Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 107:23
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
23. They that go down to the sea ] Or, go down on the sea; the sea being apparently below the land. Cp. Isa 42:10, and the somewhat different use of ‘go down’ in Jon 1:3.
that do business in great waters ] As merchants and traders, traversing the open sea, and not merely making coasting voyages.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
23 32. A fourth example of Jehovah’s goodness, in the deliverance of sailors caught in a storm. The Targ. [62] refers it to the voyage of Jonah, and some expressions suggest that Jonah 1, 2 may have been in the poet’s mind; but the reference is quite general. Addison ( Spectator, No. 489) comments on the sublimity of the Psalmist’s description of the storm.
[62] Ed. Lagarde. The text in Walton’s Polyglott does not contain the gloss.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
They that go down to the sea in ships – The scene here changes again. From those that wander in the desert – from those who are in prison – from those who are sick – the eye of the psalmist turns to those who encounter the perils of the ocean, and he finds there occasion for praise to God. The phrase go down or descend is employed here because the sea is lower than the land, and because we descend when we embark on board of a vessel.
That do business … – Whose business or employment is on the ocean.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 107:23-31
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters.
Distressed seamen and the Sovereign of the sea
I. Gods sovereignty over the sea. Behind the laws there is the Lawgiver. Behind the force of the winds and waves there is the Force of all forces–the great God. To regard God as the Ruler of the sea is–
1. Philosophical.
2. Scriptural.
3. Assuring. We know His will is good. We bow reverently before the mystery, and wait for more light.
II. Mans impotency when the sea rebels against him. But even when impotent, and defeated by the warring elements, man is greater than they; for he is conscious of his impotence and defeat, while they know not of their triumph.
III. Mans resource when the sea rebels against him. When all else fails, prayer to God is left. But is it only when you are at your wits end that you cry unto God? What right have you to expect that He whom you seek only when you are in trouble wilt answer your selfish cry?
IV. Gods answer to mans cry. God does not always literally allay the storm, and save from it those who cry unto Him. He, however, calms the inward tempest, so that the waves of anxiety and terror are still.
V. Mans obligation for Gods interposition.
1. Gods gracious doings for man are wonderful.
2. Men are prone to overlook Gods gracious doings for them.
3. Men are under the most sacred obligations to celebrate the gracious doings of God for them. (Homiletic Magazine.)
On the stormy sea
I. The ship sails forth. Life is a voyage. We all go down to the sea in ships, to a life of mystery and danger, of glorious privilege and responsibility. Our hearts are full of happiness as of new wine. Rejoice, O young man, but remember, be mindful of the sublime things.
II. The wind rises. Has it come to you already? Has there been a turn in your prosperity? Are things going wrong? Is it sickness, bereavement, financial stringency? Are the winds whistling through the cordage? Fear not! God holds the trident; the winds are in His fist. There are some anchors that will hold in the fiercest stress OF Euroclydon. One is the Wisdom of God. There is nothing that happens without His cognizance. No storm comes haphazard. God understands the end from the beginning; and He makes no mistakes. Another is Gods Goodness. He doth not afflict willingly. Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. But never too much.
III. The sailors are at their wits end. In the margin it is, All their wisdom is swallowed up. Then there is hope! For when I am weak, then am I strong. My strength is made perfect in weakness.
IV. They are on their knees. Our Lord said that men ought always to pray and riot to faint. But alas, men do not always pray. They will not. But they pray when the storm breaks. And, strange to tell, God is willing to hear even the cry of desperation. He is of great lovingkindness and forbearance. For some men prayer is their vital breath, their native air. To others it is like the bell in the coal-mine, used only in time of danger.
V. The storm is assuaged. The rule, after all, is fair weather. The storm, rage it never so fiercely, will soon be spent. Our light afflictions are but for a moment. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. There is no night without a dawn.
VI. The ship sails in. In that day the sorest troubles of the earthly life will seem insignificant as we look back upon them. We shall understand then what the apostle meant when he called our afflictions light, and spoke of them as enduring but for a moment. It will be in our hearts to bless God for all the storms and the trials. (D. J. Burrell, D.D.)
The voyage of life
I. The voyage of life is fraught with many dangers.
1. Our vessel is weak. Many have been shattered by striking on comparatively small rocks, and many have been wrecked by only just changing the tack from prosperity to adversity, or sometimes from scarcity to abundance. Others have been wrecked through too much joy, too weak to bear it; whilst the sorrows of this world have worked death to a vast multitude so weak that they are crushed before the moth.
2. The sea is rough. Where are those that set out from the same port–nursed on the same hearth with us? Many have been crushed by the storms, but very few, comparatively, are still afloat.
3. Our course lies among rocks. Many have been stranded, but, obtaining timely help, have been prevented from becoming a wreck. It is but seldom we find any one who has not undergone some repairs at the hands of a physician. Some have been in dock a long time, and, being wonderfully restored, have been launched again into the deep. But others are seen being dashed to pieces by some disease or other; and it is a sad sight to see any one striking upon those rocks, and every blow carrying away part of the vessel, as it were, until at last the sides of the ship are laid bare.
4. The weather is foggy and dark. We know not on leaving our homes what will befall us before we return. And our safety so long is not to be attributed to our own care and foresight, but having obtained help of God we continue unto this day.
II. Divine grace has made every provision necessary to enable us to make the voyage of life in safety.
1. An abundant supply of stores. They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.
2. Ballast in the ship to keep her from capsizing. Many have made shipwreck for the want of it. In time of temptation they fall away. But if the fear of God be in the heart they will withstand every squall, as Joseph did in Egypt.
3. A chart to sail by. The Word of God is the rule which tells us where every danger lurks, and also how to avoid it.
4. A compass to steer by. Although the believers vessel is tossed by the waves quite as much as any other vessel, her prow now in this direction, now in that, yet there is a principle of rectitude which governs him; he knows what point to sail for and what direction to take in the midst of all weathers.
5. A quadrant to take observations. Faith is the evidence of things not seen.
6. A light fixed wherever there is moral danger.
7. Means of constant communication with the shore. (D. Roberts, D.D.)
The Christian mariner
I. His voyage.
1. The Christian voyager, like the mariner, looks daily for guidance to his great Teacher in the heavens. The lights and landmarks along the coasts of Christian attainment; his frames and feelings, comparing himself with others, etc., which are the main guides of the religions coaster, are all discarded, and the Sun of Righteousness becomes his great Teacher and Guide.
2. He is a close student of his chart–the Bible. How it inspires courage and strengthens hope!
II. His compass.
1. The Christians conscience, like the mariners compass, is his indispensable and most constantly trusted guide, to be obeyed in darkness and storm, as well as in sunshine and calm.
2. The Christians conscience, like the mariners compass, is easily deranged, and if not frequently tested may lead him astray. The question is not, therefore, have you been faithful in following your conscience, but have you been faithful in testing your conscience by the Sun of Righteousness?
3. The Christians conscience, like the mariners compass, is more or less influenced by early associations. We can never permanently settle ourselves from the effects of the moral direction in which our prow was set, or the spiritual atmosphere that surrounded the laying and shaping of our keel. Because of these great channels and laws of influence no two Christians look out upon the sphere of duty from exactly the same standpoint; and we need nothing so much as charity to enable us to patiently meet and rightly construe the opinions and conduct of others, who, though perhaps equally conscientious, may not be able to see eye to eye with us in many things pertaining to Christian character and conduct.
4. The Christians conscience, like the mariners compass, is frequently deranged by something taken on board. Especially is that Christian in danger who is greatly prospered in temporal matters, and wields a sort of sovereignty over all manner of wares. It indicates great strength and purity of character when such persons remain humble, conscientious, and loyal to God.
5. The Christian voyager, like the mariner, sails by his compass, though he cannot explain the mystery that surrounds it. There are mysteries about the compass which the ordinary sailor never attempts to explain or understand. He becomes possessed of its benefits, not by solving its mysteries, but by following its guidance. So the Christians safety is secured not by understanding everything, but by obedience to Divine teaching. Hence, although surrounded by mystery, he sails by faith.
6. The Christian who, like the mariner, tests and sails by his compass, is daily nearing his desired haven. Land ahead. Its fruits are waving oer the hills of fadeless green. (T. Kelly, D. D.)
Soul navigation
I. Its weather is fouler to some than to others. This difference is partly necessary and partly moral. A mans condition in life depends greatly both upon his temperament and upon the external circumstances under which he has been brought up. Some have temperaments that are impulsive and tempestuous; others gentle and pacific. Some are surrounded by circumstances suited to soothe and to please, others by those tending ever to agitate and distress. This difference in the temperaments and circumstances of men, whilst it reveals the sovereignty of that God who arranges human affairs after the counsel of His own will, should at the same time dispose us to act with tender consideration in all our intercourse with our fellow-men. But there is a morality in this difference that should not be overlooked. Men have power to rule in a great measure their own temperaments, and control their own circumstances. The man to whom God has given the most fiery passions He has given corresponding intellect for control.
II. It exposes to terrible disasters. How many souls are shipwrecked every day! They go down into the abysses of passion, worldliness, impiety.
III. There need be no shipwrecks. In all cases man is responsible for them.
1. He has an infallible chart–a chart which reveals life true to eternal fact. There is not a danger it does nob expose. It draws the very line over which you should sail if you would sail safely and meet a prosperous end. It tells you how to avoid all the perils lying beneath the wave, how to escape the fierce hurricanes, how to sail through peaceful seas and into sunny climes.
2. He might have a safe anchorage (Heb 6:19).
3. He might have an all-sufficient captain–Christ. (Homilist.)
Lessons from the ocean in a storm
The sight of the ocean in a storm serves–
I. To impress us with the majesty of god. Perhaps there is no spectacle in nature so overwhelmingly grand as that of the ocean when lashed into fury with the tempest. How great is God!
II. To awe us with our utter helplessness. How powerless we feel in the presence of such wild majesty! Such a sight may well take the egotism out of man, and bury it in the abysses of forgetfulness for ever. What is man? etc.
III. To inspire us with sympathy for mariners. How many brave men, who fight our battles, who enrich our markets, who diffuse our civilization and religion, will go down in that storm! (Homilist.)
A plea for sailors
The Roman poet has celebrated in familiar verse the courage of the heroic pioneer of civilization–the man who first trusted his fragile barque to the treacherous sea. In what striking contrast to this solitary man–brooding over the unknown possibilities of that wide and unexplored world of waters, at once inviting and alarming him, until at length his final resolve was taken and his daring venture made are the vast multitudes who to-day do business in the great waters! They include men of all nationalities who find a point of common interest in their love for the free and daring life of the sailor. They have habits, tastes, tendencies peculiar to themselves. If we would realize how much we owe to them, let us try to imagine the island deprived of their services. That all the luxuries which are drawn to our markets from all the provinces of the world would at once be withdrawn would be a comparatively small matter, and yet that loss would be felt as seriously even by classes who are not generally regarded as consumers of luxuries. For under that term must be included many things to which even those of very moderate means have become so accustomed that they esteem them necessaries of life. But the mischief would not end here. The supplies even of the staff of life would be curtailed and before very long would cease altogether. Nor would this exhaust our calamities. We export as well as import. Our little island is the centre of a vast trade which has the world for its circumference, and at every point of importance we have our representatives. The peculiar treasures of all countries are attracted to us, and our prosperity, in truth, our very existence, depends on the maintenance of that complicated network of communications which unites us with all peoples, making us at once their debtors and creditors. Needless to insist on the passionate feeling with which England regards her empire of the sea. The sentiment has been cultivated so long, and has sunk so deep into the national heart, that it seems now to be a rooted and invincible instinct. The most popular among our national songs are songs of the sea. The most stirring incidents in our national struggles are stories of the sea. The most popular of our heroes are those whose laurels have been won on the sea. The heart of the Englishman glows with pride and gratitude as he remembers the great deliverances wrought for the nation by the gallant men who won for us the supremacy of the seas. But their services are equally great in the works of peace. There are few classes who contribute more to the fabric of national wealth and greatness than those who go down to the sea in ships. These men see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. They have a great commission with nature, and with nature in some of her most impressive and majestic scenes of which dwellers in the crowded streets of great cities know nothing. It has been said that an undevout astronomer is mad. The same might be said with much more truth of the undevout sailor. He may be said to live in the presence of the Infinite. Grandeur, majesty, mystery, are around him continually. He is away from those displays of human arrogance and conceit which hide from so many the presence and the work of God. Under few, if any, conditions is there so much to make him feel how little and how feeble man is; how great and unsearchable is God. Did we not know so much of the deceitfulness of the human heart and understand how soon familiarity with the most impressive spectacles will weaken, and step by step, by little and little, ultimately destroy their power, we might think that the effect of such scenes must be to induce faith and reverence. But where the sight of these wonders does not soften it will certainly harden; when the sailor is not devout, the danger is lest he become profane. He does not remain merely negative; he grows reckless, daring, unbelieving. Let it not be forgotten, further, that the peculiar conditions of his life withdraw him from a multitude of influences which tell in favour of godliness. It is true that the temptations which beset the path of others are during a large part of his time absent from him; but then, on the other hand, when they do assail him, they come with peculiar severity. A period of liberty, apt to degenerate into licence, has succeeded the severe restraint under which he is confined. He is thrown into the companionship of those who desire to lead him astray, without any experience of their wiles, or probably without any friend to supply the necessary word of warning. He feels as though some measure of indulgence were due to him in compensation for the perils and privations of months. Thus even his comparative exemption from the common seductions of life only becomes a source of graver spiritual danger in the time of recreation he spends ashore. When to this is added the loss of the advantages resulting from the influences and associations of home, it will be seen that he is in a position calling for special sympathy and help. For us who rejoice in the blessings of the Gospel and would fain give them to all, what remains but that we give our special thought and care to our brethren who go down to the sea in ships. (J. G. Rogers, D.D.)
At their wits end. Then they cry unto the Lord.
At their wits end
Nothing is more certain, or calls for more grateful acknowledgment, than the ready and merciful interpositions of God in our seasons of exceptional weakness and need. Nothing, perhaps, of a romantic kind attached to the circumstances in which we were placed; it was in the routine of trade rather than amid the excitements of travel; in the safe places of life, and not among gloomy cells or staggering ships, when, face to face with a yet very authentic extremity, we cried unto the Lord, and He delivered us out of our distresses: It is human to cry aloud to God when we feel ourselves in the hands of forces we cannot control, when resource of power or of knowledge is exhausted. But when men practically only cry unto the Lord in moments such as these; when they only claim the friendship and help of God when all else has failed; when these words set forth an habitual state, At their wits end, then–! well, I will put the matter mildly, and say, this is serious. This is to reduce the Divine friendship to the low level of a mere selfish convenience, and, on the whole, to be rather more dishonourable before God than we would like to be before our fellow-man. The great mistake lies in supposing–and, indeed, sometimes in actually teaching–that our need of God is greatest in the critical moment of our lives. We are supposed to be fairly equal to the ordinary strain, or that the ordinary strain is in some way provided for. It is in the great trials we think, as their merciless grasp fastens round us, that we stand in direst need of Divine assistance. Thus we say to men, How will you do when sickness overtakes you? If your child should die, or you yourself be called upon to step down into the valley, how will you do without God then? Badly enough, I should say. But can there be any question that it is not at such times we are tempted to forget God? In a passionate crisis the problem solves itself. It is in the common uneventful days, in the regular routine of daily life, amid faces, and scenes, and duties familiar to us as the light of the morning, it is here that the real difficulty lies. There is no question about crying to God out of the depths. It is not in the depths, it is in the long level flats that most mens danger lies. (J. Thew.)
Through stress of weather
I. How slow men are to pray in prosperity. It may be written down as an axiom, that prosperity prevents prayer. Thank God it is an equally true axiom that adversity prompts prayer.
1. We are apt to become careless of Divine things when prosperity smiles upon us.
2. There is also a danger of becoming absorbed in the business that is thus blessing you. The more we have, the more, as a rule, we want.
3. Prosperity, too, is prone to make us lose our sense of dependence upon God. The ballast of adversity is not to be despised.
II. How ready men are to pray in adversity. Then is a very commonplace adverb of time, but it is wonderfully expressive. Not till they were obliged to in any of these cases, not till pressed by utmost need did they cry. Not till they got to the end of the creature did they appeal to the Creator.
1. This truth, sad as it is, is noticeable in the case of temporal troubles. Those who have been thoughtless till the trouble came upon them, and prayerless too, begin to think and to pray as soon as the grief afflicts them. Thank God for the griefs that make us pray, for the troubles that drive us to the mercy-seat. Thank God that He sometimes takes the Aeolian harp and puts it where the rough winds blow, for it would remain mute did not the breezes sweep through its strings.
2. Sometimes it is in spiritual matters that this experience comes to us. Do not despair; cry loudly to God, plead the merit and death of Christ, and He will save you out of your troubles.
III. How willingly the Lord hears the prayer. True, it was belated; true, it was a small compliment to God to pray only when one was driven to it, but it does not seem to me as if God minded even that, so gracious and generous is He. He seems to say, You are late in coming, but it is better late than never. I will heal you, I will deliver you. He does not reproach, He does not refuse, He does not even delay. They have been long in asking, but He is quick in saving. (T. Spurgeon.)
When at wits end
Most that are acquainted with God are taken in the briars. Jesus Christ in the days of His flesh had never heard of many, if their necessities had not brought them to Him.
Sending up a signal of distress
Wearied and worn, suffering from brain-fag, from the strain of incessant service through the winter season, Brother C–and I set sail from Old England on the 22nd of May, bent on availing ourselves of the advantages of enforced rest en voyage, and change of scenery and associations on the Continent. Five days later, we were nearing the north coast of Germany. A wild wind and a choppy sea kept us later than usual on deck. Driven by sheer weariness, I retired to my berth at two oclock in the morning; but not for long. At five I was ruthlessly roused by my friend, What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God. Whats the matter? I inquired. We have run aground, and cant move. Hurrying up to the captains bridge, we found him the picture of anxiety. We were (in the wrong sense) steadfast, unmovable–of this there was little doubt. For three hours had the captain been trying to go ahead, then astern, but not an inch could he move the good ship; and with one thousand two hundred tons of cargo aboard, we were evidently getting more and more deeply embedded in the sandbank. We wanted sixteen feet of draught to float us, and had but nine. As well might we try to float a heavy-laden sinner into the kingdom of grace on the shallow doctrines so common to-day, as to steer our ship over this sandbank. At length the captain bade Jack run up the signal for help. Friend C–caught at the idea, and seizing me by the arm, said, I think we will get to our cabin, and fake the hint. There we retired, and sent up the signal for help. Presently, addressing the steward, C–asked, Did you feel the vessel move? Not likely, he replied, after sticking here three hours. Turning to the mate, C–put the same question, with a similar result, Not likely! What do you land-lubbers know about it? Just then the vessel fairly lurched. Did she move, mate? Yes, said he, with an astonished air; but I cant understand it. By this time a tug from the coast was bearing down upon us, but reversed her course as our captain lowered his signal. When we again mounted his bridge, he was almost beside himself with joy to think we had slidden bodily off the bank, and were once more steaming into the Channel. I am thankful were off; but I cant understand it a little; it completely puzzles me. Said friend C–, Shall we explain it, captain? We are firm believers in the efficacy of prayer; and seeing your trouble, we just now took your unintentional hint, and sent up a signal for help. Do you never resort to prayer in the midst of trouble, captain? God has said, Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. They that go down to the sea in ships] This is the FOURTH comparison. Their captivity was as dangerous and alarming as a dreadful tempest at sea to a weather-beaten mariner.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Go down to the sea; he saith go down, either because the sea or the shore of it is commonly lower than their habitations from whence they come, or than the natural or artificial banks which are raised to prevent the inundation of the waters; or because the sea is lower than the earth, as may be gathered from the rivers which run down into it.
Do business; whose occupation lies there, either as merchants or as mariners.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23-32. Here are set forth theperils of seafaring, futility of man’s, and efficiency of God’s,help.
go . . . seaalludingto the elevation of the land at the coast.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
They that go down to the sea in ships,…. This is the fourth instance of persons in distress crying to the Lord for help, and, having it, are laid under obligation to praise him; the case of seafaring men: so the Targum introduces it,
“mariners that go down to the sea in ships;”
the same form of expression as here is used in Isa 42:10. Some affirm the sea to be higher than the earth, but by this it should be lower; besides the earth is said to be founded on the seas, which suggests superiority; and all the rivers run into the sea, which supposes a declivity; but, be it so that it is higher than the earth, yet this phrase is to be justified by the shores being higher than the sea, from whence men go down to take shipping, as Kimchi observes; though Kimchi’s father is of opinion that it respects persons going down into the ship, which is deep, as Jonah is said to do, Jon 1:3.
That do business in great waters: which refers either to the steering and working of the ship, and everything relating to the management of the ropes and sails, and other affairs; and in a storm much business is done, all hands are employed: or else to the business they go to sea about, as catching fish, curing them, and carrying them to market; or else to traffic and merchandise of goods, they convey from place to place. The phrase is much like that, “as many as trade by sea”,
Re 18:17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Others have returned to tell of the perils of the sea. Without any allegory (Hengstenberg) it speaks of those who by reason of their calling traverse (which is expressed by because the surface of the sea lies below the dry land which slopes off towards the coast) the sea in ships (read boonijoth without the article), and that not as fishermen, but (as Luther has correctly understood the choice of the word) in commercial enterprises. These have seen the works and wonders of God in the eddying deep, i.e., they have seen with their own eyes what God can do when in His anger He calls up the powers of nature, and on the other hand when He compassionately orders them back into their bounds. God’s mandate ( as in Psa 105:31, Psa 105:34) brought it to pass that a stormy wind arose (cf. , Psa 33:9), and it drove its (the sea’s) waves on high, so that the seafarers at one time were tossed up to the sky and then hurled down again into deep abysses, and their soul melted , in an evil, anxious mood, i.e., lost all its firmness. They turned about in a circle ( ( elc from = ) and reeled after the manner of a drunken man; all their wisdom swallowed itself up, i.e., consumed itself within itself, came of itself to nought, just as Ovid, Trist. i. 1, says in connection with a similar description of a storm at sea: ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis . The poet here writes under the influence of Isa 19:3, Isa 19:14. But at their importunate supplication God led them forth out of their distresses (Psa 25:17). He turned the raging storm into a gentle blowing (= , 1Ki 19:12). construed with here has the sense of transporting (carrying over) into another condition or state, as Apollinaris renders: . The suffix of cannot refer to the in Psa 107:23, which is so far removed; “their waves” are those with which they had to battle. These to their joy became calm ( ) and were still ( as in Jon 1:11), and God guided them (lxx). , a hapax-legomenon, from Arab. haz ( hwz ), to shut in on all sides and to draw to one’s self (root Arab. hw , gyravit , in gyrum egit ), signifies a place enclosed round, therefore a haven, and first of all perhaps a creek, to use a northern word, a fiord. The verb in relation to is the stronger word, like in relation to in the history of the Flood. Those who have been thus marvellously rescued are then called upon thankfully to praise God their Deliverer in the place where the national church assembles, and where the chiefs of the nation sit in council; therefore, as it seems, in the Temple and in the Forum.
(Note: In exact editions like Norzi, Heidenheim, and Baer’s, before Psa 107:23, Psa 107:24, Psa 107:25, Psa 107:26, Psa 107:27, Psa 107:28, and Psa 107:40 there stand reversed Nuns ( , in the language of the Masora ), as before Num 10:35 and between Num 10:36 and Num 11:1 (nine in all). Their signification is unknown.)
Now follow two more groups without the two beautiful and impressive refrains with which the four preceding groups are interspersed. The structure is less artistic, and the transitions here and there abrupt and awkward. One might say that these two groups are inferior to the rest, much as the speeches of Elihu are inferior to the rest of the Book of Job. That they are, however, nevertheless from the hand of the very same poet is at once seen from the continued dependence upon the Book of Job and Isaiah. Hengstenberg sees in Psa 107:33-42 “the song with which they exalt the Lord in the assembly of the people and upon the seat of the elders.” but the materia laudis is altogether different from that which is to be expected according to the preceding calls to praise. Nor is it any the more clear to us that Psa 107:33. refer to the overthrow of Babylon, and Psa 107:35. to the happy turn of affairs that took place simultaneously for Israel; Psa 107:35 does not suit Canaan, and the expressions in Psa 107:36. would be understood in too low a sense. No, the poet goes on further to illustrate the helpful government of God the just and gracious One, inasmuch as he has experiences in his mind in connection therewith, of which the dispersion of Israel in all places can sing and speak.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Divine Goodness to Mariners. | |
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 the waves thereof. 26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out 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 wonderful works to the children of men! 32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
The psalmist here calls upon those to give glory to God who are delivered from dangers at sea. Though the Israelites dealt not much in merchandise, yet their neighbours the Tyrians and Zidonians did, and for them perhaps this part of the psalm was especially calculated.
I. Much of the power of God appears at all times in the sea, Psa 107:23; Psa 107:24. It appears to those that go down to the sea in ships, as mariners, merchants, fishermen, or passengers, that do business in great waters. And surely none will expose themselves there but those that have business (among all Solomon’s pleasant things we do not read of any pleasure-boat he had), but those that go on business, lawful business, may, in faith, put themselves under the divine protection. These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders, which are the more surprising, because most are born and bred upon land, and what passes at sea is new to them. The deep itself is a wonder, its vastness, its saltness, its ebbing and flowing. The great variety of living creatures in the sea is wonderful. Let those that go to sea be led, by all the wonders they observe there, to consider and adore the infinite perfections of that God whose the sea is, for he made it and manages it.
II. It especially appears in storms at sea, which are much more terrible than at land. Observe here, 1. How dangerous and dreadful a tempest at sea is. Then wonders begin to appear in the deep, when God commands and raises the strong wind, which fulfils his word, Ps. cxlviii. 8. He raises the winds, as a prince by his commission raises forces. Satan pretends to be the prince of the power of the air; but he is a pretender; the powers of the air are at God’s command, not at his. When the wind becomes stormy it lifts up the waves of the sea, v. 25. Then the ships are kicked like tennis-balls on the tops of the waves; they seem to mount up to the heavens, and then they couch again, as if they would go down to the depths, v. 26. A stranger, who had never seen it, would not think it possible for a ship to live at sea, as it will in a storm, and ride it out, but would expect that the next wave would bury it and it would never come up again; and yet God, who taught man discretion to make ships that should so strangely keep above water, does by his special providence preserve them, that they answer the end to admiration. When the ships are thus tossed the soul of the seaman melts because of trouble; and, when the storm is very high, even those that are used to the sea can neither shake off nor dissemble their fears, but they reel to and fro, and tossing makes them giddy, and they stagger and are sick, it may be, like a drunken man; the whole ship’s crew are in confusion and quite at their wits’ end (v. 27), not knowing what to do more for their preservation; all their wisdom is swallowed up, and they are ready to give up themselves for gone, Jonah i. 5, c. 2. How seasonable it is at such a time to pray. Those that go to sea must expect such perils as are here described, and the best preparation they can make for them is to make sure a liberty of access to God by prayer, for then they will cry unto the Lord, <i>v. 28. We have a saying, “Let those that would learn to pray go to sea;” I say, Let those that will go to sea learn to pray, and accustom themselves to pray, that they may come with the more boldness to the throne of grace when they are in trouble. Even heathen mariners, in a storm, cried every man to his god; but those that have the Lord for their God have a present and powerful help in that and every other time of need, so that when they are at their wits’ end they are not at their faith’s end. 3. How wonderfully God sometimes appears for those that are in distress at sea, in answer to their prayers: He brings them out of the danger; and, (1.) The sea is still: He makes the storm a calm, v. 29. The winds fall, and only by their soft and gentle murmurs serve to lull the waves asleep again, so that the surface of the sea becomes smooth and smiling. By this Christ proved himself to be more than a man that even the winds and the seas obeyed him. (2.) The seamen are made easy: They are glad because they are quiet, quiet from the noise, quiet from the fear of evil. Quietness after a storm is a very desirable thing, and sensibly pleasant. (3.) The voyage becomes prosperous and successful: So he brings them to their desired haven, v. 30. Thus he carries his people safely through all the storms and tempests that they meet with in their voyage heaven-ward, and lands them, at length, in the desired harbour. 4. How justly it is expected that all those who have had a safe passage over the sea, and especially who have been delivered from remarkable perils at sea, should acknowledge it with thankfulness, to the glory of God. Let them do it privately in their closets and families. Let them praise the Lord for his goodness to themselves and others, v. 31. Let them do it publicly (v. 32), in the congregation of the people and in the assembly of the elders; there let them erect the memorials of their deliverance, to the honour of God, and for the encouragement of others to trust him.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
23. They that go down to the sea in ships Here we have another instance of God’s superintending care towards mankind pointed out to us by the prophet, exemplified in the bringing of those who are shipwrecked to the harbour, and this, too, as if he had raised them from the depth and darkness of the tomb, and brought them to live in the light of day. I do not understand what is here said about those who are accustomed to navigate the ocean seeing the wonders of God, as referring generally to the many wonderful things with which it abounds. Such persons are well fitted to bear testimony regarding the works of God, because they there behold more vast and various wonders than are to be seen upon earth. But it appears to me preferable to connect this with the subsequent context, where the prophet is his own interpreter, and where he shows how suddenly God raises and calms the tempest.
The sum of the matter is, that the scope of the passage is to point out that the lives of those who navigate the seas are often in great jeopardy by the storms which they encounter; because, as often as the ocean heaves and is agitated, and the billows rise and rage, so often does death stare them in the face. But he furnishes us with a still more vivid picture of the providence of God; for in telling us, that the sea does not of its own accord rise into a tempest, he makes use of the verb, he speaks, intimating that the word and providence of God make the winds blow, to agitate the sea. True, indeed, the mariners imagine from certain phenomena, that a storm is approaching, but sudden changes proceed only from the secret appointment of God. Therefore, he gives not merely a historical narrative of the manner in which squalls and storms arise, but, assuming the character of a teacher, begins with the cause itself, and then directs to the imminent danger with which the tempest is fraught; or rather, portrays, as in a picture, the image of death, in order that the goodness of God may appear the more conspicuous when the tempest happily ceases without any loss of life. They mount up, says he, to the heavens, they descend into the deeps; as if he should say, they mount up into the air, so that their life may be destroyed, and then they tumble down towards the caverns of the ocean, where they may be drowned. (284) Next, he mentions the fears which torment them, or rather which may deprive them of understanding; intimating by these words, that however skilfully mariners may steer their vessels, they may happen to be deprived of their senses; and being thus paralysed, they could not avail themselves of aid, were it even at hand. For though they collect all their tackling, cast their sounding line into the deep, and unfurl their sails to all points, yet after making every attempt, and all human skill is baffled, they give themselves up to the mercy of wind and wave. All hope of safety being cut off, no farther means are employed by them. And now that all human aid fails, they cry unto God for deliverance, which is a convincing evidence that they had been as it were dead. (285)
(284) “The men of the ship go up to heaven, i.e. , rise high in the air when the wave lifteth up the ship, and afterwards, because of the wave they descend to the deep; and from thus ascending and descending, the soul of the men of the ship melteth within them on account of the danger in which they are placed.” — Kimchi.
(285) The consternation into which those at sea are thrown in a dangerous storm, and their deliverance by God in answer to prayer, is so beautifully described in the well known and admirable hymn of Addison, that we shall take the liberty to quote a part of it:
“
Think, O my soul! devoutly think, How with affrighted eyes, Thou saw’st the wide-extended deep, In all its horrors rise.
“
Confusion dwelt on every face, And fear in every heart; When waves on waves, and gulfs on gulfs, O’ercame the pilot’s art.
“
Yet then, from all my griefs, O Lord, Thy mercy set me free; Whilst in the confidence of prayer, My soul took hold on Thee.
“
For though in dreadful whirls we hung High in the broken wave, I knew Thou wert not slow to hear, Nor impotent to save.
“
The storm was laid, the winds retir’d, Obedient to thy will; The sea that roar’d at thy command, At thy command was still!”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) They that go down to the sea.An expression so exactly opposite to the ancient equivalent for embarking that we feel we have the very Hebrew feeling. From the high lands of Juda it was a literal descent to the shores of the Mediterranean. So Jonah went down to Joppa (Jon. 1:3). (Comp. Isa. 42:10.)
Do business.Probably with allusion to commercial enterprise.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(23-32) Storm-tossed mariners.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23-32. This fourth division describes the perils of seafaring life, and is to be taken literally. It does not suppose the mariners to be wicked, but only in perils beyond redemption by human arm, and the usual point is made that men, who are habitually thoughtless of God, will yet call upon him when in extreme distress. In this strophe Psa 107:28; Psa 107:31, are the usual refrain.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
23. Go down to the sea The expression supposes the sea lower than the land, lying in hollow depths prepared for it. Job 38:10-11; Psa 104:8; Isa 42:10. We would say, “Put to sea.”
That do business Not fishermen, but merchants. The Tyrians held the commerce of the world at this time, and they were well known to the Hebrews.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
In the next section are set forth the perils of seafaring.
v. 23. They that go down to the sea in ships, v. 24. these see the works of the Lord, v. 25. For He commandeth, v. 26. They mount up to the heaven, v. 27. They reel to and fro, v. 28. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses, v. 29. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still, v. 30. Then are they, v. 31. Oh, that men, v. 32. Let them exalt Him also,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
The Psalmist in these verses takes up another representation, by way of setting forth man’s wants, and God’s gracious provision for him; and this subject he draws from the events which occur upon the mighty waters. He draws out, in a most finished portrait, the terrors of a storm; describes the fears and horrors of the sailor whilst subjected to its power; and having carried the picture to the extreme point of coloring, sets forth the Lord as interposing and sending deliverance. And then again, he beautifully shows the vast claim there must be upon all such to bear in everlasting remembrance the loving-kindness of the Lord. Reader! whether or not you have ever seen the wonders of the deep, the spiritual sense of the passage is the same. Life is in jeopardy every hour. By reason of sin, and the storms and tempests of our unruly passions, the malice of the world, and the fury of the enemy, what shipwreck do not the people of God continually fear, that they shall make of faith? If in such seasons Jesus commands the waves and sea to be still, and at length, by his grace, and the leadings of his Holy Spirit, like the mariner’s compass, he brings them to himself, as to the haven where they would be; ought not the hymn again to break forth from every heart so delivered, and the language to everyone they meet be, Come and hear, all ye that fear God; and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. Psa 66:16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 107:23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Ver. 23. They that go down to the sea in ships ] Here we have a fourth specimen or instance of God’s gracious and wise dispensations towards men, in their trading or trafficking by sea. These are said to go down to sea, because the banks are above it; but the water is naturally higher than the land, and, therefore, sailors observe that their ships fly faster to the shore than from it. But what a bold man, saith the poet, was he that first put forth to sea! (Horat. Od. lib. 1, 3.)
Illi robut, et aes triplex
Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci
Commisit pelago ratem
Primus, nec timuit praecipitem Africum, &c.
That do business in great waters NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 107:23-32
23Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters;
24They have seen the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.
25For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind,
Which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths;
Their soul melted away in their misery.
27They reeled and staggered like a drunken man,
And were at their wits’ end.
28Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distresses.
29He caused the storm to be still,
So that the waves of the sea were hushed.
30Then they were glad because they were quiet,
So He guided them to their desired haven.
31Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
32Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders.
Psa 107:23 Those who go down to the sea in ships The Jews did not engage in seafaring activities very often. There is one example in 1Ki 9:27-28, where Solomon built a fleet on the Gulf of Aqaba, but he was condemned because of this and the fact that the Phoenicians built and manned the ships. There is a veiled allusion to one of the Jewish tribes being involved in maritime activities in Jdg 5:17, but again, this is rather cryptic and uncertain in its meaning. The Jews simply did not engage in seafaring activity very much. The metaphorical background to Psa 107:23-32 is a severe storm at sea, which would terrify desert dwellers.
This is the fourth hypothetical situation of deliverance; see Contextual Insights, E.
Psa 107:25-27 These are striking metaphorical examples of seasickness and fear associated with a storm at sea.
Psa 107:27 The verb in line two is literally swallowed (BDB 118, Hithapel imperfect), which denoted the sudden destruction of something (i.e., the sea swallowing a ship in a storm).
KB 135 III takes the root to be to show oneself confused. This would be the only example of this root in the Hithpael, though it gives
1. a Niphal in Isa 28:7
2. a Piel in Isa 3:12; Isa 19:3
3. a Pual in Isa 9:16
Several English translations see this verb as relating to the experienced sailors’ inability to use their knowledge of the sea in order to escape.
Psa 107:30 their desired haven This is literally desired city. This term for city (BDB 562, KB 568) is found only here. Most English translations have haven or harbor. I think it parallels the inhabited city of Psa 107:4; Psa 107:36. It was a place of rest, provision, and safety! It may contrast the gates of death (i.e., Sheol, the city of the dead). Ultimately only God is such a place! He is the only eternal city (cf. Heb 11:10)!
Psa 107:32 the congregation of the people This is a characteristic covenant phrase for Israel.
praised Him in the seat of the elders There has been some speculation that Psa 107:33-43 contains
1. the peoples’ words to the elders
2. the elders’ response to their words
Whatever the exact nature of the following verses, it does not fit the fourfold pattern that has been established in Psa 107:4-32.
They that go down, &c. In the Heb, text, verses: Psa 107:23-28 are marked by “inverted Nuns” (i.e. the letter Nun (N), inverted). There are nine altogether. There are two in Num 10:35, Num 10:36 (see note there), and seven in this Psalm. Psa 107:23-28 each have one; also Psa 107:40. These inverted letters are used as our “brackets” are, to indicate that, in the opinion of the Sopherim, the verses so marked should be transposed. But this is only an opinion, arrived at from not seeing the Structure of the Psalm, which, when examined, leaves nothing “inexplicable”, as the transition from Psa 107:38 to Psa 107:39 is said to be.
Psa 107:23-24. 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.
The Jews were never given to navigation. To go down to the sea in ships, seemed a very extraordinary thing to them; they looked upon it as a going down, as it were, into a dreadful abyss. We, who are more accustomed to going to sea than they were, talk of the high seas; but they spoke of going down to the sea. They never went to sea except on business. King Solomon had no pleasure yacht. There was never one of that ancient race who cared to trust himself upon the sea except as a matter of sheer necessity, and those who did so were looked upon with wonder by their land-loving friends. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; these see the works of the Lord;that is, his greatest works, both in the sea and on it. They know what storms are, and they see what omnipotence can do, and they come back to tell of the wonders of God upon the mighty deep. This verse may be read spiritually as well as literally. God calls some of his servants, as it were, to go down to the sea in ships. They are tried with poverty, with personal sickness, with temptation, with inward conflicts, with fierce persecutions; and God never calls them to these trials out of mere caprice, there is always a reason for it. They go down to the sea in ships to do business in great waters. There is something to be gained from their trials, and something to be learned from them. They do business in great waters; and these see the works of the Lord. Others hear about them, and believe what they are told concerning them; but these see them. They see what God has done in their case,how he sustains, how he delivers, how he sanctifies trial, and overrules it for his own glory, and his peoples good: These see the works of the Lord. And they also see the wonders of the economy of grace. They are made to experience the heights and depths, the lengths and breadths, of that love which; passeth knowledge; they see his wonders in the deep. You and I need not desire to have trouble, as though we put out to sea for our own pleasure; but, if God calls us to sail upon a sea of troubles, if he sends us there upon his business, we may depend upon it that he means that business to end to our profit and his own glory.
Psa 107:25-27.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 wits end.
Here we learn something of what sailors see, and of what tried Christians experience. These great storms arise by Gods commandment;not as many say, nowadays, by the laws of nature. The wind, which had been quiet, heard Gods voice, and raiseth itself up, like a wild beast from its lair: He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind; and no sooner does the great wind begin to blow than the white crests of the waves are seen, and the white horses fly before the blast which lifteth up the waves on high. Then the ship, however staunch it be, seems to have no greater power of resistance than a frail sea bird; and it is tossed up and down, up and down, from the trough of the sea to the billows crown: They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; and their very soul begins to melt. Brave men as they are, it only needs a sufficient amount of storm to make their hearts turn to water and their spirits dissolve into the turbulent element that is all round them: their soul is melted because of trouble. Then they cannot keep their standing: they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man. What is worse, they cannot control their brains; they are at their wits end. What can they do in such a case as that? There is an end to all human wit and wisdom when the great storms are out upon the sea. You who have ever had deep spiritual trials know the analogy of all this. There may come timesthere have come times to some of uswhen, at the command of God, or by divine permission, there has been a fierce blast of temptation or a fiery trial, and then all that was peaceful round about us before suddenly turns into a whirlpool of tempestuous billows, and we are tossed to and fro at the mercy of the winds and the waves. Sometimes we ascend in presumption, and then we go down into the very depths of despair. At one moment, we are joyous with hope; and, a moment later, we seem ready to give all hope up, our courage fails us, and our soul dissolves within us, If you never have known this experience, I pray that you never may know it; but some of us have had stormy times when we have seemed to have no foothold, when we have reeled to and fro like drunken men,when the best faith we have had has been little better than staggering. Still, it is better to stagger on the promise than to stagger at it; and we did still stand though we staggered, and we were at our wits end. We could not see what to do, and we could not tell what to do, and we could not have done it if we had known what to do; we were brought to such an extremity that we seemed to have neither wit nor wisdom left.
Psa 107:28. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
This shows that, although they were at their wits end, they had wit enough or wisdom enough to pray. Their souls were melted, so they let them run out in prayer. It is a good thing to get the soul melted, for then it will flow out like water before the Lord. Note that these sailors cried to God when there was no one else to whom they could cry: Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble. Learn from this sentence that, when your soul is melted because of trouble, you can still pray. When you reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, you can still pray and when you are at your wits end, you can still pray. Prayer is never out of season; it is a fruit of grace that is acceptable to God in autumn and in winter, in spring and in summer. Long as you live, and even when the worst comes to the worst, cry mightily unto God, for he will surely hear you. Was it not so with us when we were in spiritual trouble, and could do nothing else but cry unto the Lord? It was a poor prayer that we offered, but it was a real prayer that we presented when we cried unto God. Mark how quick God is to hear such prayer as this: Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He brought them into them, and therefore he brought them out of them. It was God who took Jacob into Egypt; and, therefore, though it took four hundred years to bring Israel out of Egypt, God brought them out at last. He kills, and he makes alive; he wounds, and he heals. Rest you in this truth as a matter of absolute certainty.
Psa 107:29. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
At the first, God made everything out of nothing, so he can easily make a calm out of a storm; and he can make the storm a calm for you whenever he pleases to do so. Your troubled feelings, your tossings to and fro, may soon subside into the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, which shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Psa 107:30. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
And there is no music that is sweeter to the mariners ears than the rattle of the chain as the anchor grips the bottom of the harbor, and the ship rests from all her tossings. The Lord will give you grace, my brother, my sister, to let down your anchor;or, rather, to throw it up into that within the vail, for that is the way that your anchor goes; and then you shall be glad because you will be quiet. I believe that there is often, a greater, fuller, deeper joy in being quiet than there is in making a noise. There are times when it is good to praise the Lord with the high-sounding cymbals and with the harp of a solemn sound; but, in the deepest joy of all, we are still before God, and praise is silent before God in Zion.
Psa 107:31. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Should they not do so? Those who have survived the storms at sea, or the still greater storms within their own souls, should surely take care to praise the Lord. If we know how to pray, we ought also to know how to praise. Prayer and praise ought to form the two covers of the book of our life, and our life is not well bound unless these are the two covers to it, with a good stiff back of faith to bind the two covers firmly together, and to hold every leaf in its proper place.
Psa 107:32. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
Let them not only praise the Lord in private, but let them also sound out their song of gratitude to God where the graybeards are gathered together, and let the men of experience, the officers of the church, the leaders of the Lords people, help them in the expression of their gratitude.
Psa 107:23-32
Psa 107:23-32
THE METAPHOR OF THE DANGEROUS SEA-VOYAGE
The fourth metaphorical description of Israel’s rescue from captivity presents it as a near-fatal ocean voyage from which disaster God rescued them.
“They that go down to the sea in ships,
That do business in great waters;
These see the works of Jehovah,
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 heavens, they go down again to the depths:
Their soul melteth away because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man.
And are at their wits end.
Then they cry unto Jehovah 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 are quiet;
So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his lovingkindness,
And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise him in the seat of the elders.”
As Leupold suggested, “The ship about to be lost at sea here is Israel, that is, their ship of state, an expression which is like our current usage of it when men say, `the ship of state is threatened.’ Leupold further elaborated this comparison.
“The storm of the Captivity had swept over the nation; all seemed lost. The threatening billows could have destroyed the nation forever.
This paragraph is much like the previous three. The danger is stated; the people cry for Jehovah’s help (the first refrain); and there is a somewhat longer declaration before the second refrain.
THE LONGER DECLARATION
“He maketh the storm a calm … they (those on the ship) are glad because they (the waves) are quiet … He brings them unto their desired haven” (Psa 107:29-30). God’s bringing them to “their desired haven,” is a reference to his returning them to Jerusalem.
“Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people … the seat of the elders” (Psa 107:32). This is not a picture of sailors, having escaped a storm, praising God in a group, but it is a picture of Restored Israel praising God in the public assemblies in Jerusalem, the seat of the elders.
THE LAST ELEVEN VERSES
Addis declared that, “These verses have no strict connection with the preceding, and also assigned them to another author. However McCaw, it appears to us, has a much better understanding of their meaning.
“The purpose of these two remaining stanzas is to reduce the illustrative material of the psalm to a statement of principle, namely that the Lord is both steadfast and loving to his redeemed.”
The RSV divides the rest of this psalm into two stanzas of six verses in the first and five in the second. In both of these, there appears a contrast between the wicked and the upright as evidenced by God’s dealings with them.
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 107:23-24. The Psalmist has said much in general about the wonderful works of God. He gets a little more specific in this paragraph and calls attention to scenes on the large bodies of water as they were known in that day.
Psa 107:25. Men were astonished because Christ could calm the sea. David was impressed with the Lord’s power to cause the stormy condition of it in the first place.
Psa 107:26. They has direct relation to the men who go to sea to deal in merchandising. But the movements described here are those of the waves caused by the storms. The ships are tossed up and down on the bosom of the deep, and the men in them are frightened; their soul is melted.
Psa 107:27. This is a further description of the state of fear into which the men in the ships are thrown because of the raging sea. A fair instance of this state of fear is recorded in Jon 1:5 on the occasion of the run-away prophet, whose presence in the ship provoked the Lord to bring on the storm that threatened to wreck the vessel.
Psa 107:28-29. Again we see that man is disposed to appeal to God when in trouble. The voice of divine power is able to calm the raging of the waters, and rescue the human creatures from the threatened destruction.
Psa 107:30. The men in the storm rejoice because they are saved from what seemed to be certain death. In too many instances, though, they stop with their personal rejoicing when they should think more reverently on Him whose mercy gave them their escape. That is why the Psalmist so frequently gave the statement in the verses below.
Psa 107:31. This statement is commented upon at Psa 107:15.
Psa 107:32. Personal or private praise for God is right and pleasing to Him. Yet men should be willing to express themselves for that feeling before others. Jesus taught that idea in Mat 10:32-33.
They: This is the fourth comparison; their captivity was as dangerous and alarming as a dreadful tempest at sea; with a most natural and striking description of which we are here presented.
go down: Psa 48:7, Eze 27:26, Act 27:9 – Act 28:31, Rev 18:17
Reciprocal: Psa 104:26 – There go Isa 42:10 – ye that go Mat 8:24 – there Mar 4:37 – great storm Luk 8:23 – came
Psa 107:23-27. They that go down to the sea in ships He says go down, because the sea is lower than the earth, as appears by the rivers which run down into it; that do business in great waters Whose occupation lies there as mariners, merchants, or fisher-men; or, who go to take ship as passengers. These see the works of the Lord His wonderful works, either, 1st, Of creation, such as fishes of various kinds and shapes, and some of a prodigious size; which are not seen by other men. Or, 2d, His works of providence in bringing them into extraordinary dangers through storms, and working out for them extraordinary deliverances; they witness scenes, and experience interpositions of divine providence, such as others can scarcely form a conception of. For he raiseth the stormy wind The winds and storms, which come not by chance, but by the order of Divine Providence. They mount up to heaven, &c. The ships are sometimes raised so high, that it appears as if they would touch the clouds; and then sink down as low as if they would be buried in the bottom of the sea, to the great astonishment and dread of the passengers, whose soul is melted because of trouble Who are ready to die with fear and dismay. They reel to and fro, &c. They are so tossed and whirled about, that, as they are not able to stand upon the decks, so the most skilful mariners are at their wits end, and do not know which way to steer, or what course to take to save themselves from perishing; all their skill fails them, as some translate the words. There cannot, says Dr. Dodd, be conceived any thing more poetical or sublime than this description of a storm at sea; a subject on which the most celebrated poets have employed their pens. It would be a pleasing task, if the nature or limits of our work allowed it, to compare this description of the psalmist with those of ancient and modern writers. But we are denied this agreeable task; and shall only add, that those who will make the comparison, will find how much superior are the ideas and expressions of the sacred poet to those of uninspired writers. But, as Dr. Horne observes, Experience alone can illustrate its beauty, evince its truth, and point out the propriety of the circumstances which are selected to furnish us with a full and complete idea of the whole. Few of us, indeed, adds he, are ever likely to be in that terrible situation. But then, (for this is a fourth similitude portraying the danger of our present state, and the goodness of God displayed in our salvation,) we cannot help reflecting, that there is a ship in which we are all embarked; there is a troubled sea on which we all sail; there are storms by which we are all frequently overtaken; and there is a haven which we all desire to behold and to enter. For the church is a ship; the world is a sea; temptations, persecutions, and afflictions are the waves of it; the prince of the power of the air is the stormy wind which raises them; and heaven is the only port of rest and security. Often during the voyage, for our punishment or our trial, God permits us to be thus assaulted. The succession and the violence of our troubles, the elevations and depressions of our minds, the uncertainty of our counsels, and our utter inability to help ourselves, are finely represented by the multitude and impetuosity of the waves, the tossings and agitations of the vessel, the confusion, terror, and distress among the sailors. In both cases prayer is the proper effect, and the only remedy left. We should cry unto the Lord Jesus in our trouble; we should, as it were, awake him, like the disciples, with the repetitions of, Lord, save us, we perish! Then will he arise and rebuke the authors of our tribulation, saying unto them, Peace, be still, and they shall hear and obey his voice. He will make the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof shall be still; and, at length, he will bring us in peace, joy, and gladness, to our desired haven, there to exalt him in the congregation of his chosen, and praise him in the great assembly of saints and angels.
107:23 They that go down to the {l} sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
(l) He shows by the sea what care God has over man, for when he delivers them from the great danger of the sea, he delivers them as it were from a thousand deaths.
Fourth, God delivered sailors when they cried out to Him in storms. He calmed the seas and brought them safely to their ports (cf. Mat 8:23-27; Luk 8:22-25). This, too, demands public praise from those who were rescued.
"The thank offering of the Psalms appears to be one pledged by the worshiper during or after some zero hour of his life. On the basis of Psalms 107 the rabbis spoke of four occasions when the thank offering was appropriate: safe return from a voyage (Psa 107:23-32), safe return from a desert journey (Psa 107:4-9), recovery from illness (Psa 107:17-22), and release from prison (Psa 107:10-16)." [Note: Ibid., p. 154. See also Jacob Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, p. 219.]
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)