Psalm 107:23-32 NKJV
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
24 They see the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26 They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And [a]are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
29 He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.
Psalm 107 describes a series of adversities suffered by God’s servants, along with His continual intervention to deliver them from all such troubles. It is an historical meditation for attaining contemplative wisdom; as its final line states: “Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.”
For instance, when the psalm speaks of enduring a storm at sea, it may refer to the storm suffered by the shipmates of Jonah, or St. Paul, or the disciples on the Lake of Gennesaret, while Jesus yet slept in the stern of the boat. The fierce storm of this story may also be pointing to all of us, who as Holy Scripture makes clear as “children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Eph. 4:14). Many and diverse are the storms and troubles that this world throws at us.
The psalm is addressed to “those redeemed by the Lord.” Its historical meditation, which is to say, is directed to those who stand already within that history — the beneficiaries of its blessing. This is the Church, made up of “those whom He redeemed out of the hand of the enemy and assembled out of the lands.” It summons us to meditate on what the Lord has done in our midst and on our behalf, “that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Cor. 2:12). Psalm 107 is a call to that profound effort of thought and praise.
Let us pray: Almighty God, through the resurrection of Your Son You have secured peace for our troubled consciences. Grant us this peace evermore that trusting in the merit of Your Son we may come at last to the perfect peace of heaven; through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.