Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 107:14
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands in sunder.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death – From their captivity; from calamity which seemed to be as gloomy as the shadow of death.
And brake their bands in sunder – Delivered them from their bondage, as if the bands of a prisoner or captive were suddenly broken.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 107:14-16
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death.
Song for the free, and hope for the bound
The deliverance here intended is one which is brought to us by redemption, and comes by the way of the great sacrifice upon Calvary.
I. Who are these favoured men?
1. Guilty men (verse 11). Hear this, ye sinful ones, and take heart! God has wrought great wonders for a people whom it seemed impossible for Him to notice. If they came into prison through rebellion, you would expect Him to leave them there. Yet rebels are set free by an act of immeasurable grace. The Redeemer has received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also.
2. Doomed men (verse 10). It is your condemned condition which needs free mercy; and, behold, the Lord meets your need in His boundless grace!
3. Bound men (verse 10). You long to be delivered, but you are unable to cut the cords which hold you. Jesus Christ has come on purpose that He might proclaim the opening of the prisons to them that are bound.
4. Weary men (verse 12). Come unto Me, etc.
5. Downcast men (verse 12). The Lord Jesus delights to lift up those that lie at His feet.
6. Helpless men. What a word that is–None to help! The proverb says, God helps those that help themselves. There is a sort of truth in it; but I venture to cover it with a far greater truth: God helps those that cannot help themselves. When there is none to help thee, then God will help thee.
7. They did at last take to praying (verse 13). There is that about prayer which makes it a token for good, a pledge of blessings on the road, a door of hope in dark hours. Where is the man that cries? Where is the man that prays? That is the man of whom it shall be said, and of others like him, The Lord brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, etc.
II. How has this deliverance been wrought?
1. By the Lord Himself. There is no salvation worth the having which has not the hand of the Godhead in it. None but the Trinity can deliver a captive soul from the chains of sin, and death, and hell.
2. Next, the Lord did it alone He hath broken the gates of brass. Nobody else was there to aid in liberating the prisoner. When our Lord Jesus trod the winepress, He was alone. When the Spirit of God came to work in us eternal life, He wrought alone.
3. By the Lords own goodness. He gives the alms of His grace only to the undeserving.
4. Most completely–light, life, and liberty.
5. Everlastingly. O child of God, you were once shut up as with gates of brass, and bars of iron, and the devil thinks that one of these days he will get you behind those gates again! But he never will, for the Lord hath broken the gates of brass. The means of our captivity are no longer available.
III. What is to be done about this?
1. If the Lord has set any of you free–record it. Say, The Lord hath done great things for us.
2. When you have recorded it, then praise God with all your heart, every one of you, every day. When you have praised God yourselves, then entreat others to join with you. The oratorio of Gods praise needs a full choir. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 14. He brought then out of darkness]
1. Gave them again peace and prosperity.
2. Repealed the sentence of death.
3. “Unbound the poor prisoners.”
4. Broke their iron bonds in sunder.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He brought them out of darkness,…. In which they were by nature, into marvellous light; to see their interest in Christ, and his salvation; and to have the light of joy and comfort in him.
And the shadow of death; quickening them by his Spirit and grace; causing them to live by faith upon him; entitling them to eternal life, and securing them from eternal death.
And brake their bands in sunder; their cords and fetters of affliction; or their bands of sin, and the power of it; and loosed them whom Satan had bound and kept so for many years, and brought them into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(14) Break their bands in sunder.See Psa. 2:3.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Darkness Compare Isa 42:7, and Psa 107:10, above.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Psa 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Ver. 14. He brought them out of darkness ] He sent his mandamus a , as Psa 44:4 , and that did the deed, as Act 5:19 ; Act 12:7 .
a Originally applied generically to a number of ancient writs, letters missive, or mandates, issued by the sovereign, directing the performance of certain acts.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
brought: Psa 107:10, Psa 68:6, Job 3:5, Job 10:21, Job 10:22, Job 15:22, Job 15:30, Job 19:8, Job 33:30, Job 42:10-12, Isa 42:16, Isa 49:9, Isa 60:1-3, Eph 5:8, 1Pe 2:9
brake: Psa 102:20, Psa 105:19, Psa 105:20, Psa 116:16, Psa 146:7, Job 36:8, Isa 61:1, Jer 52:31-34, Zec 9:11, Zec 9:12, Act 5:19, Act 5:25, Act 12:7-10, Act 16:26-40
Reciprocal: Jdg 16:22 – the hair Job 38:17 – the shadow Isa 9:2 – in the land Nah 1:13 – will burst Luk 1:79 – and