Psalm 107:16-21

¹⁶ For He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in two.

¹⁷ Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. ¹⁸ Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death. ¹⁹ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. ²⁰ He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. ²¹ Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

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Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 107:16-21

Commentary on Psalm 107:10-16

(Read Psalm 107:10-16)

This description of prisoners and captives intimates that they are desolate and sorrowful. In the eastern prisons the captives were and are treated with much severity. Afflicting providences must be improved as humbling providences; and we lose the benefit, if our hearts are unhumbled and unbroken under them. This is a shadow of the sinner's deliverance from a far worse confinement. The awakened sinner discovers his guilt and misery. Having struggled in vain for deliverance, he finds there is no help for him but in the mercy and grace of God. His sin is forgiven by a merciful God, and his pardon is accompanied by deliverance from the power of sin and Satan, and by the sanctifying and comforting influences of God the Holy Spirit.

Commentary on Psalm 107:17-22

(Read Psalm 107:17-22)

If we knew no sin, we should know no sickness. Sinners are fools. They hurt their bodily health by intemperance, and endanger their lives by indulging their appetites. This their way is their folly. The weakness of the body is the effect of sickness. It is by the power and mercy of God that we are recovered from sickness, and it is our duty to be thankful. All Christ's miraculous cures were emblems of his healing diseases of the soul. It is also to be applied to the spiritual cures which the Spirit of grace works. He sends his word, and heals souls; convinces, converts them, makes them holy, and all by the word. Even in common cases of recovery from sickness, God in his providence speaks, and it is done; by his word and Spirit the soul is restored to health and holiness.