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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.comTreasury of David - Psalms 107:23 - 107:23
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
24 These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up waves thereof.
26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.
28 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them of their distresses.
29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonder-works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise in the assembly of the elders.
Psa 107:23
“They that go, down to the sea in ships.” Navigation was so little practised among the Israelites that mariners were invested with a high degree of mystery, their craft was looked upon as one of singular daring and peril. Tales of the thrilled all hearts with awe, and he who had been to Ophir or to Tarshish and returned alive was looked upon as a man of renown, an ancient mariner to be listened to with reverent attention. Voyages were looked on as descending to an s, “going down to the sea in ships;” whereas now our bolder and more accused sailors talk of the “high seas.” “That do business in great waters.” If they had not had business to do, they would never have ventured on the ocean, ye never read in the Scriptures of any man taking his pleasure on the sea; so averse was the Israelitish mind to seafaring, that we do not hear of even Solomon himself keeping a pleasure boat. The Mediterranean was “the great sea” to David and his countrymen, and they viewed those who had business upon it with no small degree of admiration.
Psa 107:24
“These see the works of the Lord.” Beyond the dwellers on the land they see the Lord's greatest works or at least such as stayers at home judge to be so when they hear the report thereof. Instead of the ocean proving to be a watery wilderness, it is full of God's creatures, and if we were to attempt to escape from his presence by flying to the uttermost parts of it, we should only rush into Jehovah's arms, and ourselves in the very centre of his workshop. “And his wonders in the deep.” They see wonders in it and on it. It is in itself a wonder and it swarms with wonders. Seamen because they have fewer objects around them, are more observant of those have than landsmen are, and hence they are said to see the wonders in the deep. At the same time, the ocean really does contain many of the more striking of God's creatures, and it is the scene of many of the more tremendous of the physical phenomena by which the power and majesty of the Lord are revealed among men. The chief wonders alluded to by the Psalmist are a sudden storm and the calm which as it follows it.
All believers have not the same deep experience; but for wise ends, that they do business for him, the Lord sends some of his saints to the sea of soul-trouble, there they see, as others do not, the wonders of divine grace. Sailing over the deeps of inward depravity, the waste waters of poverty, the billows of persecution, and the rough waves of temptation. They need God above all others, and they find him.
Psa 107:25
“For he commandeth:” his word is enough for anything, he has but to will it and a tempest rages. “And raiseth the stormy wind.” It seemed to lie asleep before, but it knows its Master's bidding, and is up at once in all its fury. “Which lifted up the waves thereof” The glassy surface of the sea is broken, and myriads of white heads appear and rage and toss themselves to and fro as the wind blows upon them. Whereas they were lying down in quiet before, the waves rise in their might and leap towards the sky as soon as the howling of the wind awakens them.
Thus it needs but a word from God and the soul is in troubled waters, tossed to and fro with a thousand afflictions. Doubts, fears, terrors, anxieties lift their heads like so many angry waves, when once the Lord allows the storm-winds to beat upon us.
Psa 107:26
“They mount up to the heaven.” Borne aloft on the crest of the wave, the sailors and their vessels appear to climb the skies, but it is only for a moment, for very soon in the trough of the sea “they go down again to the depths.” As if their vessel were but a sea bird, the mariners are tossed “up and down, up and down, from the base of the wave to the billows' crown.” “Their soul is melted because of trouble.” Weary, wet, dispirited, hopeless of escape, their heart is turned to water, and they seem to have no manhood left.
Those who have been on the spiritual deep in one of the great storms which occasionally agitate the soul know what this verse means. In these spiritual cyclones presumption alternates with despair, indifference with agony! No heart is left for anything, courage is gone, hope is almost dead. Such an experience is as real as the tossing of a literal tempest and far more painful. Some of us have weathered many such an internal hurricane, and have indeed seen the Lord's wondrous works.
Psa 107:27
“They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man.” The violent motion of the vessel prevents their keeping their legs, and their fears drive them out of all power to use their brains, and therefore they look like intoxicated men. “And are at their wit's end.” What more can they do? They have used every expedient known to navigation, but the ship is so strained and beaten about that they know not how to keep her afloat.
Here too the spiritual mariner's log agrees with that of the sailor on the sea. We have staggered frightfully! We could stand to nothing and hold by nothing. We knew not what to do, and could have done nothing if we had known it. We were as men distracted, and felt as if destruction itself would be better than our horrible state of suspense. As for wit and wisdom, they were clean washed out of us; we felt ourselves to be at a nonplus altogether.
Psa 107:28
“Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble.” Though at their wit's end, they had wit enough to pray; their heart was melted, and it ran out in cries for help. This was well and ended well, for it is written, “And he brought them out of their distresses.” Prayer is good in a storm. We may pray staggering and reeling, and pray when we are at our wit's end. God will hear us amid the thunder and answer us out of the storm. He brought their distresses upon the mariners, and therefore they did well to turn to him for the removal of them; nor did they look in vain.
Psa 107:29
“He maketh the storm a calm.” He reveals his power in the sudden and marvellous transformations which occur at his bidding. He commanded the storm and now he ordains a calm: God is in all natural phenomena, and we do well to recognise his working. “So that the waves thereof are still.” They bow in silence at his feet. Where huge billows leaped aloft there is scarce a ripple to be seen. When God makes peace it is peace indeed, the peace of God which passeth all understanding. He can in an instant change the condition of a man's mind, so that it shall seem an absolute miracle to him that he has passed so suddenly from hurricane to calm. O that the Lord would thus work in the reader, should his heart be storm-beaten with outward troubles or inward fears. Lord, say the word and peace will come at once.
Psa 107:30
“Then are they glad because they be quiet.” No one can appreciate this verse unless he has been in a storm at sea. No music can be sweeter than the rattling of the chain as the shipmen let down the anchor; and no place seems more desirable than the little cove, or the wide bay, in which the ship rests in peace. “So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.” The rougher the voyage the more the mariners long for port, and heaven becomes more and more “a desired haven,” as our trials multiply. By storms and by favourable breezes, through tempest and fair weather, the great Pilot and Ruler of the sea brings mariners to port, and his people to heaven. He must have the glory of the successful voyage of time, and when we are moored in the river of life above we shall take care that his praises are not forgotten. We should long ago have been wrecked if it had not been for his preserving hand, and our only hope of outliving the storms of the future is based upon his wisdom, faithfulness and power. Our heavenly haven shall ring with shouts of grateful joy when once we reach its blessed shore.
Psa 107:31
“Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” Let the sea sound forth Jehovah's praises because of his delivering grace. As the sailor touches the shore let him lift the solemn hymn to heaven, and let others who see him rescued from the jaws of death unite in his thanksgiving.
Psa 107:32
“Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people.” Thanks for such mercies should be given in public in the place where men congregate for worship. “And praise him in the assembly of the elders.” The praise should be presented with great solemnity in the presence of men of years, experience, and influence. High and weighty service should be rendered for great and distinguished favours, and therefore let the sacrifice be presented with due decorum and with grave seriousness. Often when men hear of a narrow escape from shipwreck they pass over the matter with a careless remark about good luck, but it should never be thus jested with.
When a heart has been in great spiritual storms and has at last found peace, there will follow as a duty and a privilege the acknowledgment of the Lord's mercy before his people, and it is well that this should be done in the presence of those who hold office in the church, and who from their riper years are better able to appreciate the testimony.