Christ in All of Scripture – Psalm 107:1-3
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south."
Although Psalm 107 begins the fifth and final book of the Psalter, it continues the themes of the despicable sinfulness of God’s people along with the gracious and restorative mercy of God that are also described in the narrative depictions of Psalms 105 and 106.
The opening verses announce the overarching message of the psalm: because God’s goodness and steadfast love endures forever, those redeemed by the Lord, wherever they may be (i.e., in their homeland or in exile), give thanks to him and look to him for future deliverance and restoration (Ps. 107:1–3). The psalm then focuses on four groupings (the “some” of vv. 4, 10, 17, 23) of God’s people who, in their respective situations of distress and need, look to God for help. Each group’s affliction differs, but each calls upon God for deliverance (vv. 6, 13, 19, 28), and God hears and answers their humble cries for help. Each, then, is encouraged to offer a response of thanksgiving to God (vv. 8, 15, 21, 31), expressing the praise and worth of God in light of his gracious and powerful deliverance.
God’s faithfulness to his own people, to hear and help in times of distress, is the repeated theme of this psalm. As God’s people learn that he “raises up the needy out of affliction” (v. 41), they will begin to “consider the steadfast love of the Lord” (v. 43). There is such good news here; although God’s people are feeble, needy, afflicted, and often sinful, yet his steadfast love never ceases. The grace we see here prepares us to understand its expression and fulfillment in Christ, by whom God has once and for all answered the cry of the needy. The steadfast love of the Lord becomes flesh-and-blood reality, before our very eyes, in Christ.
This series of posts pairs a brief passage of Scripture with associated study notes drawn from the Gospel Transformation Bible.
