Understand the Lovingkindness of the LORD

This psalm encourages us by looking at God's deliverance on many occasions when His people were in distress. They were in darkness and in the shadow of death as a result of their rebellion against God. In their distress, they called out to God, and out of His Goodness and Mercy, He brought them out of their darkness.

So this psalm calls for thanksgiving and rejoicing to recognize God's goodness. The LORD is also a just and fair God. He depreciates the land and resources of the wicked and blesses the land and resources of the obedient. The psalm end beautifully with:

"Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD."


Psalm 107
Thanksgiving to the LORD for His Great Works of Deliverance

 1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!
         For His mercy endures forever.
 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
         Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
 3 And gathered out of the lands,
         From the east and from the west,
         From the north and from the south.
       
 4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way;
         They found no city to dwell in.
 5 Hungry and thirsty,
         Their soul fainted in them.
 6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
         And He delivered them out of their distresses.
 7 And He led them forth by the right way,
         That they might go to a city for a dwelling place.
 8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
         And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
 9 For He satisfies the longing soul,
         And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
       
 10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
         Bound in affliction and irons—
 11 Because they rebelled against the words of God,
         And despised the counsel of the Most High,
 12 Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
         They fell down, and there was none to help.
 13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
         And He saved them out of their distresses.
 14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
         And broke their chains in pieces.
 15 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
         And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
 16 For He has broken the gates of bronze,
         And cut the bars of iron in two.
       
 17 Fools, because of their transgression,
         And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
 18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food,
         And they drew near to the gates of death.
 19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
         And He saved them out of their distresses.
 20 He sent His word and healed them,
         And delivered them from their destructions.
 21 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
         And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
 22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
         And declare His works with rejoicing.
       
 23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
         Who do business on great waters,
 24 They see the works of the LORD,
         And His wonders in the deep.
 25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
         Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
 26 They mount up to the heavens,
         They go down again to the depths;
         Their soul melts because of trouble.
 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
         And are at their wits’ end.
 28 Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble,
         And He brings them out of their distresses.
 29 He calms the storm,
         So that its waves are still.
 30 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
         So He guides them to their desired haven.
 31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
         And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
 32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
         And praise Him in the company of the elders.
       
 33 He turns rivers into a wilderness,
         And the watersprings into dry ground;
 34 A fruitful land into barrenness,
         For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
 35 He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
         And dry land into watersprings.
 36 There He makes the hungry dwell,
         That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
 37 And sow fields and plant vineyards,
         That they may yield a fruitful harvest.
 38 He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
         And He does not let their cattle decrease.
       
 39 When they are diminished and brought low
         Through oppression, affliction, and sorrow,
 40 He pours contempt on princes,
         And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
 41 Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction,
         And makes their families like a flock.
 42 The righteous see it and rejoice,
         And all iniquity stops its mouth.
       
 43 Whoever is wise will observe these things,
         And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.