Discovery BoxPsalms 107:1-7 
ContextBook 5
(Psalms 107-150)
107:1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures! 2
107:2 Let those delivered by the Lord speak out, 3
those whom he delivered 4 from the power 5 of the enemy,
107:3 and gathered from foreign lands, 6
from east and west,
from north and south.
107:4 They wandered through the wilderness on a desert road;
they found no city in which to live.
107:5 They were hungry and thirsty;
they fainted from exhaustion. 7
107:6 They cried out to the Lord in their distress;
he delivered them from their troubles.
107:7 He led them on a level road, 8
that they might find a city in which to live.
Psalms 107:33-35
Context107:33 He turned 9 streams into a desert,
springs of water into arid land,
107:34 and a fruitful land into a barren place, 10
because of the sin of its inhabitants.
107:35 As for his people, 11 he turned 12 a desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into springs of water.
1 sn Psalm 107. The psalmist praises God for his kindness to his exiled people.
2 tn Heb “for forever [is] his loyal love.”
3 tn Or “let the redeemed of the
4 tn Or “redeemed.”
5 tn Heb “hand.”
6 tn Heb “from lands.” The word “foreign” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
7 tn Heb “and their soul in them fainted.”
8 sn A level road. See Jer 31:9.
9 tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. (The use of prefixed forms with vav [ו] consecutive in vv. 36-37 favor this.) The psalmist may return to the theme of God’s intervention for the exiles (see vv. 4-22, especially vv. 4-9). However, many regard vv. 33-41 as a hymnic description which generalizes about God’s activities among men. In this case it would be preferable to use the English present tense throughout (cf. NEB, NRSV).
10 tn Heb “a salty land.”
11 tn The words “As for his people” are not included in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity. The psalmist contrasts God’s judgment on his enemies with his blessing of his people. See the note on the word “enemies” in v. 39 for further discussion.
12 tn The verbal form appears to be a preterite, which is most naturally taken as narrational. See the note on the word “turned” in v. 33.
