Where He Declares that Christ did Not
He accuses Abaelard for preferring his own opinions and even fancies to the unanimous consent of the Fathers, especially where he declares that Christ did not become incarnate in order to save man from the power of the devil. 11. I find in a book of his sentences, and also in an exposition of his of the Epistle to the Romans, that this rash inquirer into the Divine Majesty attacks the mystery of our Redemption. He admits in the very beginning of his disputation that there has never been but one conclusion …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux
Spiritual Hunger Shall be Satisfied
They shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 I proceed now to the second part of the text. A promise annexed. They shall be filled'. A Christian fighting with sin is not like one that beats the air' (1 Corinthians 9:26), and his hungering after righteousness is not like one that sucks in only air, Blessed are they that hunger, for they shall be filled.' Those that hunger after righteousness shall be filled. God never bids us seek him in vain' (Isaiah 45:19). Here is an honeycomb dropping into the mouths of …
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12
How those are to be Admonished with whom Everything Succeeds According to their Wish, and those with whom Nothing Does.
(Admonition 27.) Differently to be admonished are those who prosper in what they desire in temporal matters, and those who covet indeed the things that are of this world, but yet are wearied with the labour of adversity. For those who prosper in what they desire in temporal matters are to be admonished, when all things answer to their wishes, lest, through fixing their heart on what is given, they neglect to seek the giver; lest they love their pilgrimage instead of their country; lest they turn …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great
"But if the Spirit of Him that Raised up Jesus from the Dead Dwell in You, He that Raised up Christ from the Dead, Shall Also
Rom. viii. 11.--"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." As there is a twofold death,--the death of the soul, and the death of the body--so there is a double resurrection, the resurrection of the soul from the power of sin, and the resurrection of the body from the grave. As the first death is that which is spiritual, then that which is bodily, so …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning
The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity
Exposition of Chap. Iii. (ii. 28-32. )
Ver. 1. "And it shall come to pass, afterwards, I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions." The communication of the Spirit of God was the constant prerogative of the Covenant-people. Indeed, the very idea of such a people necessarily requires it. For the Spirit of God is the only inward bond betwixt Him and that which is created; a Covenant-people, therefore, without such an inward …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament
Concerning the Lord's Supper
There are two passages which treat in the clearest manner of this subject, and at which we shall look,--the statements in the Gospels respecting the Lord's Supper, and the words of Paul. (1 Cor. xi.) Matthew, Mark, and Luke agree that Christ gave the whole sacrament to all His disciples; and that Paul taught both parts of it is so certain, that no one has yet been shameless enough to assert the contrary. Add to this, that according to the relation of Matthew, Christ did not say concerning the bread, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation
Effects of Messiah's Appearance
The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped: Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing. H ow beautiful and magnificent is the imagery, by which the Prophet, in this chapter, represents the effects of MESSIAH'S appearance! The scene, proposed to our view, is a barren and desolate wilderness. But when He, who in the beginning said, Let there be light, and there was light, condescends to visit this wilderness, the face of nature is …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1
Concerning Christian Liberty
CHRISTIAN faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do, because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation. While he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation
Memoir of John Bunyan
THE FIRST PERIOD. THIS GREAT MAN DESCENDED FROM IGNOBLE PARENTS--BORN IN POVERTY--HIS EDUCATION AND EVIL HABITS--FOLLOWS HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS AS A BRAZIER--ENLISTS FOR A SOLDIER--RETURNS FROM THE WARS AND OBTAINS AN AMIABLE, RELIGIOUS WIFE--HER DOWER. 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.'--2 Cor 4:7 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.'--Isaiah 55:8. 'Though ye have lien among the …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3
Concerning Christian Liberty
Christian faith has appeared to many an easy thing; nay, not a few even reckon it among the social virtues, as it were; and this they do because they have not made proof of it experimentally, and have never tasted of what efficacy it is. For it is not possible for any man to write well about it, or to understand well what is rightly written, who has not at some time tasted of its spirit, under the pressure of tribulation; while he who has tasted of it, even to a very small extent, can never write, …
Martin Luther—Concerning Christian Liberty
Effectual Calling
THE second qualification of the persons to whom this privilege in the text belongs, is, They are the called of God. All things work for good "to them who are called." Though this word called is placed in order after loving of God, yet in nature it goes before it. Love is first named, but not first wrought; we must be called of God, before we can love God. Calling is made (Rom. viii. 30) the middle link of the golden chain of salvation. It is placed between predestination and glorification; and if …
Thomas Watson—A Divine Cordial
Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament
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