Catholic Commentary on Psalm 107

"Let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story - those he redeemed from the hand of the foe." (Psalm 107:2)

Four Testimonies of Deliverance

Psalm 107 opens Book Five of the Psalter with a call to thanksgiving and then presents four vivid portraits of people in crisis who cried to the LORD and were delivered. Wanderers in desert wastelands, hungry and thirsty, cried out and were led to a city. Prisoners in darkness and iron chains, because they had rebelled against God's commands, cried out and were brought out of darkness. The desperately ill, who drew near the gates of death because of their iniquities, cried out and were healed. Sailors caught in a storm, tossed like toys by the waves, cried out and the storm was stilled, the waves hushed. After each portrait the psalm inserts the same refrain: Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind.

The Catechism identifies thanksgiving as one of the four great forms of prayer, together with adoration, petition, and intercession, and notes that it springs most naturally from the experience of having received something from God (CCC 2637). Psalm 107 models the testimony: tell your story. The command of verse 2 is not optional: let the redeemed of the LORD tell their story. The story of your deliverance is not yours to keep private. It is given to you so you can give it away.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, which of the four portraits is your story? The wanderer, the prisoner, the desperately ill, the sailor in the storm? You have been in one of these, perhaps in all of them. And you cried out, and he delivered you. Tell that story. Someone near you is in the portrait right now and needs to hear that the cry is answered.

Prayer

Lord God, we give thanks for your unfailing love and your wonderful deeds. You led us out of the desert, broke our chains, healed our sickness, and stilled our storm. Let us tell our story, that others may call out to you and find you as we found you. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

BOOK V
107
Psalms 107—150
Thanksgiving for Deliverance
(Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25)
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good;
His loving devotion endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
3 and gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.* 107:3 Hebrew north and the sea
 
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no path to a city in which to dwell.
5 They were hungry and thirsty;
their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and He delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them on a straight path
to reach a city where they could live.
8 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
and His wonders to the sons of men.
9 For He satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
 
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and chains,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God
and despised the counsel of the Most High.
12 He humbled their hearts with hard labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and He saved them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death
and broke away their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
and His wonders to the sons of men.
16 For He has broken down the gates of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron.
 
17 Fools, in their rebellious ways,
and through their iniquities, suffered affliction.
18 They loathed all food
and drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and He saved them from their distress.
20 He sent forth His word and healed them;
He rescued them from the Pit.
21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
and His wonders to the sons of men.
22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
and declare His works with rejoicing.
 
23 Others went out to sea in ships,
conducting trade on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the LORD,
and His wonders in the deep.
25 For He spoke and raised a tempest
that lifted the waves of the sea.
26 They mounted up to the heavens, then sunk to the depths;
their courage melted in their anguish.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and all their skill was useless.† 107:27 Or and all their wisdom was swallowed up or and they were at their wits’ end
 
28 Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and He brought them out of their distress.
29 He calmed the storm to a whisper,
and the waves of the sea ‡ 107:29 DSS; MT their waves were hushed.
30 They rejoiced in the silence,
and He guided them to the harbor they desired.
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion
and His wonders to the sons of men.
32 Let them exalt Him in the assembly of the people
and praise Him in the council of the elders.
 
33 He turns rivers into deserts,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into fields of salt,
because of the wickedness of its dwellers.
35 He turns a desert into pools of water
and a dry land into flowing springs.
36 He causes the hungry to settle there,
that they may establish a city in which to dwell.
37 They sow fields and plant vineyards
that yield a fruitful harvest.
38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
He does not let their herds diminish.
 
39 When they are decreased and humbled
by oppression, evil, and sorrow,
40 He pours out contempt on the nobles
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.
41 But He lifts the needy from affliction
and increases their families like flocks.
42 The upright see and rejoice,
and all iniquity shuts its mouth.
 
43 Let him who is wise pay heed to these things
and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.

*107:3 107:3 Hebrew north and the sea

†107:27 107:27 Or and all their wisdom was swallowed up or and they were at their wits’ end

‡107:29 107:29 DSS; MT their waves

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