_The psalmist exhorteth the redeemed, in praising God, to observe his
manifold providence, over travellers, over captives, over sick men,
over seamen, and in divers varieties of life._
O give thanks unto the LORD, for _he is_ good: for his mercy
_endureth_ for ever.
Let the redeemed of the LORD say _so_, whom he hath redeemed from the
hand of the enemy;
And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west,
from the north, and from the south.
They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city
to dwell in.
Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, _and_ he delivered
them out of their distresses.
And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city
of habitation.
Oh that _men_ would praise the LORD _for_ his goodness, and _for_ his
wonderful works to the children of men!
For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with
goodness.
Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, _being_ bound in
affliction and iron;
Because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the
counsel of the Most High:
Therefore he brought down their heart with labour: they fell down, and
_there was_ none to help.
Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, _and_ he saved them
out of their distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake
their bands in sunder.
Oh that _men_ would praise the LORD _for_ his goodness, and _for_ his
wonderful works to the children of men!
For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in
sunder.
Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their
iniquities, are afflicted:
Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the
gates of death.
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble; and he saveth them out
of their distresses.
He sent his word and healed them, and delivered _them_ from their
destructions.
Oh that _men_ would praise the LORD _for_ his goodness, and _for_ his
wonderful works to the children of men!
And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his
works with rejoicing.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great
waters;
These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the
waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their
soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their
wit’s end.
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out
of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto
their desired haven.
Oh that _men_ would praise the LORD _for_ his goodness, and _for_ his
wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise
him in the assembly of the elders.
He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the water-springs into dry
ground;
A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell
therein.
He turneth the wilderness into a standing water, and dry ground into
water-springs.
And there he maketh the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city
for habitation;
And sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of
increase.
He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and
suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
Again, they are minished, and brought low, through oppression,
affliction, and sorrow.
He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the
wilderness, _where there is_ no way.
Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh _him_
families like a flock.
The righteous shall see _it_, and rejoice; and all iniquity shall stop
her mouth.
Whoso _is_ wise, and will observe these _things_, even they shall
understand the loving-kindness of the LORD.
This is a Psalm of thanksgiving, in general; rendering praise for that
infinite and incomparable mercy and goodness of God, wherewith he
daily helps and succours all men, both the righteous and the wicked,
under the various calamities of life, and defends them against the
Devil: preserving also the public peace, giving healthfulness of air
and climate, and blessing the earth to the springing of its
productions; as Paul saith, 2 Tim. ii. “Who is the Saviour of all men,
especially of them that believe.”
In the fourth verse, where the Psalmist says, “They wandered in the
wilderness in a solitary way,” he refers to all kinds of calamities;
and especially to the afflictions of those who are oppressed with
poverty, who are exiles, and deserted, and wandering without any
certain dwelling-place.
In the ninth verse by those “sitting in darkness,” &c. he means those
throughout the whole world, who on account of their own crimes, or for
other causes, are held in bonds and in prisons, and who are sometimes
delivered by the interposition and help of God himself.
Then again, verse 6, he refers to those who live wickedly and fear not
God; on whom God sends diseases and distresses to punish them; of whom
some, although they call not upon God, are delivered by his pure mercy
alone.
In verse 22, he speaks of those who are in perils on the seas, and
there enduring storms and shipwrecks; under which calamities God often
delivers wicked sailors, and preserves them from shipwreck and death,
and from the power of the Devil, by his mere goodness and mercy.
Verse 32 has reference to those fields and vineyards that are visited
with barrenness or any other calamity; unto whom God gives rain and
fruitfulness, not according to their merits, but of his abounding
mercy, whereby he sendeth rain upon the just and upon the unjust.
Verse 38 applies to those who are oppressed by the Turk or any other
tyrants, or by wars and seditions, and whose all in this world is in
peril; unto whom God often, on a sudden, gives peace and quietness, as
he calmeth the waves of the sea.
This Psalm, therefore, shows that all salvation is to be sought and
expected from God alone; who will never forsake his people, or his
church, or those that trust in him; and that he often bestows these
benefits on the Turks, and on the openly impious and profane; even
when they are seeking all these great blessings from their idols of
wood and stone. And we who profess the name of Christ also, not at all
unlike the Turks, leave God our true and only Saviour and implore the
help of saints. Hence St. Leonard is worshipped as the liberator of
the imprisoned; St. Sebastian is invoked by those who are in dread of
pestilence; St. George is the protecting saint of military troops of
horse and foot; St. Erasmus is said to bless with riches those that
call upon him; St. Christopher is openly worshipped as the god of land
and sea; and his image is affixed to all doors of temples, and to all
prows of ships, and adored by all sailors. And thus we have divided
the glory of God and of his saving mercies, which is due to him alone,
unto saints set up by idolatrous men; just in the same way as the
heathens gave to their gods the attributes and functions which belong
to God only. This Psalm, however, rightly ascribes all the glory to
God alone.