Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 107:2
Let the redeemed of the LORD say [so], whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so – They are especially qualified to say so; they have special occasion to say so; they can and will appreciate this trait in his character. The word rendered redeemed here – from ga’al – means delivered, rescued, without reference to any price paid for the deliverance. It refers here not to a ransom from sin, but to deliverance from danger. The probable allusion is to the deliverance from the captivity in Babylon. Compare the notes at Isa 43:3.
Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy – the power of the enemy. That is, He has saved them from their enemies, and has not suffered them to be destroyed by them. What is here said is true in the most eminent sense of those who are redeemed by the blood of the Son of God, and who are made heirs of salvation. Every consideration makes it proper that they should praise the Lord. Of all on earth, they have most occasion for such praise; of all among people, it may be presumed that they will be best qualified to appreciate the goodness of the Lord.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 107:2
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.
Say so
An overture, an antiphon, a doxology is this psalm, and in my text the psalmist calls for an outspoken religion, and requests all who have been rescued and blessed no longer to hide the glorious facts, but to publish them, and, as far as possible, let all the world know about it. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so. If you have in your heart the pearl of great price, why not let others see it? If you got off the wreck in the breakers, why not tell of the crew and the stout lifeboat that safely landed you? If from the fourth storey you are rescued in time of conflagration, why not tell of the fireman and the ladder down which be carried you? If you have a mansion in heaven awaiting you, why not show the deed to those who may by the same process get a home on the same boulevard? By the last two words of my text the psalmist calls upon all of us who have received any mercy at the hand of God to stop impersonating the asylums for the dumb, and, in the presence of men, women, angels, devils, and all worlds, say so. What a thrill went through the meeting in Portland, Oregon, when an ex-Attorney-General of the United States arose and said: Last night I got up and asked the prayers of Gods people. I feel now perfectly satisfied. The burden is rolled off and all gone, and I feel that I could run or fly into the arms of Jesus Christ! What a confirmation would come if all who had answers to prayers would speak out! If all merchants in tight places because of hard times would tell how, in response to supplication, they got the money to pay the note! If all parents who prayed for a wandering son to come home would tell how, not long after, they heard the boys hand on the latch of the front door! This psalm from which I take my text mentions several classes of persons who ought to be outspoken; among them all those who go on a journey. What an opportunity you have, you who spend so much of your time on rail-trains or on shipboard, whether on lake or river or seal Spread the story of Gods goodness and your own redemption wherever you go. (T. De Witt Talmage.)
The duty of confessing indebtedness
A heart without gratitude is like a grate filled with fuel unlighted, and the room all the colder because of the unfulfilled promise of glow and warmth. A grateful heart is one in which the fire of holy love is kindled. Let those who have received favours and feel their obligation either to God or man, give some expression of it. The world is filled with illustrations of the propriety of such acknowledgments. You must have observed how in great campaigns it is customary for commanders to make honourable mention of those who have distinguished themselves by successful valour–not for the purpose of ministering to the soldiers pride or flattering his vanity, but for awarding him a tribute founded in justice and truth. It is right that the soldier who has stood upon the bloody front of battle and vindicated his valour and patriotism should receive the grateful acknowledgment of the country he has served. The leader of brave men is not content with thinking well of the prowess of those who have done nobly; he proclaims it as something due to those who have struggled and triumphed. In kind words from such a source there is both inspiration and reward. There was something pathetic in the appeal which a little boy made to his father, when he cried, I often do wrong, I know, and then you scold me and I deserve it; but, father, sometimes I do my best to do right! Wont you let me know when I do please you? Let the discriminating parent, pleased with the childs progress in any right direction–say so. So, too, there are parents who have to wait long for the recognition of their devotion to their children–a devotion which gathers into itself the prayers, the anguish, the sacrifices of body, soul, and spirit. An old Virginia minister said lately, Men of my profession see much of the tragic side of life. I have seen men die in battle, have seen children die, but no death ever seemed so pathetic to me as the death of an aged mother in my church. The children gathered around her bedside. The oldest son took her in his arms. He said, You have been a good mother to us. That was not much to say, was it? It was much to her, who had never heard anything like it. A flush came ever her pallid face, and with husky voice she whispered, My son, you never said so before! The text directs our thought and affection to what we owe to the very Father of mercies. His mercy endureth for ever. How illimitably broad is the field which is thus opened before us–the field of the Divine mercy! It is like the field of creation. In that field the telescope cannot pierce to depths of space where shining worlds do not declare the glory of God–nor can the microscope search out a point which is not still bright with evidences of His handiwork. The eye of sense looks out and everywhere goodness and mercy rise before it, until the horizon shuts down and bounds the vision. And then the eye of faith opens, and new fields, measureless and glorious, meet its gaze, until, in its turn, its powers fail. Yes, its powers fail, but the field has not failed; onward it stretches, illimitably, and over it the redeemed shall range with every new delight to all eternity. Gods mercy is from everlasting, and so the treasures of memory will ever be increasing; it is to everlasting, and so the anticipations of hope can never be diminished. (M. D. Hoge, D.D.)
Acknowledge the goodness of God
We need appreciation and the expression of it in our religious life. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! Redemption and all implied in it is surely a gift that demands acknowledgment! If you were struggling in the grip of some mysterious or deadly disease, and after many disappointments at last you found a doctor who understood your case, conquered the disease, and set you in perfect health again, what would you do? You would blazon that doctors name abroad, you would tell everybody of his skill, you would speak of yourself as a living illustration of his healing power.
Redemption acknowledged
At the Isthmian Games, A.D. 197, Flaminius caused a trumpet to command silence and a crier to proclaim that the Roman Senate restored to the Grecians their lands, laws, and liberties. So astonished were the people that they asked the crier to repeat it. Then a shout arose that was heard from Corinth to the sea. (H. O. Mackey.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so] For they have had the fullest proof of this goodness, in being saved by the continuing stream of his mercy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The redeemed of the Lord; all they whom God hath redeemed, as it is expressed in the next clause, or delivered from all the following calamities.
Say so, to wit, that the Lord is good, &c., as it is Psa 107:1.
Of the enemy; of such as had taken them captives, either in battle, or in their travels, to which they were led by their own inclinations, or by their necessary occasions.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. redeemed of the Lord(compareIsa 35:9; Isa 35:10).
saythat is, that Hismercy, &c.
hand ofor, “powerof enemy.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,…. That the Lord is good, and his mercy everlasting; since their redemption is a proof of his goodness, and an instance of his mercy; this is not to be understood of the Israelites redeemed from Egyptian bondage, or from the Babylonish captivity, though they had abundant reason to say as above; but rather of all such who are delivered from any sort of slavery, bondage, and confinement; whether from the power of a disease, or from a prison, or from wicked and unreasonable men; and from captivity in an enemy’s country, where they have been used very severely; and as the providence of God is concerned in all such deliverances, thanks should be given him: it seems best to understand it of those who are spiritually redeemed by Christ, this phrase being frequently used of such, Isa 35:10, who may be said to be so, since Christ is the author of their redemption; they are redeemed, not by themselves, nor by any creature, but by the Lord; who being their God, and near kinsman, had a right to redeem them, and, being God, was able to do it, and who has effected it by his precious blood; so that he has a right unto them and a property in them, which this phrase also suggests; and for all which they have great reason to praise the Lord and his goodness, and sing the new song of redeeming love. Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy from all their sins which war against their souls; from Satan their implacable adversary, who is stronger than they; from the law, which curses and threatens them with damnation and death; from death itself, the last enemy, and indeed from the hand of all their enemies, be they who they may.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(2) Redeemed of the Lord.See for this grand expression, for which so high a destiny was prepared, Isa. 62:12; and comp. Isa. 63:4; Isa. 35:9.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Let the redeemed The call is specially to Israel, not to the nations.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 107:2-3. Let the redeemed, &c. Though these verses seem more immediately to refer to the return of the Jews from Babylon; yet the next has a more immediate reference to the deliverance out of Egypt: but it is most probable that the latter expressions are only metaphorical; for it is very common with the Hebrew poets to take their ideas from the past transactions related in their history. See Bishop Lowth’s eighth Lecture.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
How very beautifully does this special call to the redeemed come in after the former verse! Pause, Reader! Pause, my soul! What sayest thou to this subject? Are we among the redeemed? Hath sovereign grace gathered us to Jesus, to whom the gathering of the people must be? Gen 49:1 ; Joh 11:52 . My soul! look, into thine own account, and see what causes arise there for joining in the Psalmist’s song. Surely thou wast a long wanderer, like the prodigal who left his father’s house: surely in hunger of soul, and thirst, and weariness, didst thou long go. And never, until God the Spirit put a cry in thine heart, didst thou find peace or comfort. And hath the God of thy salvation brought thee by a right way, however thorny, or painful to flesh and blood; and in Jesus hast thou found that city of habitation, whose builder and maker is God? Well then may I shout aloud this hymn of praise to him who hath satiated my weary soul, and replenished my sorrowful soul. Luk 15:13-14 ; Heb 11:9-10 ; Jer 31:25 ; Isa 28:12 ; Mat 11:28 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 107:2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say [so], whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
Ver. 2. Let the redeemed of the Lord ] Four sorts of whom are afterwards instanced: 1. exiles; 2. prisoners; 3. sick persons; 4. seamen. These and the like must praise him in a special manner for their deliverance.
From the hand of the enemy
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
redeemed. Hebrew. ga’al, to redeem by purchase. See notes on Exo 6:6, and compare Exo 13:13.
hand. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for the power exercised by it.
enemy = adversary, or straitnesses.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
redeemed
Heb. “goel,” Redemp. (Kinsman type). (See Scofield “Isa 59:20”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Let the: Psa 31:5, Psa 130:8, Exo 15:16, Deu 15:15, Isa 35:9, Isa 43:1, Isa 44:22, Luk 1:68, Luk 24:21, Gal 3:13, Tit 2:14, 1Pe 1:18, 1Pe 1:19
from: Psa 106:10, Deu 7:8, Jer 15:21, Jer 31:11, Mic 4:10, Luk 1:74
Reciprocal: Exo 18:8 – how the Lord Deu 9:26 – which thou hast brought forth 2Sa 4:9 – who hath 1Ch 17:21 – redeem Ezr 8:21 – to seek Job 6:23 – Redeem Psa 22:23 – all ye Son 8:5 – from the Isa 41:9 – whom Isa 56:8 – which Isa 62:12 – The redeemed Eze 36:24 – General Hos 7:13 – though Zec 8:7 – I 1Ti 4:10 – the saviour
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
107:2 Let the {b} redeemed of the LORD say [so], whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;
(b) As was true in the Jews, so there is not one of God’s elect who does not feel his help in their necessity.