Comment – Psalm 107 illustrates some glimpses of the dramatic events that occurred during the time of exile and return and in them emerges the liberating work of God in its splendor.
Psalm 107 complete
[1] Alleluia. Celebrate the Lord because he is good, because his mercy is eternal.
[2] Let the redeemed of the Lord say that he delivered from the hand of the enemy
[3] and gathered from all countries, from the east and the west, from the north and from the south.
[4] They wandered in the desert, in the steppe, they did not find the way to a city to live in.
[5] They were hungry and thirsty, their lives waned.
[6] In anguish they cried to the Lord and he freed them from their distress.
[7] He led them on the straight path, to walk towards a city to live in.
[8] Let them thank the Lord for his mercy, for his wonders in favor of men;
[9] because it satisfied the desire of the thirsty, and the hungry was filled with goods.
[10] They lived in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners of misery and stocks,
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[11] because they had rebelled against the word of God and despised the design of the Most High.
[12] He bowed their hearts under misfortunes; they fell and nobody helped them.
[13] In anguish they cried to the Lord and he freed them from their distress.
[14] He brought them out of the darkness and shadow of death and broke their chains.
[15] They thank the Lord for his mercy, for his wonders in favor of men;
[16] because he broke the bronze doors and broke the iron bars.
[17] Foolish for their unjust conduct, they suffered for their misdeeds;
[18] they refused all nourishment and already touched the threshold of death.
[19] In anguish they cried to the Lord and he freed them from their distress.
[20] He sent his word and made them heal, saved them from destruction.
[21] Let them thank the Lord for his mercy and for his wonders in favor of men.
[22] Offer sacrifices of praise to him, rejoice his works.
[23] Those who sailed the sea on ships and traded on the great waters,
[24] they saw the works of the Lord, his wonders in the deep sea.
[25] He spoke and raised a stormy wind that lifted his waves.
[26] They went up to heaven, went down into the depths; their soul languished in breathlessness.
[27] They swayed and staggered like drunks, all their expertise was gone.
[28] In anguish they cried to the Lord and he freed them from their distress.
[29] Reduced the storm to calm, the waves of the sea were silent.
[30] They rejoiced at seeing the calm and he led them to the sighed port.
[31] They thank the Lord for his mercy and for his wonders in favor of men.
[32] They exalt him in the assembly of the people, praise him in the assembly of the elderly.
[33] He reduced the rivers to desert, to arid places the sources of water
[34] and the fertile swampland for the malice of its inhabitants.
[35] But then he changed the desert into a lake, and the arid land into springs of water.
[36] There he made the hungry dwell and they founded a city to live in.
[37] They sowed fields and planted vineyards, and reaped abundant fruit.
[38] He blessed them and they multiplied, he did not let their livestock diminish.
[39] But then, reduced to a few, they were brought down, because oppressed by misfortunes and pain.
[40] He who throws contempt upon the mighty made them wander in a desert without roads.
[41] But he lifted the poor out of misery and made their families large as flocks.
[42] They see the righteous and rejoice in it, and every wrongdoer closes his mouth.
[43] He who is wise will observe these things and will understand the goodness of the Lord.
